The Art of Possibility 1

My school recommends shared summer reading books for faculty each year. This summer our elementary division was asked to read The Art of Possibility, by Rosalind and Benjamin Zander. Ironically, I at first grumbled about having some poorly written pop psychology pushed upon me when I could have been reading Alfie Kohn or Malcom Gladwell or somebody I'd been wanting to read when I had time. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that not only is TAOP wonderfully readable, but it is exactly what I needed to help me put a positive spin on things, after wallowing in negativity for much of the past year. In these difficult financial times, our independent Quaker school, normally accustomed to the Quaker decision making process of group discussion and eventual consensus, has been deeply affected by a series of top-down decisions, resulting in personnel cuts, surprising changes to program, and lots of sad, mad, bad feelings.

In The Art of Possibility, the writers suggest 12 practices which define "novel ways of defining ourselves, others, and the world we live in," using the metaphor of music and the arts.

Practice 1: It's all invented

In 'It's all invented,' the basic premise is: "It's all invented anyway, so we might as well invent a story or a framework of meaning that enhances our quality of life and the life of those around us." (p. 12) The epigraph for this chapter tells about two shoe marketing scouts sent to a remote region of Africa to find new sales opportunities. One writes back: "Situation hopeless-- they don't wear shoes," while the other writes triumphantly: "Glorious business opportunity! They have no shoes."

This made me think back to when I arrived at this school to teach elementary Spanish 10 years ago. I found out the week before school started that the previous Spanish teacher had departed suddenly, leaving no trace of a curriculum behind. My initial reaction was "Situation hopeless-- no set curriculum" It took me days, weeks, months, in fact it has taken me years to reach my current sense of "Glorious opportunity-- no set curriculum!" I feel this especially now that I understand so much better how children acquire language and what strategies lead to success for all. The freedom I was granted to invent was, in fact, a great gift.