Spark Up Your Space and Energize your Environment S.3 E. 40

Listen to this episode to learn more about how you can create environments that are charged and energetic, in your work and home life, by following a few basic ideas about harnessing the power of paradoxes. 

Show notes:

Episode Summary:

Do you ever sit in a meeting and struggle to stay awake? Do you ever find yourself at a family gathering and cringe because the atmosphere is so toxic you are afraid to say anything? Do you look around your classroom and wonder what you could do to “spark it up” just a bit? Today we’re talking about how you can energize your environment, at work and at home, by looking at them through the lens of six paradoxes. Don’t worry, it is much easier than it sounds. All you need are a few guidelines about holding the tension of opposites and we are glad to share them with you!

In this episode:

Introduction:

We have long believed in the power of environment to shape the mood of all who enter that space. We believe so strongly in it, that one of the first podcast episodes we created was #9 You Set the Tone. We talked passionately about how teachers have more power than they may know to set the tone for their classroom and life.

Today, we would like to expand on that topic and speak directly about the power you have to improve the places and spaces where you live and work but looking at them through the lens of six different paradoxes.

What is a paradox? 

First, let’s get the meaning of paradox out of the way. A paradox is something that has seemingly contradictory qualities. For example, when we say “less is more” or “the beginning of the end.”

For our purposes today, we are going to talk about paradox as that creative and charged tension between two opposites. Think of it as that space that lighting shoots through between the chaos in the clouds where it starts and the solid ground where it hits. That space in between is electric, powerful and beautiful when we can see it in action. It is not so astonishing in the clouds or on the ground as it is in that charged space in between.

Your daily living and working spaces can be the same way, if you can find or create that spot between two poles where the charge and exciting energy can live. You can think of it as the tension between opposites.

Before we get into what those paradoxes might be, we want to give credit for this idea where credit is due.

Parker Palmer, a writer and teacher who has helped millions of people around the world live more courageously and authentically through his writing and speaking, was the inspiration for this podcast episode.

In his book, The Courage to Teach: Exploring the Inner Landscape of a Teacher’s Life, he gives us six paradoxes we should consider when designing our ideal classroom environments. When Palmer wrote this he was talking about classroom environments specifically, but we think this applies to our work and home lives so we expanded on his idea a bit.

Here is how Parker Palmer introduces the idea of paradoxes in the book:

“Teaching and learning require a higher degree of awareness than we ordinarily possess- and awareness is always heightened when we are caught in a creative tension. Paradox is another name for that tension, a way of holding opposites together that creates an electric charge that keeps us awake. Not all good teachers use the same technique, but whatever technique they use, good teachers always find ways to induce this creative tension. When I design a classroom session, I am aware of six paradoxical tensions that I want to build into the teaching and learning space.”

We are going to share the six paradoxical tensions that Palmer suggests using to create your spaces, then we will explore each as they relate to your work and home life.

The six ideas are:

1. The space should be bounded and open.
2. The space should be hospitable and “charged.”
3. The spaces should invite the voice of the individual and the voice of the group.
4. The space should honor the “little” stories of the student and the “big” stories of the disciplines and tradition.
5. The space should support solitude and surround it with the resources of community.
6. The space should welcome both silence and speech.

When Palmer talks about these, he is talking specifically about how he designs learning spaces. If we follow these same rules in our spaces outside the classroom the same kind of positive energy can flow there as well. Think of this as applying to our family get togethers, our lunches with friends, our committee meetings, our family dinners…any environment where we find ourselves.

Let’s take a look at each of these paradoxes individually and what embracing them might look like in your work and home life.

1.The space should be bounded and open.

Palmer describes a space that is bounded and open as an environment where there are boundaries that keep topics from wandering all over, but that are still open to the many paths that the learning or conversation may lead. This means having an idea of a journey that you want to take, “the bounded part”, yet embracing the surprises along the way, “the open part.”

For example, this might mean having a solid lesson plan, but being open to taking it in a new direction when student interests are high.

Palmer suggests framing a discussion around a text this way. The teacher presents the text to be discussed (bounded) and then opens up the space by asking students to discuss the text based on information they have learned from their own lives. We do this all the time as teachers, though we may not see it as playing with the tensions of  bounded and open.

This works in your personal life as well. An example in your personal life might be travel. Paula shared an example of going to Washington, DC with friends. It was one of the most amazing trips ever and it was in large part because it followed this rule. The bounded part was having a hotel booked for all seven days of the trip. The open part was driving to a location, asking the waitress or others they met along the way where they should go next. They ended up in DC on time but along the way ate chocolate in Hershey Pennsylvania, saw the lighthouses in Cape May New Jersey, and walked the boardwalk in Atlantic City. None of these were in the original plans.

 2.The space should be hospitable and “charged.”

Palmer describes hospitable as inviting, open, safe, free, and trustworthy. Of course we all want this in a classroom. However, the space should also be somewhat “charged” in that students don’t fall asleep in the comfort. The participants in the space shouldn’t be so safe that they are bored. This is that space where people are exploring real, deep topics of the world or their soul. They know it is a safe place (hospitable) but also full of deep exploration possibilities which makes the environment charged.

Palmer’s classroom example is making sure the students feel safe and then asking them to focus on hot button issues that really cause them to do some real exploration of themselves or their world.

This might also look like shaking things up- building in comfortable routines, but using different strategies that keep things interesting and alive and keep students engaged.

