Things big and small

A key point to bear in mind: The value of attentiveness varies in proportion to its object. You’re better off not giving the small things more time than they deserve.

Marcus Aurelius, Mediations

Which begs the question, what are the big things? Surely, for us here, they’re the things that will make learning great for learners.

Do we even make that distinction in schools? Or are there only things? All of which must be done. All of them large and essential.

But who are you — some kind of superhuman? What makes you, or those in charge, think you can do all of them and do them well?

Each year, the school year seems to start the same way: meeting after meeting about all the things that need to be done, when, and (often) how.

So many things.

We don’t get better by being rushed and thoughtless, by not distinguishing between things big and small. We get better by being slow and deliberate. This is how expertise is developed. This is how people become masters of their craft.

Roger Kneebone, in his wonderful book Expert: understanding the path to mastery, says this early on:

“Information is not wisdom, and wisdom is what experts provide … they give us inspiration. They show us what we can do if we really want to.” (p. 28)

Wisdom, in other words, is knowing what the big things are and that giving those our attention is what matters. It’s knowing that not all things are equal, and that not all levers need to be pulled.