I happened to be in Paris the day of the terror attack, and it was a bit unnerving since I was at the American School. Our meeting abruptly ended as heightened security went into immediate effect, and I took the train back to Paris.
I seem to be bad luck: I was in DC during 9-11 (At NSF, no less), and I was in NYC during the first attack on the world trade center in the early 90s. So, I have had a lot of opportunity to ponder terror, our responses to it – and links to education generally (and UbD specifically).
“Ubd? Really, Grant? Isn’t that a bit of a stretch?”
No. Because we are talking about understanding and a lack of understanding – in this case, with very high stakes. It is crucial that we learn to understand – not like or respect, but understand! – why young men become alienated from civilized life broadly and school specifically, and resort to murder in the name of THEIR understanding. In the language of the 6 facets, we have to have the courage and the intellectual integrity to empathize and have perspective.
Interestingly, when times get tough, as they are now, empathy is viewed as a sell-out, as dangerous, as providing respect and legitimacy to the Other, to the Enemy. But that is fearful thoughtlessness. Our only hope in facing this crisis is to better understand why people think and act as they do – whether we like or detest what they do. No good comes from dismissing them as ‘evil’ and ending all thought in our moral smugness.
It is not a stretch, I believe, to see our most alienated young people in school as similar in psychological state to these radicalized Islamic fighters. We have seen this play out in kids becoming gang members; we have seen it play out in school shootings by students. No good ever came from boys becoming increasingly marginalized and made to feel like outsiders and incompetents. That’s the pool from which Al Qaeda most successfully draws and it is the pool from which our lone wolf student shooters come. It is also, more mundanely, why boys drop out psychically from their work and just go through the motions.
What role, then, do we as educators have to play in this crisis? A very important one, I think. It is imperative that we aggressively fight bullying and all ‘softer’ forms of marginalization of students. But as importantly, it is imperative that we find countless ways – as part of curriculum – to make ALL learners feel competent and a part of something worthwhile.
A 7th grade girl, when interviewed by teachers as part of our summer institutes, said the most amazing thing when asked how she felt about ‘typical’ teaching. “The more the teacher talks, the more I feel alone and useless.” Pedagogy, as everyone from Dewey to Freire has noted, has a moral dimension, whether we like it or not. What we feel comfortable with is irrelevant; what does the student need to prosper is the only question that matters.
My mentor John Goodlad, who died recently, noted repeatedly in A Place Called School what the authors of How People Learn noted 20 years later: motivation to learn and to participate in learning is greatly increased when you are made to feel a part of something and made to feel more competent at something. That’s why I believe so strongly in athletics, Socratic Seminar, Band, PBL, putting on plays, etc. as a central not peripheral part of learning. That is our moral mission as educators. Because the alternative is more than sad. It is dangerous, harmful to both our broad ideals and to individual students who may not fit our picture of ‘good’ students.
I tell this story often: Chris a student of mine, was a pain in the ass: biting, sassy, headstrong. I was advisor to the paper; he was editor. He got me in trouble a few times with HIS journalism. But I felt honor-bound to help him be a better editor and learner even as he made it difficult for all of us. Fast forward: Chris Hedges wins the Pulitzer prize in journalism for his work in Bosnia. I gather he is STILL cranky and challenging. So be it.
Let’s keep trying to understand our misfits, our loners, our pains in the ass, even in the face of these difficult times in and out of school. We just may save some souls and prevent some tragedies.
PS: A relevant piece in today’s NYT: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/09/world/europe/raising-questions-within-islam-after-france-shooting.html
PPS: A later article on the need for education reform of Muslim youth in France in the NY Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/13/opinion/for-french-muslims-a-moment-of-truth.html
PPPS: Yet another revealing article about the education-alienation connection for Muslims: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/14/opinion/the-anger-of-europes-young-marginalized-muslims.html
A month later: France announces an education plan to ensure that all students understand the non-secularism of France. From this article, the situation will be made worse, not better, by the plan proposed: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/23/world/europe/charlie-hebdo-attack-leads-to-changes-in-french-schools.html
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43 Responses
Words and actions to live by. Thanks Grant. We are all hostages to our own egos.
