5 minute read
The nature of school
from TM Issue 15
by Mary Hester
Remember: every element is vital.
Fran watched Eric from across the playground. He was busy directing his friends, confidently arranging them into teams for a game of football. Eric liked being in control and he especially liked winning. Earlier that week Principal Tetram had issued a challenge to the school: Each student does enough activity at lunchtime to make them puff. Eric had quickly decided to accept the dare and boldly set about creating a football competition between classes.
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“Any goal Eric sets himself he achieves,” Fran sighed. “He’s so focused and determined. I wish I was as fi rm as he is.”
“WAIT!”
The urgent cry from Amy carried over the noisy playground and made Eric stop dead. He turned to see her jogging across the grass towards him, waving a neatly folded piece of paper.
“If these two classes play each other now, it will mess up your competition draw,” Amy explained. “You need to get one of them to stand down because there’s still one team that hasn’t played yet.” “See?” she said, pointing to the chart on the piece of paper. “It does make sense!”
Eric blinked at Amy’s logic, puzzled at how he hadn’t seen the error.
“She’s so focused,” Eric thought. “Her eye for detail is amazing. I wish I could think as clearly as she does.”
Amy trotted back to the concrete step beside the hall. A small huddle of students had formed nearby and seemed to be looking at something on the ground. Amy changed direction for a closer look and nudged her way between the onlookers.
Kneeling beside the playground fi rst-aid kit was William. He was applying a plaster to a small scrape on the knee of one of the new entrants. A skipping rope was still limply wrapped around her tiny foot.
“Everyone falls over when they’re trying out new skip routines,” William was explaining patiently to the teary-eyed girl. “The main thing is to give it another go when it doesn’t work the fi rst time. I’m sure you’ll have that jump-trick nailed in no time, just like your friends.” Amy smiled. Trust William to be offering words of comfort; he was the most considerate person she knew. Incredibly loyal to his classmates, William had a knack for making sure everyone was getting on well. Why, just yesterday he had smoothed out a festering disagreement between the MacArthur twins.
“He’s so dedicated,” Amy muttered under her breath. “I wish I was as calm.”
As William stood, holding the fi rst-aid kit, he stretched his legs. They were still stiff from yesterday’s cross-country run. He didn’t like running very much. He had considered pulling out of the event, but had bumped into Fran as he arrived at school yesterday.
Fran had been fi zzing, excited to see whether the course would be more fun than last year, especially since she’d made suggestions to Principal Tetram to improve the route. In just a five-minute conversation, Fran had inspired William enough about the challenge that any thought of pulling out was erased.
William shook his head as he gazed at the swings, where Fran was soaring as high as she could and laughing wildly.
“She’s so positive,” he thought. “I wish I was that bright.”
The bell rang to gather everyone back to class.
Everyone has a strength
I like keeping things simple. I’m a human being, just like you. I have preferences and dreams and fears, just like you. I am part of the natural world and can make choices, just like you.
We each have abilities and strengths that can seem foreign to other people. What happens if we use nature as a metaphor to explain our preferences? Suddenly we have a tool that allows us to appreciate my nature; why your nature seems different; and despite our apparent divergence, we are in fact quite similar.
Nature illustrates how earth, air, water and fire work together in synergy. It’s hard to imagine life or a sustainable environment without each one of them. In human nature also, we all have aspects of all four elements. So does your school. So does your classroom.
Let’s unpick the playground story:
In nature, the earth element (Eric) like a mountain is fi rm.
The air element (Amy) like the wind is clear.
The water element (William) like a lake is calm. The fi re element (Fran) like the sun is bright.
Whilst Eric’s strongest element might be earth that doesn’t mean he has no water element tendencies. Just because Fran is a natural at looking for the positive side of life (fi re), it doesn’t mean she can’t enjoy being accurate (air).
What happens to our strengths if we’re put under pressure?
Earth elements can become blunt and neglect people’s feelings. Air elements become critical and neglect the big picture. Water elements hesitate and neglect objectives. Fire elements are easily distracted and neglect practicality.
Imagine a team or classroom full of only one element. Especially if they are stressed out, too. Have a look around your staffroom: What elements do you see in action there?
How can we tap into each student’s motivation?
For earth elements, emphasise the challenge.
For air elements, emphasise their abilities.
For water elements, emphasise their contribution. For fi re elements, emphasise the possibilities.
Now let’s give the elements of nature some shape: a simple shape.
According to Buckminster Fuller (architect, futurist, inventor and designer of the geodesic dome) the tetrahedron is “the minimum structural system in the universe.” This four-sided pyramid is a fascinating geometric shape. Why?
It has no opposite faces.
When we position the elements on the tetrahedron, there is no “me versus you,” unlike the common quadrant design. Instead of one element working against the other elements, we can encourage collaboration. After all, without every single element there would be no nature.
Each triangle touches every other triangle, showing inter-dependence.
By changing the size of any of the equilateral triangles, you affect all the other sides.
Unfold the tetrahedron and before you is a map of all four elements: Earth, air, water and fi re, harmoniously connected.
This brilliantly simple yet versatile model is called TetraMap and was created by Aucklanders Yoshimi and Jon Brett. Take a look at www.tetramap.com
Celebrate diversity and help your students understand that the first step toward positive change in their relationships is to take responsibility for the first simple step: themselves.
Strengthen leadership and ignite potential
accelerate positive change build self-esteem and team-esteem create and practice strategies to reduce conflict Facilitator Stuart Fleming guides you through TetraMap®: the fast-to-learn training tool for better behaviour and performance at school.
