Sun Tzu says: Water shapes its course according to the nature of the ground over which it flows; the soldier works out his victory in relation to the foe whom he is facing. Therefore, just as water retains no constant shape, so in warfare there are no constant conditions. He who can modify his tactics in relation to his opponent and thereby succeed in winning, may be called a heaven-born captain.
This interview with Vinod Khosla on the segment on failure of the education system basically says that the top down approach to education reform won’t work. What is needed is for practitioners on the ground experimenting, failing quickly and keeping those parts that work. Today’s education system relying on experts is like expecting IBM, HP or Microsoft to come up with Facebook, Twitter or Google. Entrepreneurs, recognizing the gap, as usual are already working on disrupting Education as the next big thing to focus on.
In one class, the students, instead of discussing their class work, were boasting about the notoriety of their previous schools. One student said that the principal brought in motivational speakers to encourage the students to work hard, not give up so as achieve something worthwhile in their academic career. While debating the usefulness of these programs, one student said “One time, this motivational speaker came and because we gave him such a hard time, he stopped after 10 mins and left the auditorium”
The students laughed. Overhearing them, I found this to be quite amusing too. Not that good a motivational speaker.
Sun Tzu said: “Now the general who wins a battle makes many calculations in his temple ere the battle is fought.”
In his blog post Don’t back a lion into a corner!, Kevin Patton uses the metaphor of the lion tamer to coax students to accept challenges in solving problems and learning new skills.
The lion tamer’s chair is merely a tool that helps coax a lion to move in a particular direction under the direction of the trainer. Its use requires knowledge of the natural behavior of lions and skill in using that knowledge to manage the behavior of the lions to achieve desired outcomes. Likewise, knowing something about human behavior allows teachers to develop skills in managing the behavior of people in the classroom environment.
The lion tamer’s chair is used to enter the “personal space” of a lion to different degrees, each of which elicits different reactions. Enter the outer boundary and the lion backs away. Move past the inner boundary and the cat gets irritated and moves toward us . . . menacingly.
Different lions have different boundaries. Some lions let you get fairly close before they back away, whereas others back away before you can get close to them. Lion tamers learn this by interacting cautiously with each lion until they know the boundaries well. Teachers can also take time to learn the boundaries of their students. Different students have different personalities and experiences that mold their boundaries, just as lions do. If we learn some of these boundaries we can more efficiently learn how to apply that knowledge to managing classroom discipline.
Sun Tzu said: “When you surround an army, leave an outlet free. Do not press a desperate foe too hard”
Classroom control and learning efficiency are the products of good teaching rather than the prerequisite. Learning must be meaningful and serves a purpose. This means that the teacher has to make the subject matter relevant. And respect is a much better motivation for good behavior than fear. The video “Maintaining Classroom Discipline” (1947) shows that somethings never change and gives example of of what not to do and what to do in the classroom in order to maintain a positive classroom environment, strong student self-esteem, and an atmosphere of learning.
Sun Tzu said “The MORAL LAW causes the people to be in complete accord with their ruler, so that they will follow him regardless of their lives, undismayed by any danger.”
She walked into a middle school classroom and saw a table full of boys at the back of the class. No teacher in her right mind would put all those boys together. So she did what any cracker jack sub would do – she lied.
She announced that the teacher had left her a seating chart. “I’m going to turn around and count to 30. When I’m done, you better be back in your seat, or I’m going to start writing referrals,” she said. She turned her back and began counting. As she heard the frantic game of musical chairs underway, she couldn’t help but smile.
Even though you do not have control of the curriculum, you can set realistic expectations of your students each day.
Your curriculum may be set to meet the demands of the best students and therefore you need to temper your expectations so as not to frustrate the weaker students. One way is to break the curriculum milestones for each class into A, B and C so that most students can achieve level C and only the best students complete level A. This will also meet the normal class distribution shown below.
Sun Tzu said: “Carefully study the well-being of your men, and do not overtax them. Concentrate your energy and hoard your strength.”
During class discussion, instead of focusing on the topic on hand, students talked about teacher A who they said is friendly and jokes in their class but is rather strict in other classes he teaches. The students found this behavior puzzling. Compared to other classes in the school, this class is definitely more into fun and little into effort (in class they rather gossip than discuss class work). As teachers are rated by their students at the end of every semester, teacher A may have decided to cut this class some slack to avoid problems in class and at the semester end avoid getting a bad student review.
