Open Minds for One and All
I had the pleasure of dining with some friends over the weekend and since they are from Pittsburgh and I went to the University of Pittsburgh, we had some stories to tell. One of the things we talked about was how diverse the city was when I was there. It seemed to me that Pittsburgh was made up of little pockets of different ethnicities and I remembered marveling at how they all seemed to blend into one another.
Our conversation moved to The Island Academy and how we encourage the students to be curious about the world and to share their ideas with one another. My host then made a comment that I found very interesting. He offered that going to Pitt was good for me because I was able to experience so much diversity. What I took that to mean was that my experiences in Pittsburgh helped me to become a better teacher – to see my students as individuals with different backgrounds and different ideas.
Although I never thought of it before, I think he was right. If we grow up with differences all around us, they lose their scariness. We become able to open ourselves, to expand our curiosity to allow ourselves to learn about others, rather than stay on the sidelines of opportunity.
Diversity comes in many flavors, not just ethnicity or race, but in ideas also. In our current political scene, the divisions come from several places. One of them is ideas. We don’t seem to be able to listen to one another. Many of us just want to yell louder and maintain our position. There’s no room for curiosity or learning. Too many times our minds are closed rather than open.
Closed minds keep us from a lot. And when we talk about students, it’s the most important thing we must overcome in the classroom. Closed minds show themselves in comments like “I’m not good at math,” “I don’t like to read,” and “I can’t play sports.” They show themselves when students are unable to discuss ideas; when they are asked why they hold a certain opinion, they answer, ” I don’t know, I just do.” Closed minds don’t ever foster learning.
There’s another way closed minds get in our way. They prevent us from remembering that we all come from different places, different families, different experiences. Those closed minds also make it easy to label people, to make statements about how other people should be or act, to be less compassionate. Closed minds make us less than.
Helping our children develop curious, open minds begins with modeling. We need to be comfortable with saying “I don’t know” or “I have no idea.” We have to be able to say, “Let’s look it up” or, if possible and better yet, “Let’s go see.”
By trying to keep ourselves open to new advances in science, new foods, new solutions to problems, we have a better shot at success. If we try a more thoughtful approach in our lives, when we encounter new ideas, we won’t be afraid to open our minds. The wider the better.
My time in Pittsburgh gave me many new insights into myself, but just as importantly, to the world. I want so much for our students to experience the same and I believe it starts with an open mind.
