Baby "Masters"

Two weekends ago was graduation...all over the country. I was so excited for everyone who finished high school, college, and graduate school. The feelings of renewal and freedom were contagious!

However, I was surprised by the number of people who were younger than me (or even my age) and graduated with Master's degrees. These people have been in school almost their entire lives and now they have advanced degrees? With most of their experience embedded in the world of theory, what knowledge do they have of how the world actually works? They have all this knowledge in their field, but I'm willing to bet they have little concept of how to implement it.

My belief is that implementation requires knowledge of people and how to communicate with them. Being in the working world teaches you that you can't just perform tasks - you have to navigate through systems and negotiate with people to get something done. A teacher can't simply "teach" a student how to read and a chemical researcher can't just "perform experiments." What if someone doesn't want to learn or the head of your lab won't buy the equipment you need? You have to understand the point of view of the people you're working with and know how to align it with yours. School teaches you to perform a task and rewards you for getting done. It doesn't teach you the steps in the middle that happen in the real world.

This is where I have a problem with people getting advanced degrees before they've worked and it's why these "baby masters," as I call them, appear so ill-equipped in my mind. It makes sense to me to go to college, work, and then get a graduate degree. You come in with an understanding of the practical work and can therefore ask questions and learn how the knowledge you're receiving applies. I happened to be looking at some schools, in fact, and saw that their programs require students to have a few years of working experience before they can apply. Many business schools are like this, but I think it should be required for others as well.

I will grant that in some situations, you need to keep going to school in order to get into the practical experience. Medicine and information studies are two examples. Engineering and architecture are also fields where this may apply, but I've noticed that these programs incorporate co-op experiences (work-study) into the degrees...which is fantastic.

So on one hand, I'm excited for everyone graduating and dispersing their knowledge and energy into the world. On the other hand, it only reminds me how much improvement our education system needs.

Break-Throughs #4: Knowledge Is. Share It.

The break-throughs I shared with you came from 1) things I've read or heard; and 2) analyzing my own experiences. I would guess that half of it was stimulated by an audio book I just started listening to: The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything by Ken Robinson, Ph.D. I wrote my break-throughs after listening to the first 40 minutes: Dr. Robinson shared stories of children who exhibited talents in dance, music, and mathematics. After I wrote my break-throughs, I returned to his book. He essentially repeated several of my ideas back to me (except for the connecting concepts one, but I bet I'll hear it soon). This only solidified an idea I've come to understand over the past year:

#4a: Knowledge is like energy. It simply exists and it cannot be created or destroyed. This is my theory, built on information I've taken in over the years. How many times have individuals come up with the same ideas on opposite sides of the world and generations apart when there was no plausible way for them to communicate? (Think natives and early scientists.) Therefore, I believe that everything I've ever come up with isn't truly mine. I've discovered it for myself, but it's built off of information that others have given me, and I know I can't be the only one with these conclusions. Then what's so special about me and my discoveries?

#4b: Knowledge changes form over time, and the form is always unique. After I receive knowledge, I give it to those I touch in my unique way - in this location at this time (with the technology and connections I have), and I give it using my talents and abilities (through images, words, kinesthetics, etc). Engineers or musicians may not be able to comprehend my pictures or lines of thought, but there is someone else who can explain the exact same ideas to them.

Knowledge is power. However, keeping it secret it is a false sense of power, because someone else has it, too. If we don't give away what we have, someone else will. So I think we might as well share it.

Break-Through #3: Connecting Concepts (this is HUGE for me)

I've taken lessons from different dance coaches, and I came to believe that sometimes I didn't understand a concept until someone told me multiple times or in different ways. But this was frustrating. Will I REALLY have to listen to the same thing over and over again before I get it?? Am I that slow?? I don't want to de-value using different vocabulary, but I have a theory that there's more to understanding a concept than repetition.

Amy's Theory: A concept will become clear after you acquire additional knowledge through one or more senses; as opposed to, "It will become clear after you hear it several times in different ways (all verbal instruction).

To illustrate my point, I drew a diagram below (forgive some of my rudimentary artwork):

In the first picture, the student hears the concept and "kind of" gets it. She understands the language, but it doesn't completely make sense.

In the second picture, the student has watched people skate, heard a line from a movie, went for a bike ride, and heard her boss use a word at work...all after the lesson. The student has taken in knowledge in different ways (visually, verbally, and kinesthetically) and the brain gets busy "fizzing" them together. The student might not even be conscious that she's taking in this information or even its relevance, but when the next lesson comes around, she suddenly understands the teacher when he repeats the concept. The different kinds of knowledge all work together to bridge the gap between the student's understanding and the verbal concept.

