Balancing Science and Art

Bread baking is like hitting a moving target. Even seasoned bakers call it a practice, because you have to be constantly making adjustments.

—Martin Phillip

Are you one of the many who have tried your hand at baking while we are under shelter-in-place restrictions? If you’ve been able to get your hands on flour and yeast (which were cleared from shelves early where I live), you may have.

In April of last year, Annemarie Conte wrote about a bread-baking class she took. When Martin Phillip, the head baker, gave the fledgling bakers a tour of the kitchen, they were a little surprised by its simplicity. Annemarie wrote, “To be honest, there’s not much to see. It’s very simple—and that’s the point. Flour, yeast, salt, water, and skill come together to make something truly magic and life-sustaining under Martin’s strong, watchful eye.”

It is a balance between science and art.

That balance is a perfect metaphor for teaching, too. And the quote above couldn’t be truer. We are constantly making adjustments to lessons, instruction, plans, and our practice, perhaps never more than in the last two months. Many of you just finished your school year online. Some of you, like me, have a week to go before we can declare this crazy year complete. And already there is serious talk about what it will look like, and not look like, when we return in the fall.

No matter how it ends up, the basic ingredients remain the same. Not flour, yeast, salt, water, and skill, but relationships, reading, writing, and learning. Under our watchful eyes, something magical and life-sustaining can still happen, whether it is online, six feet apart in a classroom, or through carefully designed packets. So take heart, take a breath, keep adjusting, and be well. 

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