Important post Grant. What I could not agree more with is that school is where would-be future terrorists can be turned around. It is also a place where all students can develop a shared identity. As Europe becomes ever more ethnically and religiously diverse, forging a coherent shared identity is essential. PBL is the key to this – just blogged about it last night from a German perspective. http://eoinlenihan.weebly.com/blog
Eoin, my understanding is that there are many parts of France that are ruled exclusively by Moslems, and the authorities do not have jurisdiction. If so, the students there are being indoctrinated in the hate and anti-Western beliefs that lead to these actions.
Hi Dvora, your reply got me thinking. It inspired this blog. It will be controversial to many but I feel, sadly, it is the truth. http://eoinlenihan.weebly.com/blog
I’m surprised that in this very thoughtful post of yours you twice call my view incorrect. I did not say that these people were loners; I said that they were marginalized and surely their self-insulation is related to their disaffection from French schooling in which they did not fit. But your history is a useful reminder that these are difficult questions. My main point was to remember our moral obligation: make school inclusive; make people feel wanted. From everything I know about French schools they often do the opposite regardless of religion: it is not uncommon to call students stupid or ignorant in French classrooms. I actually gathered 3-4 wince-inducing stories from the French people who teach at ASP. So, I think my point is valid – though, as you point out, an insufficient account of causality and history.
Sorry Grant, I actually agree with you, it is our moral obligation as educators to undertake the increasingly difficult task of community building in diverse schools! I am rereading the post because I really do not mean to attack. Sorry again!
It looks to me like Grant and Eoin clearly agree with each other about the importance of school as a place to teach independent thinking and personal responsiblity.
Thank you for posting that well researched blog Eoin. I learned a lot from reading it, and shared it with my colleagues.
Thank you so much for reading and sharing Dvora! That means a lot, especially as to some the content will seem controversial. I am a big believer that community building is hard work that needs a lot of honesty.
Thanks Grant for this post. Its a good reminder of why we became teachers to begin with.
You are right on about this Grant. I remember right after 9-11 there was actually quite a bit of press about this tragic alienation and anger fermenting in the refugee camps and dislocated societies in the Middle East. And then abruptly it stopped…. There was no room in our chest-beating, militant hysteria that followed for empathy or understanding “others.” This was a tragic mistake for us all.
And I agree that the organization and structure of schools can act in the same way to quell expressions of difference and identity that our youth yearn for. Let’s take hope that at each one of these new tragedies there is the opportunity for us to pay attention and listen to each other in a new and more fruitful way. Amy Demarest
Grant, I always enjoy your posts, but this is one I feel hits the nail right on the head in so many ways in today’s society. BRAVO and thanks for sharing this with us!
Thank you for this important reminder, Grant. Just yesterday in one of my classes I had realized that I think the bottom line of why I teach is to help students build empathy. It’s nicde to feel part of a community that holds that value in high esteem.
Thank you for putting what is so important into perspective. I always thought I was a pretty good math teacher but I found that when I talk to past students they never talk about the math I taught but something completely random that might have come up during a class.
Some days can be quite frustrating and in particular a student might intentionally tug on a nerve. Being a teacher though is not about “instant gratification” or seeing an immediate change every day. It is about the investment that you are putting into that students instruction and life that will continue to grow.
I sometimes relate it to how I usually play golf. I am not a good golf player at all. In fact I usually have to take several swings during the day. Every once in a while though, you have that swing where the ball hits the club exactly where it was supposed to and it lands close to the hole. In teaching, some days you are going to swing away but you are also going to have those times where you see the change in the way a student thinks and you can see it. It is a wonderful feeling!
