28 Feb 2021

Reaction without reflection makes a mess.

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Dr. Fiona Jardine edits neuropsychological assessment reports about children. She sometimes uses  a template called “Twice Exceptionality” when writing about children with high intelligence and ADHD.

How I wish I had known this about myself before now.

“Twice exceptionality means that because of the child’s high intellectual abilities, she tends to intellectualize and verbalize information before being able to emotionally process the experience.”

That fast brain/slow heart of mine has gotten me in trouble all my life, including when I, a  liberal White woman, started learning about anti-racism.  I immediately changed my entire way of conducting myself  at work and educated everyone around me about what I had learned, no matter if they wanted it or not.

I didn’t process what the information meant to my heart and soul. I didn’t reflect. I jumped into action to make the world a better place.

Fortunately, I’ve been slapped upside the head enough to finally appreciate that the journey into anti-racism starts with the self. Using reflection, listening skills, and engagement with Black and Brown people has gotten me to slow down, to think, and to act from my heart instead of my quick head.

I still screw up. Growing up White in the US, with a set of Confederate grandparents, has planted bias deep within me and altered the lens through which I view the world.

I understand the desire to want to fix things right away, to make society just, to support both equality and equity, to be anti-racist, and to bring my implicit biases to consciousness, so that they may be dispelled.  What Bill Maher and Megan Kelly spoke about recently, is an example of schools moving too quickly to fix society, without sufficient reflection and collaboration.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pabbzNjZ2s

“Then, our kindergartner was told to write a letter to the Cleveland Indians objecting to their mascot,” she added with a laugh. “Now, he’s six. Like, can he learn how to spell Cleveland before we activate him?”

When I moved too quickly, to fix things NOW, the result was a painful mess. When schools moved too quickly, to fix things now, the result is a painful mess.

Let’s take time to reflect, let’s collaborate with folks who have different ideas, before we jump into action.

Let’s work to make schools where children from all segments of society learn together, taught by teachers who have been vetted by anti-racism experts and parents of non-white, differently abled and gendered children, and who have done the personal work and training to be anti-racist. Let’s bring in experts in the field of anti-racism to work along with parents. Let’s acknowledge that White supremacy has dominated education since the beginning of the USA; let’s apologize, and make reparations. Let’s work together to transform today’s schools into places where every child has a chance to thrive, has the materials and resources they need, and is cherished.

What do you think?

 

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