Paula attended a Parker Palmer retreat several years ago in Seattle. It was a beautiful setting, people wore comfortable clothes and did yoga. It felt very safe and loving. Then they asked the attendees to dig deep into their goals and lives and ask themselves about deep issues. It was both uncomfortable and profound. People were crying as they journaled. It was both hospitable and warm as well as “charged.”  We all want to have those kinds of experiences that are meaningful and deep and involve topics that we are really invested in. We want our students to have those kinds of experiences as well.

3. The spaces should invite the voice of the individual and the voice of the group.

What Palmer means by this is that all participants in the conversation need to have a chance to express their authentic voice. That’s inviting the individual voice. However, in order to be a place of learning, there must also be a chance for the group’s voice to be gathered an amplified. Having this group voice provides a necessary point of comparison to affirm, challenge or correct the voice of the individual. This is the place where learning can happen.

Parker is talking about a classroom where students have to reach a group consensus. The students are invited to share their individual perspectives. The teacher can listen for what the group is saying and pull that together and play that back to the students from time to time so the group can hear what they are saying together.

Another example is that teachers need to be able to ask questions and accept that they don’t always get the answers they were expecting. It is about allowing students to voice their ideas and opinions. If we want to create people who know how to think, we need to let them express their thoughts.

As an example in your home life, Paula shared what happens when her family is trying to decide where to go out to dinner. Individuals share their ideas. Paula gathers the voice of the group. “Ok, so no fast food. And I didn’t hear any Chinese so Chinese is out. It appears that most of us want Mexican. So now let’s narrow down which Mexican restaurant we want to go to.”  This is a better than arguing or fighting and allows everyone to have a voice while still coming to a group decision. We often do this in the classroom and it works at home too.

4. The space should honor the “little” stories of the student and the “big” stories of the disciplines and tradition.

Palmer suggests this so that everyone can share their personal “little stories” to add to the conversation without narcissism becoming a problem. Value the little stories but don’t let them take over the big stories that are universal or overriding.

We do this on this podcast all the time. We have a topic, but we sprinkle in our own little stories and examples.

Palmer suggests that in a class discussion, we need to help students learn to listen to the big stories with the same respect they give the little stories they tell about their own lives. We, as the teachers, need to stand at the intersection of the stories that individuals bring to the classroom, and help them connect to bigger stories about the world that they may not have been exposed to or understand yet.

Paula shared an example of sitting in meetings where one person comes in with how a situation, maybe a new curriculum or new way of doing something, impacts them. The first time they tell the story, everyone listens. The next time, in the same meeting when they share their experience, and it is only a sliver of the whole picture, people tolerate it. However, when the conversation becomes all about them and their experience, everyone hopes the leader of the meeting will step in and remind everyone of the bigger picture. When that doesn’t happen, the meeting goes too far toward the little stories and not close enough to the big stories, which is frustrating. As a leader, you can help maintain the big picture while honoring little stories.

5.The space should support solitude and surround it with the resources of community.

This particular paradoxical tension recognizes that people need time alone to absorb information and to meaningfully reflect on it. However, we also need that authentic community to be our best.

Palmer says, “I tell my students that much as I value dialogue, I affirm their right not to participate overtly in the conversation- as long as I have the sense, and occasional verbal reassurance, that they are participating inwardly. This permission not to speak seems to evoke speech from people who are normally silent; we are more likely to choose participation when we are granted the freedom to do so.”

Think about this as a teacher in a classroom. There are introverts who listen and engage with whatever is happening in the classroom. Often, they are penalized because they do not always speak up or contribute a certain number of times. Be aware of who is really engaged and who is not engaged. Talking is only one form of engagement.

The “Think, Pair, Share” strategy is a good one because it allows everyone to engage in a safe way. The think portion allows for self-reflection, the pairing is a safe place to discuss, and the sharing is often done by the people who are most comfortable in the group sharing. It supports the solitude of individuals while still surrounding people with the combined resources of the community.

6.The space should welcome both silence and speech.

Palmer says, “Words are not the sole medium of exchange in teaching and learning- we educate with silence as well. Silence gives us a chance to reflect on what we have said and heard, and silence itself can be a sort of speech, emerging from the deepest parts of ourselves, of others, of the world.”

Some of us struggle with silence, in fact a typical group handles about 15 seconds of silence before someone jumps in.

Palmer looks at this through the lens of the teacher, when teachers jump into silence. He goes so far as to wonder what chances for authentic learning don’t get to happen when teachers jump in and break the silence or when they allow students to quickly jump in and fill a silence without first giving everyone time to think and reflect.

In education, we often call this wait time, and waiting even a few seconds can feel difficult.

This is a great reminder to find that charged spot between silence and speech. How do you handle silence in your life, for example in a book club, or in discussions with family and friends? Do you allow people time to think or quickly jump in to fill the void?

Conclusion

As you can see, we think Parker Palmer is brilliant. We hope he wouldn’t mind that we expanded upon his six paradoxes idea to how it could be effective in our home and life spaces, not just in our classroom spaces. As you consider how finding that perfect paradoxical tension could change your environments, we end with the following quote.

Quote

“The place where paradoxes are held together is in the teacher’s heart.”

Parker Palmer

Our wish for you is that you hold these paradoxes in your heart in the coming days, weeks, months, and years in your work and home life.

Recap

You have the power to improve the places and spaces where you live and work by looking at them through the lens of six different paradoxes. You can make your classroom and home environments more enjoyable places by embracing that charged space between any of these paradoxes.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

The Courage to Teach by Parker Palmer

Related Episodes/Blog Posts:

Inspired Together Teachers podcast Episode 9 You Set the Tone 

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