Balance

Today in my yoga class, my teacher talked a lot about balance. Not necessarily the balance of standing on one leg with your foot above your head (although cultivating good balance is definitely recommended if you're going to attempt such a pose), but the idea of finding harmony between competing interests. She was relating it more to our physical and spiritual yoga practice, but I think the lesson applies to textbook and curriculum content as well. Teachers need to cover a lot of ground with students on a whole range of topics, and with all of the different stakeholders involved there is bound to be controversy about what is taught at one point or another. I totally get that. I am really making an effort (in life, not just on this blog) to be more empathetic and tolerant of different viewpoints, so when I think about parents all up in arms about creationism or sex education I try and take a deep breath, step back, and remember that they are in all likelihood perfectly well intentioned people who care deeply about what their kids are learning. And at the end of the day, I have to believe that these controversies will find their own balance--the fulcrum of which will be Truth, not Ideology.

Exhibit A: Dan Savage & Amy Richards talk Abstinence-Only sex education



Exhibit B: Family Guy on Evolution/Creationism



A whole lot of people have poured a whole lot of time, energy, and money into fighting about classroom controversies like these. I don't think that we're serving the best interests of children with all of these battles. We should be presenting them with scholastically sound materials, not ideologically whitewashed ones. Our sights should be set on cultivating engaged, curious learners, with the ultimate goal not being to brainwash them into believing one thing or another, but to facilitate their development into intellectually agile individuals who can make up their own minds.