- A cry for social justice
- A fury to get teachers ESL endorsed
- An outcry to address the achievement gap
- An attempt to make it a university requirement for educators to take a multicultural education class
not much has changed in the education system and statistics across the nation still look pretty dismal for our diverse learners.
In a talk by Henry B. Eyring, "Teaching Is A Moral Act," delivered at the BYU Annual University Conference on 27th of August 1991, he quoted his father, Henry Eyring, a famous scientist. It was a response his father had given to someone who chided him for changing his mind (flip flopping) about an issue related to science but the same principle applies for those of us concerned about the education of our diverse learners. He said, "I have been on every side of this question, and I will get on every side I can discover until I get a better answer."
If we are to better serve our diverse learners, we must find a
safe place where we can look at every side of the issue without having our
ponderings attacked. Even though much work related to research has
been done (and we haven't even applied that!!!), the quest isn't over....and nor will it ever be. There will always be a better answer for those willing to take the journey and who have the courage to step out of a comfort zone and ask the hard questions.
In Stephen Covey's work he talks about a "Third Space."---where we come to conclusions that are better than either side of an issue can come to by itself. Yet, for this to happen at least one side must be willing to listen with open ears to the perspective of the other side even though he/she may be diametrically opposed to what the other side is saying or advocating.
There is a story about a man who wants to sell a lamp to another gentleman. Rather than telling the gentleman how inferior his present lamp is, he starts by having the gentleman describe all the wonderful things about his lamp. Then he shows him the new lamp. The gentleman himself sees the improvement in quality of the new lamp.
We need moral/spiritual leaders in the multicultural arena who will have the courage to not only speak out but who also have the courage to truly listen:
To enlist people in a vision, leaders must know their constituents and speak their language. People must believe that leaders understand their needs and have their interests at heart. Leadership is a dialogue, not a monologue. To enlist support, leaders must have intimate knowledge of people’s dreams, hopes, aspirations, visions and values… Leaders cannot command commitment, only inspire it. (Source: The Leadership Challenge 3rd Edition: Kouzes and Posner
pg 15)
