Let's Get Ready to Rumble

In Michael Cole’s Cultural Psychology, he states, “However it was not long before difference became deficiency” (9).  This, to me, became the undercurrent for how differences were treated and a poor excuse that continues today.  My immediate response affirms the saying, “people fear what they don’t know.”  This fear is a great motivator in many cases.  The fear that your difference is a threat to my reality inspires me to act in a way that preserves my existence with no regard of yours.  It also, in my opinion, creates binary thinking; that is unlike this, and is therefore bad. 

Consider the application of this phenomena in today’s classrooms.  Punishment is practiced, and 'easy' to enforce, but who is ultimately punished?  More often than not, it is the students who are considered different in some way. Our conditioning since the beginning of time tells us any differentiation deserves punishment because it is deficient.  I would argue that these differences are also feared because they are not readily understood.

I would like to introduce a binary that could possibly be the cure to the dilemma we face… Curiosity v. Indifference.  When a teacher is indifferent, s/he strips students of their dignity and humanity.  Indifference makes it easy for fear to impose itself and punishment to be freely given.  Many students' negative interactions are with teachers who are indifferent.  However, curiosity requires us to check ourselves and our biases.  It becomes the tool to find commonalities (instead of focusing on differences) and the vehicle towards understanding.  Imagine the patience a teacher would show students if s/he was curious!  How much harder would s/he work to get every student into the self-efficacy continuum?  How much more would a student feel validated and believed in if only a teacher took an interest?  The best part about curiosity is that it only asks a little intentionality.

Maybe I am naïve and overly optimistic.  At any rate, I am reminded of an old indigenous parable of the Two Wolves:

I am hopeful that as building leaders we will feed the Good Wolf (Curiosity).  I am confident that in doing so we will inspire our team to do the same with our scholars.

-T. A. Cornute