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There is a term I learned in the theatre that I have grown to appreciate the more I work with organizations and the education system. The term is, “save-your-ass-theatre” and applies to plays that have weak or no direction so the actors have no choice but to save their asses.
In a well directed play the actors are in service to something greater than themselves: a specific story that is illuminated through the clear actions of the actors. The actors pursue specific intentions; their focus is on the pursuit of the intention (not on the audience, not on how they appear, not on “being liked”). The honesty of the actor’s pursuit is what opens the door for the audience to participate. My favorite definition of acting is, “the honest pursuit of intention in an imaginary circumstance.” The honesty of the pursuit allows the audience entry to the story.
In a play with weak direction, the actors are unclear of their intentions, less clear of their story, and are in service to not looking stupid. Said another way, they are in service to themselves. They are in front of an audience and do not know what they are doing so they do the only thing they can do, the thing we all do in a dangerous situation: they save themselves. They diminish the other actors, they hide, they upstage, they lie. The audience has no access to the play because the actors are not present, so they, too, pretend that something worthwhile is happening.
When an intention is clear, people are generous in their support for each other. They are in service to the same thing and do not get confused in games of power or territory. When an intention is not clear, people default to survival mode and save their asses.
Systems go awry when they no longer serve the purpose for which they were created – or when the purpose for which they were created is no longer relevant. The public schools are a perfect example. The system was created to produce minimum competency for a world 150 years ago. It is an antique. And, because it no longer knows the story it is telling, brilliant, dedicated teachers are being forced into a production of save-your-ass-theatre because we as a nation have confused passing tests with learning. We blame them because we don’t know what to do (proof positive that we, too, are in a production of save-your-ass-theatre). Brilliant, dedicated students are suffering in a production of save-your-ass-theatre because we as a nation have confused answer-regurgitation with ferocious inquiry.
Learning is not testing. Answer-regurgitation is not inquiry. We can clarify this play when we choose to stop pretending that what is happening on our stage is worthwhile, when we stop denying that our Model-T is the machine that can get us there.
Filed under: Education, Truly Powerful People | 1 Comment »
The Direction of Intention 