The older I get (cough, cough) the more I realize I don’t know. There’s always another side to every story, there’s always a perspective that can be discussed or understood. Reasons for every action, thought, or attitude. I know teachers who swear up and down they’ll never be administrators, and administrators who wish teachers could walk just one day in their shoes…especially if they get to pick the day!
One of the surest signs of a confident learner, IMO, is their ability to listen and respond to other’s who don’t believe the same things that they do. There’s a quite the convo happening on twitter right now on the validity and credibility of the Bammy’s that took place in Washington DC this past weekend. There are fierce supporters on both sides. It’s been interesting to watch and think about. I’m intrigued because I truly respect people on BOTH sides of the discussion.
The trick is to do that and NOT come across as arrogant. Or all knowing. Or condescending. Can you do that? Can you engage in a conversation with someone who doesn’t agree with you and NOT be a jerk? If you can, I’d love to have a conversation with you, I might even be swayed. But if you can’t, I’ll just agree to disagree and ignore you. both sides. Twitter gets a lot of flack for being the echo chamber, but that’s not what I see. Maybe because I choose to follow edu-peeps who challenge my line of thinking, ones who not only disagree with me at times (George Couros) but challenge me to defend my beliefs. Not in an offensive, abrasive way…but in a thought provoking way.
Nobody likes to be made to feel stupid…and if you can’t discuss perspectives without making that happen…I don’t think you’re a very good leader. Of course, the onus can also be on you to be willing to HAVE that conversation at times, as well.
If that doesn’t make sense…I’ll let Ross and Phoebe reenact this blog post for you, 😉
Open minded-ish,
Amber
@vandalgrad Simon Miller says
September 22, 2013 at 9:56 pmAmber,
I am so on board with this blog post! I’ve been thinking something very similar for a few weeks now on more than just the Bammy discussion. 90% of my Twitter interaction and learning is amazing… but then there are the 10% that fall into the “condescension” or “jerk” type of interactions. I too like being challenged and believe that reflecting and thinking about what we believe in is good, but some people are so abrasive and offensive with their delivery it only makes me defensive and not want to have any discussion.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I’m with you.
Simon (@vandalgrad)
Drew Frank says
September 23, 2013 at 11:17 amI love this post. A great teacher of mine told me a number of years ago that one of the most valuable relationships you can have is with a close friend who disagrees with you on important issues. I try to remember this and seek out others with dissenting opinions so as to engage in shared prospective understanding. I think that their is unfortunately a double edged sword around this idea. The more core the value or idea is in which their is dissention, the greater the benefit, but also the harder it is to maintain accord and not hurt feelings.
Amanda says
September 23, 2013 at 3:02 pmAwwww! This is so great! I loved reading this! I seriously love watching a good heated debate (you know how much I love other people’s awkward moments) but not when it’s just plain mean and hateful! I’ll be sure and be open a “teeny tiny bit” and hear from all different kinds of people when trying to figure out what I really believe on something. 🙂