Working with graduate students in education- both pre and in-service- my colleagues and I have a front-row seat to the disconnect between the reality of day-to-day classroom practice and the litany of “problems” writ large. There typically comes a moment during each student’s experience with us when they see a larger picture than the single school or classroom in which they work. In some cases, that moment is empowering and exciting. For others, it is overwhelmingly depressing. For everyone, it is a turning point.
“Be ashamed to die until you have won some victory for humanity.” Horace Mann’s charge to us as a university remains a central theme for our work with students- particularly as they arrive at this juncture in their development. While the task itself can seem impossible- victory for humanity is no mean feat- the path to it is more straightforward when we bring forward an idea originally espoused by Stephen Covey in his text The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, Circles of Concern and Circles of Influence. We begin by sharing this simple diagram:
The topmost circle represents our ideals, the things with which are most worried and concerned. We encourage students to examine their passions and anxieties and to make the most exhaustive list possible. Their answers range from guns to testing to students without coats. As we generate the list, we can feel the weight of powerlessness descend upon the room. We slump in disempowerment, drowned by the ocean of unsolvable problems, sinking in the mire of educational policy as impacts our classrooms and students.
The bottom circle, on the other hand, represents the things we can control and may range from the mundane to the complex. For example, a teacher can control the way the desks are arranged, the way time is allocated the time in class, where they stand during passing time, whether or not they sponsor or attend sporting events or plays at school, and the committees in which they participate. The shift in the energy is palpable as we move into this conversation. At last, things we can do! (It is interesting to note, however, that we also become aware that much of what we have control over is mere trivia no matter how voluminous it may appear.)
Next, we move the circles together and seek the places where they overlap. What is the confluence between concern and influence?
The items that we can control, and which connect with the things that matter most to us, represent our real work. It is easy to get lost in the things we can control but which don’t really matter but this is fruitless. Equally easy is the spiral into endless worry over things we can’t control but this effort leaves us empty and exhausted. The wise educator rations their energy and effort to carefully target the confluence between their highest ideals and their most powerful actions.
Opportunity lives in the overlap of the two.
As Covey points out, “Proactive people focus their efforts in the Circle of Influence. They work on the things they can do something about. The nature of their energy is positive, enlarging, and magnifying, causing their Circle of Influence to increase. Reactive people, on the other hand, focus their efforts in that Circle of Concern. They focus on the weaknesses of other people, the problems in the environment, and circumstances over which they have no control. Their focus results in blaming and accusing attitudes, reactive language, and increased feelings of victimization. The negative energy generated by that focus, combined with neglect in areas they could do something about, causes their Circle of Influence to shrink.” (Covey, 2013)
Our students are charged to make a plan of action (in lieu of a thesis) pointed towards that intersection. They spend their time with us learning how positive, effective change is made from within the system. Ultimately, the degree they earn from us is more than an academic credential, it is a shield against the negative spin of powerlessness and a sword against the stagnation of the status quo.
A student once told me that this symbol was used by the ancients to represent the confluence of heaven (the upper circle) and earth (the lower). This seems only logical upon further reflection. Our concerns represent our highest ideals- our strivings for our best selves personally and professionally. Conversely, the elements within our control are the common, base realities of life in the world. They are the “must do”s if we are to persevere and succeed at the most fundamental level. When combined they are the means by which our highest aspirations can become reality.