Break-Through #2: Life Path - Education Reform Through Dance

I battled college all four years. I wrote angry emails to professors, I wrote angry program reviews to my academic department, and I wrote angry thoughts on teaching methods in my assignments. Sometimes I could be one bitter student. I never felt like I "fit" in college. Every year I questioned whether it was worth it and if I should have been there in the first place. It was worth it, but not for the style of teaching I endured.

I wish there was more freedom in college. I wanted to try art, for instance, but I was always scared to because I didn't think I could make A's in it - and I wanted to preserve my GPA. The same was true for dance. I enjoyed writing creative non-fiction (essays and reflections), but you could only major in literature or fictional creative writing (which I hear was a joke). I wanted to try several languages, but that would put me behind in a major. During my freshman year, I took an interest in education policy and spent hours in the library reading about it. It was a graduate specialization, though. I think there was a certificate I could get if I studied an area I didn't want to first.

I told my mom - among several others - that I wanted to reform education. "The only way to reform education, though," a friend said, "is to become a teacher." Get into the system first, is what I think he meant. Go through school AGAIN? I thought. Over and over? Are you kidding? It wasn't worth it for me.

Break-Through Idea:
When I graduated and left academia, I dove more deeply into dance. It introduced me to a whole new world of engaging my senses. The information in dance is conveyed verbally, visually, kinesthetically, musically, emotionally, "feeling-ly" (using physical feeling), and others that I can't all name. It's a surround-sound learning experience. I supposed that we exercised all these senses when we were children. For instance, young children don't have access to verbal communication like adults do, so they must use all their senses (such as visual - facial expressions) in order to understand. However, once we are taught to read and write, our other feelings become dormant and remain under-developed. Dancing, I believe, can allow adults to re-enter the world of feeling and sensory communication that they left behind. 

When I moved to Tucson, I became exposed to a deeper practice of yoga, meditation, and engaging my sense of smell (incense and candles are popular). People often talk about physical "feelings" here and vibration and energy. An awareness to these senses - which I believe are truly real - has opened up a whole new level of living for me. 

I'm going out on a limb here, but I'm going to suggest that dancing allows us to activate the senses and levels of intelligence more than any other activity: it utilizes music, kinesthetics, social intelligence, touch, physical feelings/responses (different from touch), emotion, visual and verbal communication, balance (often forgotten, but considered a logical sixth sense by some), and spatial awareness. It lets you be logical and mathematical, too, if you wish. I think all it's missing is taste.

After understanding (albeit semi-consciously) all that dance offered me during the past few years, I knew I wanted to make it a central part of my life. Looking at it now in comparison with my "formal" education, I want to use it to change the way people are educated. I want to encourage people to use all their senses and try things without fear; teach them to engage their bodies and minds in more than 2-3 ways. As adults, I hear we only use a small percentage of our brain (20% I think?) and I think dance can open it up. The world is so much more than what we perceive, and I'd like to help people tap into it fully.

Break-Through #1: Teaching Purpose Defined

Today was what my partner would call a "sitting on a rock" day. There were many things to do, but I chose to just sit for a while on my thoughts about dance technique, my career, paying the bills, and the future.

Let's Talk Business...and its Psychology
I have a new job at a massage therapy and wellness center - which I love - and I'm learning so much from the owner about running a business and communicating with people. For instance, a potential client called and the first thing he asked was, "What is the price of a massage?" After my boss/the owner - Angela, we'll call her - finished the call, she walked me through it.
"When someone asks about the price," she said, "It's really a conversation starter. What they want is a reason for coming here. 'Give me a reason,' he's saying. I don't like to build price-sensitive clients," she continued. "We're all price-sensitive right now, I know, but I want to explain to them what they're getting out of an appointment. We're one of the few practitioners in this business who give full 60-minute hands-on massage. Most other chains give 50-minute hours - they short-change their therapists (paying them less) and their clients. In addition to a full hour, we also give the client information about things they can do at home to maintain their physical health. We are not sales people, we are educators who provide a quality service. We need to let them know that."
Amen, girlfriend.
"So when they ask about price, you want to answer the question, but also explain what it is that they're getting."

My Dance Philosophy
This conversation made me focus more clearly on what it was I wanted to give people. Did I want to sell myself as a teacher? No. I wanted people to have quality dance instruction. People my age who enter the industry tend to be trained as salespeople, not teachers. So what does quality mean to me? I'll tell you. I came up with my dance philosophy/angle this morning:

My goal is to provide students with clear, concise, and simple dance instruction. This information will involve basic body mechanics that any average, able-bodied person can perform. I will also teach the "why" behind the movement, so that students will understand when and how to apply exercises in new situations on the floor. 

In other words, 1) I'm not going to fill up a session with fluffy conversation for the sake of filling time, and 2) I want my students to have knowledge of their body so that they can manipulate around the floor smoothly in any situation. The unexpected happens all the time on the floor; I want my students to "go with it" on their own. They can't do that if they only know steps.