this is such an important thread. it makes me think about the idea i attribute to frozen 2 of doing the "next right thing," that you can always move slightly in the direction of justice, even if you dont have a real plan. also love the phrase "fraternities of the indifferent."
Beautiful sorting of systems of power. Thanks for naming some of the striking faults in how we-patricularly white males- keep the hierarchy in place. Whether conscious or not, it's an interesting thing to see how we're conditioned, and how we play that out.
One dynamic I run into a lot working with men is that we are often unable or unwilling to give and receive direct feedback, especially with other men. A widespread lack of resilience around being with, or creating discomfort adds to this, as well as a lack of practice in holding ourselves accountable.
that's one way power thrives: it participates only in one-way conversations with those it perceives as lesser than.
anyway. a sad situation in so many fields, especially here as you point out in education. thanks again for naming it.
I already mentioned Kim Brooks' review in the Sunday NY Times (Book Review section, p.14)of "Screaming on the Inside. The Unsustainability of American Motherhood" by Jessica Grose. Now I'm totally consumed by this crucial study. And the issue of POWER definitely comes across as being of ultimate importance in our society today. The main point is that "America invests less in parents and children than any other industrialized country; that our child care 'system' has been on the verge of collapse for several decades and is getting only worse; and that women who do manage to penetrate the glass ceiling and secure executive level jobs often do so by relying on caregivers who are marginalized themselves."
Grose's conclusions are based on extensive experience, research and interviews with mothers of multiple races, cultures and socioeconomic backgrounds. The powerless are omnipresent and the powerful, mostly male, are not contributing their fair share to this immense task of caring for our children .
We must direct our collective energy to attacking this systemic problem. There is a precedent for the kind of effective nonviolent resistance that can be mobilized, the Civil Rights movement that we celebrated last Monday on MLK's birthday. Let's join together to combat this egregious injustice! DD
While I have never sat on a curriculum committee for choosing reading instructional materials, I have sat on one for math materials, so I think I understand how one can end up with something suboptimal. In my experience, different instructional approaches work for different kids, but there is often a competing value, or directive from on high, that everyone in the district is required to use the same books. So the committee, often large, is formed of representatives, teachers and parents, who represent different cohorts but are there to choose materials that would work best for everyone, not just their kids of special concern.
My case in this is to try to choose materials that are versatile enough to be taught 'both ways' so teachers can customize to their own students, but not everyone chimes in that way.
So you land on a certain set of materials by consensus or vote, and those who have the resources to do so supplement their kids privately with extra methods or materials. And it turns out unfair.
Of course curriculum is always a great interest and concern of parents, local non-parents, and everyone else, so there are usually lots and lots of voices chiming in, sometimes in favor of things that are truly not supported by research, maybe are how they were taught in the day ... but they are vehemently held opinions.
I am not sure that people's reluctance to chime is the fundamental problem in matters of curriculum materials. In curriculum all the chiming in can be deafening.
But I agree in general that we need to have the courage to speak up and not just rely on the idea that someone else will do it for us.
When I think about your question through my lens as a white public school parent, I think it's lack of imagination. We white people do not understand how to work in solidarity with parents of color, for example, and get stuck in notions that stem from capitalist power structures that intentionally keep us divided. We simply can't imagine within the confines of what capitalism has taught us that there's a way to claim our power.
Claimed powerlessness can be a form of laziness. A person can use it to avoid responsibility, becoming the bad-guy, or avoidance of an issue. Claimed powerlessness can also be a mask for hypocrisy. It's an "I care so much, but what can little ole me do?" hand wringing person who is internally indifferent or biased. I've been a social activitist for years. You meet many types of people who are motivated by many things, very little has anything to do with what they say. I enjoyed your post. It's a very interesting question to contemplate.
Working with leaders and activists and parents and, well, people who have a need to say what is real to them, I am less and less often surprised to find that there are some very basic, teachable and learnable skills in both knowing what is real and true to them, and then being skillful in speaking it in a way that can get through in cleaner, most powerful ways to form the beginning of a dialogue. I collect a small toolbox that gets passed on to all of my students. Heading back down and in to the individual is my reflex lens, but I love how this causes small and large revolutions wherever it starts being practiced.
I think that could be one way to expand our imaginations, but it seems that racist housing policies and the self-segregation of white people edge out attempts at residential integration -- if we're thinking about mass expansion of imaginations. I think it requires us to expand beyond our bubbles in other ways, e.g., working in community groups that focus on antiracism and building relationships with folks that way.
I love this inquiry, it's one I've given a lot of thought to. My own intuition is that it has something to do with our reluctance to take responsibility or accountability for the impact of our decisions and actions.
Every decision or action has an impact, and because we are acting in conditions of complexity and uncertainty, inevitably some of that impact will be negative or harmful. Because we care about others, we don't want to take responsibility for that impact: it is easier to advocate our power, or point to those with more institutional or social power, or even to pedestalize those among us who hold power more easily. I've noticed this particularly in social justice spaces.
this is such an important thread. it makes me think about the idea i attribute to frozen 2 of doing the "next right thing," that you can always move slightly in the direction of justice, even if you dont have a real plan. also love the phrase "fraternities of the indifferent."