Grant,
Thank you for your thoughtful and insightful comments. Your urging to making Socratic Seminars “a central not peripheral part of learning” speaks loudly to me. Yes, Socratic Seminars improve speaking, listening, and close reading skills of students, but, I believe, more importantly, Socratic Seminars, done well, give voice to all students, especially to the reserved and the marginalized. Few things are as important as building a community of learners where shared understanding of important ideas is the central part of the classroom.
http://www.socraticseminars.com
I have long believed that the most important thing we can teach during the course of a school day is empathy. Socratic Seminar is a great tool for this. Speaking, listening, respecting, feeling empathy.
Thank you for this. As a teacher educator helping new teachers with planning, it helps me remember to always keep the big stuff front and centre. That is why we came into the profession in the first place. I don’t often respond to blog posts, but this is such a great one. Thank you.
Many just want a warm head and do not have a beanie or know how to,knit themselves. Constantly giving lessons. Young people love the sense of achievement when they finish something they have made.
I envy your friendship w/Mr. Goodlad, one of my heroes, from print.
I agree with what you write here. All results are not so dramatic as yours with Chris Hedges, but you made me recall “Jason” who was suspended and shifted to an “alternative school” from which he had to fight his way into regular h.s. his senior year. He understood “The Stranger” in an instant and he graduated.
Also, I appreciate your line about sports and drama, etc.
And, do you recall Richard Ohman’s “English in America” from 1976?
I don’t known it – I’ll check it out.
This is an important post because it emphasizes what I say all my dealings with teachers that empathy and understanding go hand in hand. We need to teach students empathy and the other facets of empathy: perception and compassion in everything we do -and model it as well. As we help students build understanding of a topic or skill, we can also help them imagine how it might affect someone else or how someone else might struggling with it (perceive) and empower them to help someone (compassion.)
Thank you, Grant, for another thought filled and reflective post.
Grant, I think like you. A lot of people haven’t empathy and it is the most important to create good persons. Thanks for working in education and sharing your thoughts and ideas. Please, be safe it was a pleasure meet you last Christmas.
Thank you for your thoughtful post Grant. I struggle with this in particular, because part of me wants to have empathy for the human beings who perpetrate these acts of terror, and part of me sees them as an evil that has to be eradicated. As Jew, we have been hated and persecuted since ancient times, but we have been taught not to rejoice when our enemies get their punishment (specifically referenced in the parting of the Red Sea when the Egyptians are drowned.) While it is our job to teach goodness and ethical action, it is also our job as a civilized society to protect the innocent against evil. When faced with an attacker, or even a potential attacker, there is a place for protective and even pre-emptive strikes. We need leadership to help us in these times, to guide us in this balance.
Empathy does not mean tolerance or respect; it means trying to get inside their mind, their thinking. As we wrote in UbD, empathy was a german term, coined by a writer discussing what was needed to understand work of art as the artist intended it instead of just reacting to it from our stance. That’s the kind of empathy I’m calling for. I, personally, find the term “evil” unhelpful because it tends to shut off thinking. By saying that I do NOT mean that thinking and empathy means we won’t find their deeds evil; I mean merely that reacting first by calling them evil often means we stop thinking. We must dedicate ourselves, however, to finding out what makes these people tick – if only to protect ourselves from them.
I totally agree that by first calling a group or individual “evil” we oversimplify and shut off thinking.Thank you for the explanation Grant.
I found this post really troubling. I absolutely agree that some students feel unengaged and alienated by school. I was also bullied intensely in middle school, less so in high school, and it remains one of the more traumatic memories of my life. I further agree that teachers should all work to help students feel engaged and competent. My blog is in no small part dedicated to pointing out how education policy does exactly the opposite.
Where I vehemently draw the line is in seeing a connection between our well-meant but often failing educational system and an individual’s choice to turn to violent cruelty.
