Yes, I Mean "Confront"

Provocation #5: Words matter

confront (/kənˈfrənt/) verb: To tell someone what they do not want to hear. (Cambridge Dictionary)

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Since publishing my manifesto and launching this site, I’ve had more than a few people ask “Why ‘confront’?” as in, why not “interrogate” or “unpack” or “address” or some other less in-your-face word for what needs to be done with education.

Let me explain.

It’s not just that the word ‘confront’ carries more of an edge that those other words do. (I considered the words “resist” and “reject” for a half minute before acknowledging they were likely too edgy.) I chose it primarily because, as the definition above suggests, it implies a reckoning. It captures the discomfort of now. And it signals a certain seriousness that’s required in times of “chaos, complexity, and collapse.”

In other words, there is much about education that I think we need to say that most in education don’t want to hear right now.

Much to Confront

For instance, most don’t want to hear that traditional forms of education in this moment are not fit for purpose, that our current desired outcomes of schooling are increasingly irrelevant and out of step with what the world is demanding of our children now and into the future.

They don’t want to hear how current education systems and practices are contributing to the challenges that all of us now face, primarily by continuing to hew toward a narrative of “success” that is based on an unsustainable level of extraction of natural resources and human capital.

They don’t want to hear that many of the pedagogies and practices employed in schools are in direct opposition to the ways in which humans young and old learn best. Instead, they serve the ways in which students get schooled best.

They don’t want to hear that by refusing to face and discuss the realities of a world nearing multi-system collapse, they are, in effect, misleading (if not lying to) their students and school communities about what the future holds.

They don’t want to hear that most decisions about schooling are made in the best interests of schooling, not children.

They don’t want to hear that given a choice between maintaining their reputations and maintaining the mental and emotional health of their students (and teachers), they will (implicitly) choose the former.

And they don’t want to hear that by stressing competition and individual achievement, they are increasing the growing disconnection of humans to one another and to all other living things on the planet which ultimately, as I argue in the manifesto, is at the core of the “metacrisis.”

So, yeah…”confront” fits, I think.

No Apologies

I know for many caring, well-meaning educators who honestly feel they are doing good work, this will feel like a slap in the face. I’m tempted to say “good,” because that’s usually an after effect of a confrontation that hits the mark. I’m not doubting their intentions, but I am doubting their willingness to learn and unlearn in their own contexts. While many feel powerless to change (as I wrote about last week,) no one is powerless to learn.

So what I wonder (hope?) is if those well-meaning educators can get past that initial feeling and sit honestly with that list above and check in. Am I (and many others) wrong about these things? Might you be in denial of some of these truths? And if it’s the latter, can you acknowledge that and use it as a lens going forward?

If we are going to collectively “confront” and respond to the growing list of challenges that we’re all facing, then we’re going to have to “confront” education’s role in adding to (and, hopefully, ameliorating) them as well. If that causes discomfort or anger, well, we all should be feeling those things right now.

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If all of that comes across with an even greater sense of intensity and urgency than my “normal” missives, let me tell you why.

Yesterday I held some “pregame” Zoom sessions for participants in the workshops that I’m starting in a couple of weeks. In the morning session, we were joined by a founder of a school in Bangalore and a Year 10 student who will be participating with us. (If we’re talking about kids and schooling, kids should be in the room, full stop.) What I heard about that child’s experience of school amazed me. She admitted that climate change was “heavy” and “scary” but that they weren’t avoiding the topic in school. By moving from “problems” to “projects,” the school gave her agency to dive into climate issues (and other challenges) in a way that was relevant to her own life and that made her feel empowered. The school holds forums with parents to discuss the “metacrisis.” They hire adults not as teachers but as facilitators who share a passion for learning and can mentor students through their own “adventures.”

Change is Emerging

The bottom line is that school has “confronted” education and changed the narrative. They are being “future serious” with their kids and themselves. They are changing the script. All of which makes these provocations even more important now. The change is emerging… (There’s more, and I’m hoping to do an interview with the head and some of her students to share in the near future.)

I know that while (hopefully) inspirational, many will read that story and think “impossible” in the current environment in most places in Western societies. And I wouldn’t disagree. But I would argue that as places that must hold care for children at the center of the work, school communities must at least engage in these conversations even if they are loathe to act on them. We cannot ignore these realities any longer. I’ll beg if I have to: please, please, PLEASE be willing to lead through the discomfort and confront these realities (or “unpack” or “interrogate” or “discuss” them…whatever works) in ways that build capacity to make more relevant decisions (when you can) for the children you serve.

Please do that, at least.

As always, your thoughts are welcomed.

With gratitude,

~Will

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