Becoming Circe

During our recent beach vacation, I read Madeline Miller’s Circe. In her imagining of this Greek goddess’s life, Miller compelling tells how Circe transformed others into monsters (including the famous Scylla) and her subsequent exile. Once banished to her island, however, Circe discovers that she can bend the plants, animals, and the very air around her to her will. She embraces her craft as a witch, thus gaining power not only over the natural word and the gods who assail her, but also–and most importantly–over herself and her self-narrative.

Serendipitously, as I read the book, a friend of mine passed on a powerful meditation mantra: “My challenges are my greatest devices.” Although I am a poor meditator (I strive!), this mantra speaks volumes to me, especially as a teacher. I immediately saw Circe as following this teaching: set on her island, she turned her challenges of exile and isolation into her devices–she became a witch, a devisor, an artist. Most of us are not witches (more on that word, perhaps in October), but each of us can turn our own challenges to hand. We can fashion our own art or artifice from them.

So how might this mantra affect my teaching practice? I think it comes down to a fostering a growth mindset in each student, so that they see their challenges as fodder for art or skill. How, for example, might I turn a student’s self-narrative from “I can’t write” into “I can write unlike anyone else”? Surely the answer lies in knowing each student well, in differentiating the instruction, and in re-envisioning their “weaknesses” as opportunities to articulate the assignments differently.

This is where my thoughts dwell this week. I hope to post a few concrete ideas in a few days.