In Kumashiro’s introduction, he speaks of how our own version of “common-sense” varies based on our own experiences, cultural background, and upbringing. He relates how his experience teaching in Nepal caused him to reflect on how his views of “common-sense” were perceived as illogical to the Nepali culture he was living in, and this caused him to do a lot of self-reflecting.
I can relate to his experience in my own teaching experiences. Shortly after I began teaching at an inner city school, I can remember having a conversation with two staff members about an Aboriginal child who was not attending school. We were trying to determine how we could change this situation. One of the people stated that the child is choosing to stay home because he has more fun at home, and what can we do to change it. I remember scoffing and saying something like what kid wouldn’t rather stay at home than be in school if given a choice. The parents should be sending the child because that is what is best for him. This person replied that it is culturally appropriate for the child to be given a choice, and even though we may not have been raised in that culture, that is their beliefs, and we have to respect and work around those parameters. I admit I didn’t agree or “get it” then, because it wasn’t using the “common-sense” I believed in at the time, but I respected the person who said it, so I let it go.
Since then, I have grown a lot as a teacher working in inner city schools, and have learned much more about Aboriginal philosophy, cultures, and child rearing practices. I have also become less likely to judge something I may not understand as wrong, just because it is different from what I believe in, or am used to. A few months ago, I spoke to an Aboriginal parent about having her child attend a special program offered at a different school. We have a good rapport, and she signed the form immediately. She also said that she wanted me to explain the program to the child and get his consent because she didn’t want him to think she was making the choice for him. This time I “got it”, and this made perfect sense to me that she would give him the choice to decide whether or not he would attend the program. I smiled and said I would be happy to do that.
My question is: When has your view of “common-sense” challenged you to view a situation differently?
Kumashiro, K. (2009). Against common sense: Teaching and learning toward social justice. New York: Routledge Falmer.
tmillersrpa's Blog 
My view of “common sense” has been challenged in our classroom recently. We have been discussing how, by way of earning a B. Ed. degree, we have all moved to at least middle class in socioeconomic status. While I agree with that statement in theory, it doesn’t garner 100% of my support. I am a simple, Metis girl who grew up in a home that didn’t have running water (unless you count us kids running for 5-gallon pails of water from the well in the dirt basement of our house), the month always lasted way longer than the pay cheque (even when my mother got a job to supplement my father’s full time income) and the money we did have was spent irresponsibly (read auction sales). Needless to say, if we hadn’t had a garden, I’m not sure how we would have survived. There were other challenges that I don’t wish to detail but suffice it to say, it wasn’t an ideal childhood but it was a good childhood because it has helped me to be the strong woman I am today, despite being a work in progress.
One of the first things I did, once I graduated and began teaching, was purchase a house. This provided something I hadn’t had in a good many years – security. Not just for me but for my family as well. Over the years I have had three siblings, two nephews and my mother living with me at any given time because life got tough and they needed a place to call home. Ironically, I’ve lived in my house for 12 years and I still don’t call it “home”. Common sense says I have changed the life I grew up in and I don’t need to be concerned with life challenges now that I live an upper-middle class lifestyle thanks to my pay scale. That would seem a fairly logical assumption to make. Unfortunately, the coping skills I learned from childhood are not so easily forgotten.
I am still one of those people spending too much on pay day buying groceries that I don’t need but a voice from the deep recesses of my brain says I shouldn’t let the deep freeze get too empty. I spend my money foolishly when I should save it, also a learned behaviour I haven’t quite learned how to break. And, in an effort to provide my daughter with the life I never had, I endeavor to make sure she has the best of everything (sans the name brand, designer items – I won’t pay for a logo or perpetuate consumerism by allowing my daughter to wear clothing that turns her into a walking billboard for the name brand she is wearing). So despite my economic status changing, my mind set has not. Common sense says I should just get over it and be able to move on. While that seems like a perfectly logical conclusion to make, the truth is my formative childhood years are a difficult habit for me to break. I’m not sure what will have to happen for me to allow common sense to prevail. I do take comfort in the fact that I am aware of the cycle I am trying to break and it is my goal to provide a better example to my daughter so she can avoid this struggle as an adult.
When I see my students coming to school and Provincial Training Allowance (PTA) paying them a starting amount of $740 a month (more if they have dependents) I wonder how they can even survive. What kind of life will they gain once they achieve their Grade 12 diploma? Minimum wage doesn’t pay that much more than PTA does, if they can even find full time employment once they’re finished school. And what coping mechanisms will they learn to help them provide a better future to themselves and their children?
At least, looking back on my scenario, I can take comfort knowing my daughter has college as an option – that choice was never given to me. When I was accepted into university I actually received three phone calls from family saying I will have their support when I leave university as it is so difficult and it will prove to be too challenging for me. I may have been the first person in my family to graduate from college however, I am not the last.
The thing about challenging things that are common sense situations is it isn’t just about culture, it’s about family dynamics and breaking the cycles we’ve grown up in without being offensive to those who raised us. It takes a great deal of determination and sensitivity to break away from family and community ‘norms’ and to “selfishly” put our own needs ahead of everyone else’s. When the people you care about and respect the most expect you to fail, common sense usually means you will give in to their negative expectations. It is because of passionate, caring and “good” teachers some choose to stick with their convictions and they actually see their goals through. As educators I think the most difficult task we have is to set our value judgements aside and let the learner achieve their success their own way. They might not find success the way we would have but at least they have a measure of success – it’s more than they had before; it’s still progress. And it is the beginning of future endeavors to achieve even more meaningful goals. Our best hope, as educators, is to support, nurture and encourage each step forward our learners have – so that when they challenge us and our common sense, we can respond in a way that will benefit and support rather than stifle and deter success.
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I totally agree. I am once again reminded how humbling teaching is for us. Our students truly teach us as much if not more, than we teach them. Thank you for sharing your story and your perspective.
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Having worked in inner city schools my whole life I can relate to this story. After a while of thinking you know what’s best, you realize that your way of thinking is not the only way, and that because people do not do what you think, does not mean they are wrong.
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Absolutely. I think this class is really bringing home the message to me that I need to reflect on everything I do before I act. Some forms of anti-oppression are done in the supposed “best interest” of the students. I don’t want to be part of the problem, rather, part of the solution. Thanks for your comments.
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