People Make the Difference

Last week I discussed the application of some ideas from the book "The Tipping Point" to current events discussions in my classes. The basic premise the book is little changes can have big effects. Wouldn't that be a great return on our efforts as educators if we can use those concepts to produce that kind of leverage?!

In his book, Gladwell discusses how different types of people affect the growth of big trends or changes. Connectors are people who bring people together, Mavens accumulate information and like to help others by passing it on, and Salesmen are those who persuade.

First Connectors. "Sprinkled among every walk of life ... are a handful of people with a truly extraordinary knack of making friends and acquaintances. They are Connectors." In a way, our classes are somewhat connected by definition - the same people in the same room at the same time for a semester. But valuable classroom community goes beyond that and forms when the group connects on a cohesive level. Ideally we as instructors, and a few of our more influential students can serve as Connectors. Sure, we cannot control which students enroll in our classes, nor can we make them influence others positively. We can encourage connections through classroom exercises and with encouraging comments and enthusiasm.

Both we and our star students can play the role of Mavens. We, as academics, researchers, and educators, specialize in collecting and sharing information for the special purpose to share and educate others. That's our job! In fact, Gladwell describes a Maven as a teacher. "The one thing that a Maven is not is a persuader. To be a Maven is to be a teacher. But it is also, even more emphatically to be a student." He chose the name because "the word Maven comes from the Yiddish, and it means one who accumulates knowledge."

Our students can also serve as Mavens in the classroom. Several in each class will have read many articles and will begin to accumulate information over the semester. They are the students who jump in as others are presenting, to add more information or to mention other related articles. We should encourage them! Some students will follow the lead of a peer before they will model themselves after the instructor. If we are both acting as Mavens, students will have the examples of both peers and the faculty member.

Finally, we can serve as salesmen. Our enthusiasm for our discipline and student learning can't help but spill out, and is displayed to a greater extent when we incorporate current events into class discussions. I am not saying that we have to sell the material to students, but using this vehicle can show the students just how interesting and applicable the course coverage is.

Next week: I have a few more lessons from "The Tipping Point" to share with you.