Mastering the Way

There is a centuries-old Japanese practice of serving tea that requires a life-time of dedication and commitment. Its values that include simplicity, balance, response to the needs of others, and intense awareness of one’s self. The student of Tea, says tea master Sen, learns to arrange things, to understand timing and interludes, to appreciate social graces, and to apply all of these to daily experience. These things are all brought to bear in the simple process of serving and receiving a bowl of tea, and are done with a single purpose--to realize tranquility of mind in communion with one’s fellow men within our world (Sen, 1989, p. 9)

The actual practice of life-long study is rare in any culture. Imagine what wisdom could be gained, however, from studying one’s self in relation to others, or the timing of one’s speech to complement that of others. By focusing intently on their breathing, for example, practitioners of yoga learn to control their body rhythms. The chess master learns to see layers of possibility by studying both the immediate and the future in a confined context. Continual awareness and practice, set against high standards of performance, will intuitively increase understanding of the studied action.

Contrast the ceremonial tradition of serving tea, rich in highly contextualized and anticipated movements, to the newly emerging phenomenon of the professional development school (PDS). Its purpose, too, is singular--the improvement of teaching and learning. Yet students of the professional development school have no master from whom to learn. There is no clear model to emulate, no book of wisdom that implies answers to difficult questions, no tradition to ponder. And still, the learners in this venture (where administrators and teachers of the public schools share their knowledge and skills with university students and faculty) strive to understand more fully the acts of teaching and learning, with the belief that their work will improve and that students will ultimately benefit. The professional development school suggests the possibility of life-long focus on teaching and learning.