Mining the Resistance

Things I Didn't Say

Every once in a while, people with no interest in learning show up at my workshops, talks, or media interviews (as callers). There’s an energy that comes with these folks that screams resistance. They are there to tell me – and everyone else in the space – a thing or two. Sometimes three. As an educator I find myself in a bind. I am there to educate after all, yet I have to triage who I educate.

I prioritize those who’ve shown up ready and willing to learn and share, those in the spirit of co-learning, co-growing. In stark contrast, resistors show up with a this is how it is! declaration, never an authentic question or humble wondering. Be it cloaked behind a smile or in-your-face, their fearful, self-protective, bully energy is unmistakable. As an educator who believes in creating spaces for ALL, as in Life, Liberty, Justice for ALL, the presence of those unwilling to lean in, co-learn, get vulnerable, grow together gnaws at me. I generally listen to their assertions, still my body so as not to let their fear become my fear, and move on. Later though, on the ride home, always I am left with a pesky sense of unfinished business, an incomplete conversation with the arm-crosser in the back of the auditorium. What are you so afraid of? I want to ask. Tell me your very worst fear. I can spend days having imaginary conversations with these folks. Did you know about x? Have you considered y? Where did you learn z?

This page - Mining the Resistance - is my space to do just that, to sift through their declarations and find a meaningful response, a potential inroad that offers a reframe. Even if I never cross paths with this or that resistor again, the challenge they present gives me an opportunity to sharpen my thinking.

I hope my ruminations can support you too, be you a resistor or someone looking to engage the resistors in your life.

What I'd Say Now

*This* isn’t what schools were made for!

*This* refers to teaching a fuller version of history and current events -- which includes the history of racism, racial justice, and the multiple perspectives necessary to do so. It's a common claim by those caught up in the antiCRT movement.

It’s true, this is not what schools were made for. The US public school system formed between the mid 1800s and early 1900s during the heaviest wave of immigration in US history. Education sought to teach young people the English language while also preparing them for an industrial economy. Conforming, complying, and performing basic reading, writing, and math were priorities.

The 21^st century landscape is drastically different. Today’s schools must prepare young people for the world they will live in, not the one you and I, or children in the 1870s grew up in. In 2022, preparing young people for a fast paced, interconnected, multicultural, global world is the goal. Critical thinking, emotional resilience, authentic conversation skills, the ability to grapple with multiple perspectives, knowing how to engage across group differences, innovation, and adaptation are essential 21^st century skills. Education, in fact all of our institutions, must be nimble enough to adapt to ever-evolving forces such as technology, demographics, and economics.

Employers are looking for 21^st century skills, not 19th or even 20th century skills. Those "divisive" - I say difficult - conversations some fear? They build the very cross-cultural competence employers need to build diverse work teams and work transnationally. As for the divisiveness some fear? News alert: We are already divided, have always been divided, though many of us are having it revealed to us for the first time.

Bridging that divide starts with understanding it. Learning conversation skills and cultivating emotional stamina are what will enable us to build bridges to one another, to be that one human family so many claim we should be. Teaching hard history, creating classrooms steeped in authentic storytelling and inquiry, exploring why including marginalized voices can be harder than expected -- these are not distractions from education, they are 21st century educational essentials.