Specifically:
“It is not a stretch, I believe, to see our most alienated young people in school as similar in psychological state to these radicalized Islamic fighters. ”
It’s not just a stretch. It’s an unfair and inaccurate distortion. I know lots of alienated young men. I don’t see potential radicals who’ll turn to violence.
And, from a commenter:
“What I could not agree more with is that school is where would-be future terrorists can be turned around.”
Also simply not true. Not just untrue, but unfair. The 9/11 terrorists were all well-educated people who participated in the educational system. They were nonetheless alienated.
It’s tempting to create spectrums–from alienation to radicalization to violence. But the connections just aren’t there.
I thought Harry’s characterization of your post was unfair and nasty. However, I think any effort to link radical violent acts to educational alienation that teachers can fix by engaging kids better–whether or not you can quote students who agree–is just….wrong. More to the point–and here, I think, was Harry’s real issue–you are basically claiming a moral necessity to adopting your methods, that teachers who refuse to adopt your methods are simply creating environments that lead to alienation and, ultimately, terrorism.
Maybe you meant to claim that. I prefer to think you didn’t.
You may draw the line where you wish. That doesn’t make it so, alas. I am neither claiming UbD as a cure for what ails a violent world nor claiming a moral necessity to adopt my approaches. I am saying education is a moral business with moral consequences. I think the whole post reflects a caution and a call to reflect deeply on who we are as educators. Your own bullying reveals the importance of why this is so. And the whole point was to “understand” these Others, not claim that I do understand them.
I stand by my comment that it is possible to turn would-be terrorists around, we have no option and it will not be easy but it is possible – I elaborate here – http://eoinlenihan.weebly.com/blog
Well, I agree of course. I simply reject fatalism as I think my career suggests. Concerted effort – by society, governments, cultural institutions as well as individuals – is, in fact, are only sure “weapon” in the war on violence.
Agreed Grant, I am responding to educationrealist’s comment above where he mentions my response..
Grant: How very timely this post is! I am currently at a national board meeting planning an annual school safety conference. I will be sure to share this particular post with the 22 board members. Stay safe….Janet
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Thanks for writing this.
Reblogged this on The education of a teacher. and commented:
This is not hyperbole or self-importance from Grant Wiggins, this is what is at stake when we talk about the core aim of teaching and learning…and it should be inspiring!
Thank you for your post. I will share with my faculty. “What does the student need to prosper is the only question that matters,” is a powerful reminder that educators serve students, that is our moral purpose, and our way to ensure equity in our classrooms.
The key to this, I believe, is in the mistaken emphasis placed in teaching and learning, on what young students are able to DO as a result of the teaching process(es), as opposed to who they can BE. In our predominant modes of instruction, all thought of WHO the student IS, and can BE, is utterly ignored and considered irrelevant, resulting in profoundly deep feelings of alienation, insult, neglect and often rage. Constant drumming on about competence and outcomes only, is a failure to acknowledge the full identity and humanity of the student and results in profoundly harmful consequences for all of us.
Mills… I think this is a wonderful insight… all of this incessant focus on skills yet little focus on the type of person we are to become. The irony is that if we focus more on how to shape the virtues of people, then all of a sudden the skills become a servant to a larger, more intrinsically valuable goal. Unfortunately, we don’t have this discussion about the philosophical purpose of education. We should….
Reblogged this on A Teaching Life and commented:
So much wisdom in this post by Grant Wiggins:
I see an increase in the number of students wearing hoods these days. But at least they can make a claim and support it with evidence.
Claim: I’m hurting, and I need help.
Evidence: [hood]
Great post, Grant.
Well said, and I’m so glad you said it because I feel the same. We have to stop the alienation in order to stop the violence. Grant, I saw you years ago at NESA in Athens. I loved you then and you are still my hero. Thank you for your posts, your thoughts, your passion and your honesty.
Much appreciated,Tara!
insightful – Thanks, Grant.