I have been rehearsing over the past couple of weeks for a performance of Gilbert and Sullivan's musical "The Mikado" which I've been cast in. I was given the leading role, when I actually only intended to join in the tech crew. ;-) It is a fascinating part for me to muse about. There are many ways in which this story touches my heart.

One thing that's always fascinating to me in these kinds of situations, is to muse about the social interplay between the director and the cast and also specifically the director and myself. I love studying any kind of teacher. It's really enriching for me.

This afternoon my mind was brushing over how I choose to approach the project. It's kind of a feast and famine approach. I focus very hard during certain days, and other days I won't even pick up the script. This is a personal ethic of mine. I find it very important to reserve time for other important pursuits of mine during times when I am under obligation to learn something or other - like a part in a play... or when I'm doing something else that's creative in nature. These things aren't linear endeavors, and because of that, and because I'm a perfectionist, I tend to get all too wrapped up in something, to where it hurts me, even though I end really excelling with the task. I focused very hard on the script and the score initially... I learned all of my parts, and wrote out all the solfege for the notes... so I made certain to get the intervals properly. Then I went through all the speaking lines, and transcribed all of my lines into my own private phonetic language.. so I could think about the phonetics of the speech as much as the meaning. But then, I saw that I was way ahead of my colleagues - the other actresses and actors. And so I decided to relax and refocus my efforts onto another project (a computer program that I want to sell at some point, and which is taking forever to put together).

And so, I was relaxed and didn't even study hard for what the director called "the evaluation" - and I didn't do particularly well on that day with the higher notes of my main song which introduces my character - Nanki Pooh. I was, however, on par with the rest of the cast. But what I had done that afternoon before the evaluation rehearsal was to make a personal breakthrough when it comes to singing out loudly on the higher notes - the F's and G's and A's which Gilbert and Sullivan were so kind to write into my part ;-). And that personal breakthrough meant that I was comfortable with where I was now that we are a quarter of the way through our rehearsals.

By now, in the middle of this following week, I have gotten a lot better with that one important song of mine... and I've timed that extra study of mine on the music to coincide with the day we're actually doing the blocking (deigning character actions and motions on stage) for the songs.

And I am very happy with this personal ethic of mine, that I don't try to impress my teacher. But rather, I make the personal progress I need to in respect to what I need to learn. I was an A student as a child. And in highschool this need to always be perfect really wore on my nerves. It doesn't give an adolescent time for other important things in life - like friends and personal social maturation.

I think that the way grading systems are set up for kids in the West is not a good system. It really presupposes an innate talent or lack thereof with a field, and tries to rate kids based on this static quality that folks imagine that they have. Ideally, an evaluation should be the time when the teacher sees where his kids need help with certain areas. And this means that the most talented kid in the class should feel free to get a C and a D, and even an F, now and then. That's how a kid should ask for help.

But as our schools are set up today... each low mark is a permament indention into the final grade that a youth will get in that course. There's no forgiveness... and there's no accounting for that personal curve of a kid's learning.

The nations that the usa looks to which have more rigorous academic programs - like Japan - have problems with youth who will even sometimes commit suicide because so much seems to ride on their grades. So certainly more academic rigour is not the way forward for usa school. I don't believe that. We could look at New Zealand and get some good ideas for how to design schools better. I haven't even had an opportunity to study how things are done their yet; but from little I've seen, I am very impressed with how kids grow both academically, and in respect to social things. One thing I notice is that they all wear uniforms; and I think this would be a good idea. It would lead to kids taking their role as students more seriously.

For related food for thought, here is an interview (mp3) with a tenured professor at a Canadian school who recently became a thorn in the administration's side about the grading system, and was then sacked.