What's true in gym class is equally true in reading, writing, and arithmetic.
There's a good reason why Billie won't learn: Protecting one's dignity comes before learning. However, if we create a dignitarian environment in which it's safe to do so, students will not hesitate to put their bodies and their minds fully to the test.
As already emphasized, although rank is not inherently rankist, it often becomes so in practice. Whatever the goal of the enterprise--to teach, to build, to heal, to protect--the burden of proof should be on those with rank to show that it's necessary to accomplish the mission at hand. To safeguard against rank's tendency to overreach and rank-holders to self-aggrandize, we must seek out and adopt the least hierarchical model compatible with delivering the best product or service.
Antibullying Projects
Bullying is increasingly recognized as pervasive and destructive. In recent years, it's begun to be addressed where many first encounter it: in the schools. Some 160,000 students in California miss school every day out of fear of attack or intimidation by other students. Twenty-seven percent of California students are harassed because they are not "masculine enough" or "feminine enough." Following are descriptions of four projects designed to put bullying in the spotlight and then eliminate it.
Somebodies and Nobodies in a Public School
In the fall of 2004 Stephanie Heuer, an instructor in a public school in San Jose, California, came up with a novel approach to the problem of bullying. She wrote two short phrases on the chalkboard:
I feel like a nobody when. . . .
I feel like a somebody when. . . .
She asked her pupils, grades 2 to 5, to complete these phrases--only if they chose to and without giving their names--and then made a book of their responses. She got 100 percent participation. Here's a sampling of what the children wrote:
I feel like a nobody when:
- Somebody calls me stupid.
- My mom and dad are yelling at me.
- People don't play with me.
- My father doesn't listen to me.
- My parents fight.
- I am not invited to a party.
- My mom doesn't say goodnight. It makes me feel invisible.
I feel like a somebody when:
- People play with me.
- People listen to me.
- I help someone.
- I do something hard.
- I am loved by my mom.
- I get all my homework right.
- I do well on my vaulting. (I want to give someone a big hug.)
- Everyone in my family does something together.
- I feed my dog and cats.
A few other responses:
- I felt like a somebody when I got a new pair of ballet shoes that were white. I felt pretty the first time I danced. I felt like a pretty somebody.
- I feel like nobody most of the time. My dad isn't here anymore. I feel like somebody when he comes back to visit. We get to play ball.
- I feel like nobody when I am me; I feel like somebody when I am you.
Timeless and universal, these statements speak for children everywhere, and for many adults as well. As people realize they are hurt in the same ways and made happy by the same things, they begin to treat others differently. Transforming institutional procedures into dignitarian ones is what's ultimately required to safeguard dignity, but knowing how others feel and recognizing ourselves in them comes first.
Following are some other pupil responses and Stephanie Heuer's report on how these comments changed the way she conducts her classes:
"I feel like a somebody when my parents congratulate me."
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