The Elephant Rope

Walking through a festival practice centre in a village square, a man noticed that the elephants were only secured with a thin rope tied around their ankles. He wondered why they did not break free from something so weak. Abi na jazz?

Curious man like me, he asked the tamer. 

Here was the tamer’s response:

“We used the same size of rope for the elephants when they were babies. Because they were too small to break free from the rope as babies, they grew up conditioned to think that the rope is stronger than they are. So, even as adult elephants, they don’t try to fight it.”

As you ponder how this story may be paralleled with educational practices, please follow my thought process and try to answer these questions:

• Did you attempt something in the past but failed and have never gone back to it since? 
• Is it possible that you have actually been gathering strength over the months or years since you last tried, enough to succeed at that same venture without realising it? Can you reawaken that dream, prepare again and try?
• Are you able to see what you did in the past that may have led to the previous failure and what you can do differently now to get better results?
• Have you become conditioned by the heart breaks of the past to settle for the life you have now, so much that you cannot see clearly that you can actually become better than you are right now?
• Did you recently see an opportunity to catch something you wanted in the past but passed it on saying, ‘Those days are gone?’
• Is there a fixed mindset limiting you right now?

Many teachers practise learned helplessness when they succumb to the mindset behind statements like ‘Teaching is an underestimated profession.’ I find it surprising though that other than ‘agberos’, many other professionals in Nigeria (doctors, lawyers and even bankers), say the same thing about their professions. Those who believe this, work with a complex – they tend to either overly assert their relevance or easily accept being pushed over. Too much ‘gra-gra’ only underscores one’s emptiness. Chillax and keep cool. Conversely, no yes-man is ever taken seriously either. Let me be emphatic – teachers should not be seen as docile doormats, having no opinion or condemned from expressing their thoughts! Accepting just about any claptrap from parents or school leaders who can dangle the carrot-and-stick is doing them a disservice. Air your opinion in the most confident and productive way. I’ll share more ideas on this in another post.

Thank you for reading. Share this article with any teacher you care about.

Got questions, need advice or you have a story/experience to share? Pour your thoughts in the comments box. Let’s create a family on this page.