Although I am not suggesting lowering standards, but this is one example of how teachers have to “know their class” and react accordingly to the teachers’ own strengths and weaknesses. If you have several classes and you have only one template to fit all your classes, you are bound to have problems in those classes that do not fit your template.
From Sun Tzu Art of War - III. ATTACK BY STRATAGEM
If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.
The class started with almost all the students unable to install their software needed for the day’s work and the rest of the semester. For those teachers who have encountered similar problems mainly due to configuration conflicts and licensing issue this can turn into a class control nightmare. The students know that they have comfort in numbers since all cannot get the software working and the students will use this as an excuse for not turning in their work.
Fortunately in this case, the problem was due to the students not following the instructions given to them (which students do?). So two strategies from Sun Tzu were applied
Throw your soldiers into positions whence there is no escape, and they will prefer death to flight. If they will face death, there is nothing they may not achieve.
If your enemy is secure at all points, be prepared for him. If he is in superior strength, evade him. If your opponent is temperamental, seek to irritate him. Pretend to be weak, that he may grow arrogant. If he is taking his ease, give him no rest. If his forces are united, separate them. If sovereign and subject are in accord, put division between them. Attack him where he is unprepared, appear where you are not expected.
First, students are told in no uncertain terms that they will be graded based on results that are generated from using the software. If their software is not working, then sorry no grades. Then students are reminded to read the instruction given to them. The more enthusiastic students are helped so the class observed that the software can be installed successfully. Once the first few students got their software running, the other students start to learn from the others who are successful. At the end of the day, most students were able to complete the tasks assigned and those intent on not doing their work ended fortunately as the minority.
In war, the general receives his commands from the sovereign, collects his army and concentrates his forces
When in difficult country, do not encamp. In country where high roads intersect, join hands with your allies. Do not linger in dangerously isolated positions. In hemmed-in situations, you must resort to stratagem. In desperate position, you must fight.
There are roads which must not be followed, armies which must be not attacked, towns which must not be besieged, positions which must not be contested, commands of the sovereign which must not be obeyed.
Some teachers were discussing about the disconnect that a recent top education official comment about the improving student’s standards in the country and their own observation on the ground. Their observations indicated that syllabuses to obtain the higher standards are beyond the average students’ ability and therefore are frustrating more and more students.
Using the analogy of clearing a chasm (with the width of the chasm indicating the difficulty level) the teachers concluded that the disconnect may be due to
the top official with his helicopter view of the situation is seeing that students are able to clear wider chasms than before
on the ground, in response to reality, teachers are putting longer and longer planks so that students still are able to clear the wider chasm with the same leap.
As the planks are invisible from high, the official was not wrong in his conclusion. However, it would have been better that he had also the view from the ground.
A typical class is made of students from each of the four quadrants with about 10-20% of quadrant A students and 10-20% of quadrant D students. The remainder of the class is split up evenly between the remainder two groups. Whether a class is considered ‘good’ by most teachers is really determined by the percentage of the quadrant D students.
One nightmare scenario is when the class materials are beyond the B-C group and at the same time uninteresting to the A-C group. In such instances, the D group may be able to gather enough numbers to mutiny against the teacher. Having played strategy games, they are quite capable of staging such a rebellion in class. The 21st century students do not resort to violence but will provide evidence of teacher ineptness agreed by the majority of the class and submit it to the highest authority possible.
Perhaps the following story of Sun Tzu might provide us a solution. Reduce the percentage of quadrant D students by assigning them to classes where they have interest and aptitude in the subjects taught.
Before hiring Sun Tzu, the King of Wu tested Sun Tzu’s skills by commanding him to train a harem of 180 concubines into soldiers. Sun Tzu divided them into two companies, appointing the two concubines most favored by the king as the company commanders. When Sun Tzu first ordered the concubines to face right, they giggled. In response, Sun Tzu said that the general, in this case himself, was responsible for ensuring that soldiers understood the commands given to them. Then, he reiterated the command, and again the concubines giggled. Sun Tzu then ordered the execution of the king’s two favored concubines, to the king’s protests. He explained that if the general’s soldiers understood their commands but did not obey, it was the fault of the officers. Sun Tzu also said that once a general was appointed, it was their duty to carry out their mission, even if the king protested. After both concubines were killed, new officers were chosen to replace them. Afterwards, both companies performed their maneuvers flawlessly.