Beautiful sorting of systems of power. Thanks for naming some of the striking faults in how we-patricularly white males- keep the hierarchy in place. Whether conscious or not, it's an interesting thing to see how we're conditioned, and how we play that out.
One dynamic I run into a lot working with men is that we are often unable or unwilling to give and receive direct feedback, especially with other men. A widespread lack of resilience around being with, or creating discomfort adds to this, as well as a lack of practice in holding ourselves accountable.
that's one way power thrives: it participates only in one-way conversations with those it perceives as lesser than.
anyway. a sad situation in so many fields, especially here as you point out in education. thanks again for naming it.
I already mentioned Kim Brooks' review in the Sunday NY Times (Book Review section, p.14)of "Screaming on the Inside. The Unsustainability of American Motherhood" by Jessica Grose. Now I'm totally consumed by this crucial study. And the issue of POWER definitely comes across as being of ultimate importance in our society today. The main point is that "America invests less in parents and children than any other industrialized country; that our child care 'system' has been on the verge of collapse for several decades and is getting only worse; and that women who do manage to penetrate the glass ceiling and secure executive level jobs often do so by relying on caregivers who are marginalized themselves."
Grose's conclusions are based on extensive experience, research and interviews with mothers of multiple races, cultures and socioeconomic backgrounds. The powerless are omnipresent and the powerful, mostly male, are not contributing their fair share to this immense task of caring for our children .
We must direct our collective energy to attacking this systemic problem. There is a precedent for the kind of effective nonviolent resistance that can be mobilized, the Civil Rights movement that we celebrated last Monday on MLK's birthday. Let's join together to combat this egregious injustice! DD
While I have never sat on a curriculum committee for choosing reading instructional materials, I have sat on one for math materials, so I think I understand how one can end up with something suboptimal. In my experience, different instructional approaches work for different kids, but there is often a competing value, or directive from on high, that everyone in the district is required to use the same books. So the committee, often large, is formed of representatives, teachers and parents, who represent different cohorts but are there to choose materials that would work best for everyone, not just their kids of special concern.
My case in this is to try to choose materials that are versatile enough to be taught 'both ways' so teachers can customize to their own students, but not everyone chimes in that way.
So you land on a certain set of materials by consensus or vote, and those who have the resources to do so supplement their kids privately with extra methods or materials. And it turns out unfair.
Of course curriculum is always a great interest and concern of parents, local non-parents, and everyone else, so there are usually lots and lots of voices chiming in, sometimes in favor of things that are truly not supported by research, maybe are how they were taught in the day ... but they are vehemently held opinions.
I am not sure that people's reluctance to chime is the fundamental problem in matters of curriculum materials. In curriculum all the chiming in can be deafening.
But I agree in general that we need to have the courage to speak up and not just rely on the idea that someone else will do it for us.
When I think about your question through my lens as a white public school parent, I think it's lack of imagination. We white people do not understand how to work in solidarity with parents of color, for example, and get stuck in notions that stem from capitalist power structures that intentionally keep us divided. We simply can't imagine within the confines of what capitalism has taught us that there's a way to claim our power.
Claimed powerlessness can be a form of laziness. A person can use it to avoid responsibility, becoming the bad-guy, or avoidance of an issue. Claimed powerlessness can also be a mask for hypocrisy. It's an "I care so much, but what can little ole me do?" hand wringing person who is internally indifferent or biased. I've been a social activitist for years. You meet many types of people who are motivated by many things, very little has anything to do with what they say. I enjoyed your post. It's a very interesting question to contemplate.
Working with leaders and activists and parents and, well, people who have a need to say what is real to them, I am less and less often surprised to find that there are some very basic, teachable and learnable skills in both knowing what is real and true to them, and then being skillful in speaking it in a way that can get through in cleaner, most powerful ways to form the beginning of a dialogue. I collect a small toolbox that gets passed on to all of my students. Heading back down and in to the individual is my reflex lens, but I love how this causes small and large revolutions wherever it starts being practiced.
You often make me think (whether I want to or not), ideas and concept that I gnaw on for days. I thank you for taking the time to formulate and share.
I think that could be one way to expand our imaginations, but it seems that racist housing policies and the self-segregation of white people edge out attempts at residential integration -- if we're thinking about mass expansion of imaginations. I think it requires us to expand beyond our bubbles in other ways, e.g., working in community groups that focus on antiracism and building relationships with folks that way.
Excited to see this: I hunger for discussions of personal power/examination of the ways we give power away."
I love this inquiry, it's one I've given a lot of thought to. My own intuition is that it has something to do with our reluctance to take responsibility or accountability for the impact of our decisions and actions.
Every decision or action has an impact, and because we are acting in conditions of complexity and uncertainty, inevitably some of that impact will be negative or harmful. Because we care about others, we don't want to take responsibility for that impact: it is easier to advocate our power, or point to those with more institutional or social power, or even to pedestalize those among us who hold power more easily. I've noticed this particularly in social justice spaces.
I tried to write about it here, in points one and two that remain barriers to our liberatory power (the Agbo interview in particular is outstanding: https://citizenstout.substack.com/p/liberatory-governance-and-belonging)
Loved this one, thank you