Every parent has at least one mantra they’ve repeated so often to their children that it produces eyerolls and sighs of resignation - not because the meaning behind the mantra isn’t accurate, but because it’s so simplistic it is not the least bit insightful. One of my go-tos is that when it comes to the world of work, “If you show up on-time every day, avoid gossip, and do the things you are asked to do, you’ll have a job forever.” It’s a pitifully low bar I know, but for at least the last generation, showing up has generally been enough to get by. You may be absolutely miserable, but you’ll be assured of having food on your table and a roof over your head.
While my mantra speaks for itself, I’m a believer in the “showing up” philosophy for a different reason. Tom Peters once pointed out that showing up means starting, and that is often the most difficult thing. Whether it’s the biggest of dreams or the smallest of menial tasks, neither will be accomplished without beginning. Thus the famous quote that “80% of success is showing up.”
Assuming that that anecdotal percentage is accurate, the logical next question is to consider what makes up the other twenty percent of success? I’m sure there are others out there who’ve put pen to paper on this to develop an overarching formula, but my thinking is that it’s not only that you show up but how you show up that matters most.
I’ve been thinking about that a great deal this semester as my colleague David Martino and I are teaching an introductory course on Business and Entrepreneurship in a somewhat non-traditional manner, focusing heavily and transparently on building certain soft skills, utilizing project-based approaches to support content mastery, and employing a healthy dose of reflective practice to connect students to deeper levels of meaning-making - all in an effort to more effectively accompany students along their learning journeys. We have a relatively large number of students and by the traditional engagement levels I am accustomed to monitoring - dutifully turning in assignments, logging in with regularity, attending regularly scheduled online meetings, etc. - the class is generally progressing quite smoothly. Recently, however, we have transitioned into a period of extensive project-based group work, and even with our careful planning, scaffolding of skills, and our reassuring messaging, students are demonstrating elevated levels of angst. In discussing this with David, he provided an insight into engagement which I had never before considered - effective engagement is situational and contextual. In other words, my traditional measures of engagement were demonstrating that students were showing up, but now that we are asking for something different, it is how students are showing up that matters, and that has some of them feeling uncomfortable.
Though the design of the course is considerably different than many, up to this point, there has been very little ambiguity regarding what to do. And though a number of the content areas are not well defined due to the nature of the subject, students have been asked to “give them a go” knowing that they will receive high marks simply for making an earnest effort that allows us as teachers to provide feedback. This has allowed students to effectively negotiate the experience by pursuing the familiar role of grade-focused students and, hopefully at least occasionally, interested learners. Based on the traditional performance measurements of time-on-task and grades, this has worked for the vast majority of kids.
Now, however, through our group projects, we have introduced Pandora’s box. Ambiguity exists in both process and product, and the comfortable roles of learner and student aren’t adequate to fully tackle the collaborative nature of the experience. This, of course, is by design and the reason we have invested so much time into teaching, modeling, and practicing various collaborative skills. At first, I was a bit disappointed that students hadn’t risen to the heights I was hoping for. But upon further reflection of David’s revelation regarding situation and context, I realize that what we are proposing is a pretty big lift. While these projects open the door to new possibilities, the risks can feel overwhelming, so their heightened manifestation of the familiar role of grade-focused students makes absolute sense.
For us to properly accompany our students, we need to recognize the years of practice students have invested in the role of grade-focused student. Additionally, in spite of all of the aspirational talk from parents, schools, and universities about the virtues of failure, when push comes to shove, grades remain the highest priority. Thus, when, for the sake of a deeper, more complete learning encounter, we ask students to try on a different role such as group collaborator, we should expect a degree of reluctance, and we shouldn’t be discouraged by student attempts to backslide into the familiar.
Still, recognizing the desire to backslide is different than allowing it to occur. As I mentioned earlier, David and I are in uncharted territory with regard to this course design. It would be easy for us to retreat to safer waters, but this is the moment we must acknowledge that we too need to be pushed beyond the traditional role of teacher. Are we ready?
This brings me full-circle to the mantra of showing up. It seems so simple, but what gets overlooked is that showing up involves more than simple physical presence but mental and emotional as well. Additionally, for most things, showing up once doesn’t cut it; it’s a series of beginnings that matter. So when we are looking to support others as teachers, parents, family members, or friends, we need to do so from the other’s numerous starting points, not from the places we’d like them to be. In a previous post, I wrote about Presence and Understanding as being foundational to accompaniment. This requires a VERY healthy measure of patience along with consistent messaging that the only way to be of further service is when meeting those we are accompanying at a different beginning.
Showing up ready to engage physically, mentally and emotionally is what we are asking of our kids in our Business & Entrepreneurship class. The course’s content is generally easy, but what we are asking of them is often hard. This needs to be my daily reminder.
CONTRIBUTOR: Jeff Hausman, AVLI President
vol 7 issue 1