At the language school where I work, the demand for storytelling abilities has skyrocketed. And my school is not alone in embracing the creative nature of education. In fact, many educational institutions dedicated to the art of storytelling have been established around the world.
This shift in what skills are valued professionally has caused me to think not only about my own teaching practice, but also about how I interview candidates. In order to keep up with the times, we realized that we needed to drastically rethink the way we traditionally conduct interviews.
The predetermined set of questions I used in interviews was not enough to attract seasoned professionals. These routine questions became routine, and my exhaustion, which was nearing burnout, was obvious to the candidates. They realized that my question was repetitive and I also realized that I needed a change. We needed to introduce something less predictable and more engaging to evaluate candidates.
What is Grand Mastery?
Designed for non-traditional learning grand master is an integrative thinking training platform that allows students to learn through creativity, competition, and discussion. Grandomastery is especially useful for English learners who want to practice their speaking skills on topics not covered in textbooks. Grand Mastery is also a useful tool for speakers.
Applying Grand Mastery to Interviews
That's when a colleague introduced me to a new technique called “Grand Mastery.” It is a combination of “Grand” and “Random Mastery”, which includes a series of randomized tasks with a large number of randomized sets for each task type. As a result, you will be asked a wide range of questions during the interview. In the section of the interview dedicated to assessing the candidate's creative abilities, the Grand Mastery technique introduces a variety of unpredictable tasks. This unpredictability, shared by both candidates and interviewers, reinforces the dynamic nature of the assessment process.
Previously, we judged the quality of a candidate's answers by comparing them to the answers of other candidates. However, this clouded my judgment. We have found that candidates cannot be evaluated accurately unless they are freed from the constraints of comparing their performance to that of other candidates. This strategic change in methodology allowed for an unbiased assessment, moving away from the existing biases that had previously influenced my assessment.
The art of storytelling plays a vital role in modern education. The ability to engage students in activities and immerse them in language acquisition requires the application of advanced cognitive abilities, commonly referred to as higher-order thinking skills.
These cognitive skills are designed as mediators, eliciting diverse perspectives among students. It is in this area that Grand Mastery emerges as a valuable tool, providing a means of assessing an individual's proficiency in possessing and deploying higher-order thinking skills. This methodology has proven unexpectedly advantageous, particularly when it comes to assessing creativity and higher-order cognitive skills, including the skilled use of sophisticated language.
Why is Grand Mastery so effective?
Its ingenuity lies in the randomization of assignments, especially the periodic randomization of tasks, each of which follows its own randomization procedure. The Grand Mastery methodology, with its randomization of tasks within cycles, introduces an unparalleled paradigm.
One of the crucial tasks in Grand Mastery is to engage in activities centered around abstraction. The core concept revolves around the fusion of completely different, seemingly incompatible, abstract elements through the application of abstract reasoning. For this reason, candidates are expected to have advanced literacy, clear communication skills, a strong vocabulary, proficient abstract reasoning skills, and, above all, the ability to use language in context.
The essence of Grand Mastery is that there is no definitive solution. We find joy in the lack of clear answers, eschewing intellectual quizzes structured around right or wrong answers, and instead talking about and establishing connections between seemingly disparate and disparate concepts. Focus on competency.
The grading criteria for tasks within Grand Mastery prompts reflection on grading parameters. Evaluation depends on measuring the degree of imaginative leaps, or “outlandishness,'' in connecting unrelated concepts. If this connection provokes a smile or laugh, it indicates that the task was successfully completed.
Creativity and storytelling are the future
More broadly, the ability to craft a persuasive narrative is crucial in modern educational paradigms that emphasize not just logical or mathematical skills, but also the development of soft skills and emotional intelligence. This proficiency becomes even more important in the context of Grand Mastery. Current exams, typified by modern international student assessment programs in schools and universities, emphasize the importance of demonstrating creativity and imaginative thinking.