A Lesson from Mr. Bean

I was seated earlier this week at Teddy & Me - a café themed after Mr. Bean, and I really liked the ambience and location.

Without turning this into a café review, which I may decide to do at some point, perhaps on another platform, I thought I'd share something I learned while I was there.

They screened episodes of Mr. Bean, and I realised that it had been 25 years or so since the first episodes of the series came out. There was another screen of the animated series, which was not within view of my seat.

The incredible popularity and universal appeal of a near-silent character is remarkable. There is no ambiguity regarding his intentions on screen, and people from all cultures  understand the message he conveys using only his facial expressions and actions.

This is an excerpt from The Los Angeles Times (http://articles.latimes.com/2011/oct/20/entertainment/la-et-rowan-atkinson-20111020):

"They go to these African villages where there are four thatched huts," said Atkinson, 56. "There is nobody in any of them except one, where the entire village is crammed in there. There's a tiny black-and-white TV set being powered by a car battery, and there's a 'Mr. Bean' VHS tape being played."

Without doubt, the character Mr. Bean is an amazing communicator (so is the actor Rowan Atkinson, of course). His message is received willingly and accurately and my main takeaway was that this is the standard to strive for as a communicator - to be simple and intentional.

September passes, October cometh

September was certainly a month of numerous events.

The blood moon on the 27/28 September (depending on which part of the world you are in) was a highly anticipated phenomenon. Unfortunately, it couldn't be seen from Singapore as it was daytime (just past 10 am) here when it occurred.

The Iran nuclear deal has gone through, with potential dire consequences for the Middle Eastern region, especially for Israel.

ISIS continues to be a threat, and has forced action by numerous nations.

The pope and Chinese President Xi Jinping visited America, both with very interesting topics of discussion - immigration, security, and globalisation, to name a few.

The supposed financial breakdown has not occurred, though the cracks in the broken financial system are starting to become more and more obvious. Many analysts are still certain of its imminent arrival.

Closer to home, Singapore's General Elections have passed (and analysed in previous posts) and the haze is once again causing political tension with Indonesia.

Unrest is affecting Malaysia, with Chinese warned to avoid certain areas of the country.

This paints a rather dismal picture of the past month, and it has shown me that stability in this world is an ideal - one that cannot be fulfilled without a massive global coordination and cooperation. Who is to say that it isn't in the plans?

And yet, I am constantly reminded of scenes in the movie Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

People will fight for freedom, but if there is chaos and instability, they end up choosing security over freedom.

Is this not what is happening around us? Should we not do something about it? Or are we too caught up with our own lives to notice or even care? 

Soft Nurture (from The Introvert Teacher)

A soft nurturing teacher can suffer from low discipline if he does not enforce rules and routines, refuses to punish misbehaviour, or becomes too familiar or lenient with his learners.

Nurturers know that learners respond well to care and concern. Thus, they are generous with praise and usually speak softly and kindly. They see misbehaviours as opportunities to gently correct, but may forget that there is a need to assert themselves when dealing with them.

Asserting yourself will show your learners that you are in control of the situation and are competent and knowledgeable in handling it. It will also give them confidence that they can approach you to help them deal with problems that require a firm hand.

If you know a nurturer, their sessions tend to be less orderly and more raucous. However, if they are effective teachers, they will know when to get their learners to focus and settle down and their learners will remember them as “the fun ones”.

Hard Discipline (from The Introvert Teacher)

A hard disciplinarian can suffer from the problem of low rapport if she insists too hard on strict rules and routines, gives overly harsh punishments or shows a lack of concern for her learners and their well-being.

Disciplinarians know that, in order to create an orderly, safe environment for their learners, they need to enforce rules and create routines.

The key is to know when to relax the reins and when to tighten them. This shows your learners that your concern is for them and their education, not for yourself to appear “in control” all the time.

If you know a disciplinarian, you will notice that their sessions tend to be very orderly, even if their learners don’t seem to be particularly joyous. However, if they are effective teachers, their learners will thank them later for the focused environment they created.