The Revolutionary Pedagogy of Truths
There is a way to counter a culture of fake news and false narratives: Teach the skills to understand the underlying truths.
In this age of fake news, I’ve sought out different media outlets and political messages. While I lean into the perspectives that align with mine, I also listen to those that espouse wholly different views. When I stumble onto fake news, it’s hard to listen to. It grates on my sensibilities, feels like an offensive distortion of reality, and ultimately comes across as threatening.
But, I continue to tune in to fake news because it gives me a window into the truths of other people. The “facts” that are offered may be verifiably false, but underneath there are truths about the lives and experiences of my fellow citizens. Uncovering those truths requires skill, intentionality, and patience, but it’s a worthwhile investment because it allows me to find human connections through the toxic noise. When we teach these skills we commit a revolutionary act.
Principle of Learning and Teaching #4:
No one holds a monopoly on truth.
Educators often approach their work with the goal of helping students think critically about themselves, the world, and their place within it. This is a pursuit of truth. Yet, truth is a problematic concept in today’s society. Given how “fake news” shapes our politics and culture, it feels risky to acknowledge that there is no single source of truth.
Whether a politician, a marketer, or a lowly education writer, we receive accolades for convincing people we hold the only relevant truth. However, the truth that matters is in the values and lived experiences that lead people to believe those positions to be true. This principle challenges us to understand the lived experiences that lead people to see the world as they do. When we build relationships by understanding the truths of others, we set the stage for empathy and humanizing connections.
If our goal is to help learners engage with our dynamic world, we need a pedagogy that aids in seeking and understanding truths. It must teach us to interrogate the assumptions that shape our perspectives. It must help us understand the origins of our cultural, political, and economic beliefs. It must help us relate to others based on our ability to humbly share our values and understand those of others.
Learning that Matters
Traditional pedagogy rewards students for having an answer for every question asked. Sometimes, these answers are definitively represented as a bubble or a number. Other times, students are rewarded for offering a single answer with a convincing argument. While this approach helps in learning some skills, it rarely aligns with the dynamic reality of the world.
When our pedagogy repeatedly rewards students for a single answer, we deeply engrain a set of beliefs. We teach students that their learning isn’t about developing true understanding, but about finding the answer the teacher or another authority has decided is correct. Students aren’t taught to acknowledge and grapple with the tensions between various perspectives. These disconnects between our pedagogy and the real world are evident even at the most advanced levels in our education system. Higher education is referred to as the “Ivory Tower” because it assumes purely academic learning will lead to authoritative truth. Unfortunately, the result is a set of “truths” that are unsullied by the dynamic and messy reality of our world.
In teaching 9th graders World History, I struggled with how to help students see the Rwandan genocide as more than just Hutus killing Tutsis. Were the Hutus guilty of genocide? Yes. Were the Belgians to blame because they set the stage for this violence during colonial rule? Yes. Were the UN and the US government at fault for refusing to intervene? Yes.
My goal was to help students see that all of these things could simultaneously be true. Yet, I also wanted them to see that we attach ourselves to certain truths because of our own agendas, needs, and experiences. When we do this, we risk becoming blind to others. That blindness is dangerous. It separates us from other people and the ability to solve collective problems in ways that serve everyone.
Pedagogy that Seeks Truths
As educators, we can enable this type of learning. While curriculum and lesson plans are important places for intentional design, we can also use teaching tools and techniques:
- Control the pace of conversations and reiterate what each student says. Our brains need time to process other perspectives and incorporate them into our thinking.
- Record student contributions on the board in their own words. When necessary, stop the conversation to ask them to clarify their point.
- Reward students for incorporating academic research, personal experiences, and perspectives of peers in their reasoning. Challenge students to interrogate tensions among various sources by identifying questions and paths to further insight.
- Establish a culture of “yes and” rather than “no but” for discussions. Encourage students to acknowledge previous perspectives that resonated with them before building on the ideas with their own thoughts.
These approaches and others like them affirm the value of the words, ideas, and perspectives of each student. They also advance the notion that the teacher is learning, not just trying to get the students to arrive at the truths the teacher already holds. It legitimizes everyone in the room as a learner and a holder of valuable perspectives and ideas.
Truth in the Real World
We don’t live our lives in sterile classrooms. In the real world, tensions are a constant. They exist in our experiences with race, class, gender, and additional factors that shape our sense of self and understanding of others. Our pedagogy must require students to practice courage as they share of themselves and listen to others. It must hone learners’ abilities to listen and observe while symbiotically questioning how their assumptions shape the way they’re perceiving the world around them. In the real world, learners must have the skills to humbly invite people into the learning process by offering of themselves and authentically inquiring of others.
Ultimately, this is a pedagogical principle about the importance of interrogating and discussing values. Because there is no monopoly on truth we have to grapple with the underlying values and tensions among the different truths that exist. When we critically engage our values and those of others, we set the stage for collaboration and community building. This is how we develop effective policy. It’s how we create a healthcare system that serves all according to their needs. It’s how we ensure that we leverage the power that we each hold in ways that are responsible and aligned with our values. This is how we shape communities and environments that are inclusive and equitable.
Revolutionary Truth
Fake news is not new. It is a common tool for bringing people together around shared grievances and lived truths. It’s also a tool of divisiveness and power. If we want a more equitable and just world, our pedagogy must prepare students to separate their relationships with people from the political and marketing messages that aim to shape our understanding of one another.
If this sounds revolutionary, that’s because it is. Throughout history, great leaders have challenged us to think critically about who we are and who we want to be, and to commit ourselves to living in alignment with those values. The most influential among them have been seen as radicals and revolutionaries. This is why courage is needed for this work. It’s why deep commitment and clarity of purpose are essential.
To truly believe there is no monopoly on truth requires faith. It requires faith in our capacity to connect with others across great barriers. It requires faith in the human capacities of love and intellect. This faith can carry us forward.
The function of education, therefore, is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. But education which stops with efficiency may prove the greatest menace to society. The most dangerous criminal may be the man gifted with reason, but with no morals…Intelligence plus character — that is the goal of true education.
— Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. “The Purpose of Education”
This post is part of a series supporting educators in reflecting on their pedagogy and practice. Read the intro to this series If We Don’t Work on Pedagogy, Nothing Else Matters or explore the most recent posts below.
Let Learners Learn ← P R E V I O U S
N E X T → The Transformative Power of Inquiry
