FRIDAY APRIL 24, 2009

The Outlier Finds His Element

outliers and the element

I read Outliers and The Element back to back last week.

Net-net is that people aren’t successful from passion alone, usually there are other factors or “flukes” that lead to them living in their element. You may have heard successful people say that what made them great is that they were at the right place at the right time. There is some truth to that but they also had enormous passion, put in many hours and were in their “element”.

In Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell contends that passion alone doesn’t equate success; the environment, innovation and generational culture shape our success. Below is an Outlier story of my own.

I have two kids. When Rachel started school, she was like a fish to water. She started kindergarten in an accelerated classroom, worked very hard, loved school and recently finished her teaching credential for the sciences. She’s planning to spend her adult life in the classroom teaching.

Anthony on the other hand didn’t like school enough to even pull his completed homework out of his backpack. In middle school he was a strong D-student,and an exceptional pianist. We contacted the school to see if he could remove Orchestra and PE classes from his schedule so he could devote 4 to 6 hours towards piano practice, they said they’d check with the School District because they “do that kind of thing for athletes”. They said, ” No,” so I pulled him out of public school that very day.

I could say our public school system is very broken, but Rachel thrived in it. My son on the other hand, needed a different environment to be successful.

He relentlessly bugged us to enroll him in high school at Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan. “I know it’s my destiny” were the words that finally convinced us to allow him to apply as a piano major. As a backup plan, he composed an orchestral piece for the composition program “just in case”.

These crazy “just in case” moments are what often paves our way.

What a dramatic impact that fluke decision to toss in a composition played. The Department Chair saw exceptional talent in Anthony and took him on as his composition student for all 3 years of high school. He made A’s in AP classes, won an ASCAP award at the age of 16 and was honored at the Lincoln Center in NYC and his Bassoon Octet composition was just picked up by a publisher last week.

This is the same kid who made Ds in our public school.

After reading The Element, I was overwhelmed by doubt that our schools can ever foster creativity. Outliers gave me hope but makes it clear that it takes more than just fixing the school, it will rely on the opportunities that the family and community give young people. Fortunately, there are fantastic teachers like Rachel who are passionate about the students and have the energy to transform the way our students learn in the future.

I’ll leave you with Sir Kenneth Robinson’s (author of The Element) TED talk, hopefully creativity and passion will be applied to re-engineering our education system.

Topic: Book Reviews
Tags: interlochen, ken robinson, malcom gladwell, outliers, TED, the element

COMMENTS (7)

Dan the Music Master

^{April 25th, 2009

2:05 am}

I also believe that you receive results from kids by giving them positive input. So many of the successful students that I teach have good study habits and tremendous parental support.

Graham Westwood

^{April 25th, 2009

8:31 am}

Wonderful post Nancy. The Ken Robinson TED talk is one I play over and over again for friends and colleagues. Truth is that schools cannot do this alone and perhaps never could.

Meryl K. Evans

^{April 29th, 2009

4:30 pm}

That is a perfect example of what makes this story, Animal School, so true:

http://www.raisingsmallsouls.com/

I am struggling to find one of my kid’s “sweet spot.” His biggest passion is sports cars. Not exactly a school subject like music.

Chris Santos

^{May 1st, 2009

10:00 pm}

As an educator and now administrator, I read The Element and shouted, “Yes!” I overwhelmed my wife, also a teacher, with a diatribe on how education should be. Creating schools that are not built on the fast-food model but rather on the idea that creativity can lead to success requires a commitment by society to want this kind of change! Instead, legislatures pile on more stuff to the curriculum thinking it will make our kids better prepared to pass standardized tests. In reality, many of our children leave school bored and unsatisfied. I am happy that your son found his “Element!”

Gregg Stokes

^{May 5th, 2009

10:01 am}

My daughter was the Emerson Scholarship winner at Interlochen last year. It is a great school. Sir Ken is a genius and has articulated what we most of us have known all along, that most true innovation and creativity cannot be molded into conforming with the masses. Whether is be education, religion or presentations. The willingness to pursue unorthodox ideas is the foundation of greatness. Institutions have to cater to the masses and be beholden to all. When a square peg arrives, you either squash off the corners and fit him in, or you let them go to a place where square is celebrated. Bravo…

Ed Brenegar

^{May 6th, 2009

6:18 pm}

When my oldest son was in first grade, he asked if he could learn at home. As a result, each of our kids have been homeschooled, and each is unique in their interests and their purpose in life. During his 13th and 14th year, he wrote an alternative history of World War II. He’s now out of college preparing to teach English in South Korea for a year while working on his first real novel. Our other son is studying audio engineering and physics with a desire to create live sound audio equipment. My daughter whose in high school wants to be a philanthropist and help children. We’ve already agreed that I’ll work for her. The traditional education approach would never have provided them the context to discover their passion. The story of your son is heartwarming because he is like so many of the kids I’ve known who didn’t fit into a standardize program. Yet, when given the right context, they thrive. This reminds me a 9 year kid I know who has ASD, and whose imagination is off the chart. In an off-hand comment to his mother, I said “Zander needs to blog.” He began the next weekend, and his stories are marvelous. And he found affirmation for his gifts that was missing from his normal everyday experience.
If our children can find a place to follow their passions, then adults can do the same. And that is one of the great challenges that we face. How to help those so impacted by the old confining system to break free to discover their life’s true calling, regardless of what age they are.
Thanks for sharing your story.

Robin Wagganer

^{May 30th, 2009

9:25 pm}

I’m so happy for your children, and must congratulate you as parents for not trying to force Anthony into the wrong hole. Every peg fits in somewhere. Perhaps Rachel will learn from her brother’s experience as well, and along with so many others cheering for change in our public schools, she may actually be able to help create that change from the inside.

Our public schools do indeed work to eliminate creativity. The instruction is still primarily based on the turn of the century when creative thinkers were frowned upon – they did not conveniently learn the basics of running farms, working in mines and jobs requiring highly repetitive skills. 25 years ago, we noticed it, and some things have improved, but what a slow painful process! Imagine if corporations moved as slow… the technology would not be available for me to be working here on my wifi enabled laptop interacting on a global level.

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