I appreciate the master keys of mastery as outlined by
George Leonard in his book, Mastery. I’m still trying to find all of them
palatable and digestible.
The first key: Instruction, I get. A master instructor is important in any
successful endeavor. The criteria Mr. Leonard sets forth to determine if the instructor is worthy of his/her title – how do the
students interact with the instructor, 50/50 correction/praise – makes sense. Yet, in our world, very few have the
opportunity to choose their instructors.
(Warning: I’m getting on my soapbox.)
Many people are exposed to a system that chooses their instructors. Quite a few of the instructors are not worthy
of the title. Many students spend a good portion
of their younger (dare I say, formative) years instructed by instructors that
may not be worthy of the title. Or are
caught in a system that doesn’t allow the instructors to be the best they can
be. (You judge.) Where does that leave the individual?
The second key: Practice, I also get. Practice makes perfect or so the saying
goes. According to George Leonard, mastery leads to more practice. “If you stay on it long
enough (path to mastery), you’ll find it to be a vivid place, with its ups and
downs, its challenges and comforts, its surprises, disappointments, and unconditional
joys.” Accordingly, our current American
society doesn’t promote practice. It may
applaud it when the results are seen, but it doesn’t promote it. (Again, the soapbox.) A child spends approximately 5 hours a week
in a class taught by “an instructor” with instructions to go home to do another
½ hour to 2 hours of homework – we’ll average, 10 practice hours a week. This child will spend 18 weeks to 36 weeks in
the class. If I did my math correctly,
it means the child spent 180 hours to 360 hours to “master” a subject. Even in my current education pursuit, the
most hours I’ll have towards my chosen field will be 2,500 hours. It’s often quoted that mastery takes 10,000
hours. This is not effective practice towards mastery.
The third key: Surrender is the key I’m trying to find
palatable. I discussed this with my
husband. I don’t trust easily,
especially educational pursuits. I can
probably count on my ten fingers the instructors I have trusted. I really disliked Mr. Leonard’s use of the
word “pratfall”. I would not act the
fool, willingly, for anyone. Now, would
I be willing to make mistakes to gain competence? Yes. And I have. A
master instructor would not require his student to be foolish. That does not lead to mastery. That leads to discouragement and
distrust. I would have to trust the
instructor to follow instructions to allow myself to make mistakes, especially
if I felt I would look foolish. I do
understand, according to Mr. Leonard, that before a student would place himself in the hands of a master
instructor, he would vet the instructor.
But, vetting also takes experience and many students do not have
the experience to do that (and neither do many parents).
The fourth key: Intentionality is something I’m
learning. I realized a couple of weeks
ago that I was going through the steps of a crunch, but I wasn’t getting the
benefits. I realized I wasn’t committed
to it or doing it intentionally. Many
students do not receive the benefits of an education because they are not
committed to the education they are offered.
They are not willing to practice and definitely not surrender because
they know instinctively that the effort is not something they want to pursue or
they are not being taught by a master teacher.
The fifth key: The Edge is dangerous. I appreciated that Mr. Leonard gave caution
to this key. It’s a balance, one that is
honed by the experience of the other four keys.
He gave the example of the heroic endeavor of Julie Moss to finish the
triathlon. I’m still not sure if I agree
with Jim McKay the sportscaster or the doctor who stated it was stupid. Was her endeavor really necessary? Perhaps, to her it was. If she had died from that endeavor, did she
leave behind loved ones who would have questioned her dedication to something that
probably didn’t forward or help humankind?
The Edge needs to be given careful consideration prior to walking it.
Let me illustrate my soapbox for you. When I was in junior high, I managed to get
into a geometry class. I’m not
particularly bright when it comes to math, probably due to a lack of desire,
but someone thought I could handle it. I
didn’t question the opportunity. My
parents didn’t question the opportunity.
(I’m not blaming my parents!).
Come September, I began the geometry class. I didn’t have a clue what I was doing. I did all sorts of contortions to remain in
the class (because that indicated my social status). My instructor didn’t know how to teach the
material so I could learn (nor do I think he cared). I did
put in, at least, the 360 hours to gain my “mastery” of the class. Years later, I realized two things: one, if
someone had taken the time to explain that doing Euclidian geometry was similar
to writing an essay (I do fairly well in the language arts), I would have had
much more success, and second, my son (at the same junior high level I was at
when I took geometry), who learned and understood geometry easily, took a few
minutes to explain some geometric facts to me and I got it. He was not a master teacher by
definition. He had enough mastery, I was
willing to give him the time to practice, I surrendered to looking “a fool” in
front of my much younger son, I knew what I wanted to learn and together we
walked that edge to grasp the concepts of geometry. That may not be mastery of geometry, but it was a lesson.
I think what I’m trying to say is that many get discouraged
to obtain mastery because of the conditioning of our society. I’m not saying we cannot rise above it, but
it is difficult. Hope is needed to
overcome this conditioning. I’m not
blaming teachers. I’m not blaming
students. I’m not blaming anyone. I’m merely presenting a fact that mastery is
a difficult proposition in the current environment.
