January 15, 2024 Linda Markley

I Beg to Differ

calling to make a difference, Can do's, communication, Maslow before Blooms, Passion, Purpose, Resources, Spirit of teaching, Spirit practices, Strategies, Wholehearted teaching

Happy New Year 2024!

As we move into a new calendar year and the second half of another school year, I wanted to reflect a little with you about our differences.

The great Fred Rogers once said:

“Something else children need is the understanding that 

every person is 

DIFFERENT.

With that understanding can come children’s appreciation

of their own differences and the courage to 

be who they are – 

each one different from everybody else.”

Sometimes variations of this word DIFFERENT can get confusing in education and in how it is implemented into a school’s best practices.

There is an enormous focus and demand for DIFFERENTiation in the classroom as a result of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and ESSA (Every Student Succeeds Act).

We need to meet a student where they are. Then, we can figure out and accommodate all the different ways that child learns and succeeds. We don’t want to leave any child behind, and we do want them to succeed. 

However, I feel that what is said and what is practiced in education sometimes are very far apart. In fact, they are usually quite opposite.

I am a like a broken record now with voicing my perspective that we are preaching out of the box, differentiated and accommodating strategies for learning, YET…we are standardizing everything and expecting every child to jump into the same box WE have created for them.

AND, there is now a current trend to allow for fewer and fewer differences among children. 

There is even legislation being passed to not allow children to see something or someone different from themselves because of fear of indoctrinating them to a different way of thinking or being.

It is a fact that our brain is wired to see differences first before similarities. Perhaps that is so that we can be curious to learn more about those differences rather than be afraid of them?

Or is it for survival – what is different is a threat to my safety, well being, etc.?

As Fred Rogers says, it takes COURAGE, and as we know, there is a lot of fear permeating the walls of the classroom today.

So, how can we differentiate as well as allow for differences in the classroom 

in order to create a more nurturing, supportive learning environment 

for children (and teachers, for that matter!) and therefore,

MAKE A DIFFERENCE?

As a former World Languages and ELL (English Language Learner) teacher, I have always been fascinated and curious about other cultures and languages.

There is no doubt that my exposure to other cultures and languages has made me who I am today. Being able to experience how other people live and express themselves has opened my heart and my perspective to go beyond the small, limiting, homogenous community in which I grew up.

When I was in 6th grade, we got an ELL student from Ecuador named Alejandro. He spoke very little English, wore dress pants and collared shirt (like Sunday dress), had a dark complexion and dark eyes and was very shy and reserved. He was different. AND he needed the curriculum to be differentiated to meet him where he was. 

There was also a young many named Jimmy, white, American born and raised, yet he struggled with language processing in English, both speaking and writing. He was also very slow to catch on to a concept and would give up quickly, only soon to become a behavior problem for the teacher. He was different. AND he needed the curriculum to be differentiated to meet him where he was.

There was also a girl in my class named Melissa who was a Jehovah’s Witness, and she was not allowed to sing or learn square dancing or participate in any of the holiday celebrations. She was different. AND he needed the curriculum to be differentiated to meet her where she was.

And finally, one of my best friends in 6th grade was a girl named Beth who was legally blind and had to leave the class for part of instructional time to work one-on-one with a teacher from the nearby school for the deaf and blind. She also needed special materials and an assistant to help in class. She was different. AND she needed the curriculum to be differentiated to meet her where she was.

I remember thinking, as a peer to all these children in 6th grade, that they were different than me, but I was not afraid of them. I was curious and wanted to learn more about them. I didn’t judge them for their different needs, but instead, wanted them to have them in order to feel good about themselves, included and supported in the class and inspired to learn and grow (aka = become successful!)  

Moreover, I perceived their differences not as a threat to my own identity or abilities, but as an opportunity to learn from them and subsequently, adjust my “lenses” in order to better see the world around me and how I fit in to that world. What if I were blind, what would I need? What if I didn’t speak English and no one understood me, what would I need? You get the picture.

I discovered that through this self-reflection and inquiry, I could “fit in” and find my place next to them through compassion, empathy, love, understanding, grace and acceptance. 

I strongly feel that I have learned so much more about myself when I have been able to look at others who are different from me and then, to learn from them. To gain new perspectives and broaden my horizons. To sharpen my lenses for more clarity to see myself and my place in the world and my connection to humanity.

It gives my perspective more breadth, depth and meaning. It strengthens my connection to the world and provides for a deeper, richer experience in life.

This is how learning in the classroom should be. Personal, meaningful and connected to the bigger picture of the world. 

More open-ended activities, project-based learning, explore and discover center-based learning or Kagan style cooperative learning activities. 

When planning, we should take from a diverse, broad spectrum of resources instead of scripted multiple choice/True-False, fill-in-the-blank answers to questions and concepts/content that have no connection to the student nor to the world in which they live.

We are not allowing for higher order thinking or processing (even though we are preaching this too!)…just memorized facts for regurgitation or workbook activities for “drill and kill” practice that we hope will eventually lead to learning. It reminds me of the scene in a Christmas Story when Randy doesn’t want to eat what is for dinner.

We put students on a computer and create activities where they interact with information in a all-or-nothing, right or wrong system that doesn’t allow for creativity nor interaction with other students to even possibly explore different perspectives or exchange different information.

It really scares me so much all the regulation and control that is going on in the classroom today…all the “screwdriver and plumber’s helper” that is being implemented into schools. 

My hope is that every teacher, everywhere can find a way to use some of those strategies I previously mentioned in order to allow for differences and differentiation in the classroom.

Whether teachers are afraid to deviate from the book and prescribed curriculum or they just don’t have the energy or knowledge to be able to create activities and experiences for their students to explore different possibilities, who is to say?

I can only hope and pray and beg that someday we will find a way in education to differ because, you know, as a teacher, “I have a dream!” for each and every child!

Image credit:

“A Different Group 109/365” by Louish Pixel is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.