What do you suppose the man in the picture above sees when he
looks out the window? Some possible
responses immediately come to mind: clouds; buildings; the streets beneath him;
perhaps people on those streets; and, perhaps, maybe a jet or two racing through
the sky. These are, of course, literal
responses, but what happens if we stop for a moment to consider the possibility
of the more abstract responses we may receive if we ask the gentleman himself
what he sees. Consider the possibility
that he is a real estate developer, so he may look out this window and see
untapped potential in the buildings below.
What if, for example, he is the city’s new police commissioner; would it
stand to reason that looking out upon his city he may see all the challenges
facing him in this new position? How
might he perceive this view if he is brand new to the city and possesses little
to no experience with people of color and is largely influenced by the media’s
portrayal of minority youth? What if he, or someone close to him, were the victim of crime in a similar location; might that influence how he views that which he sees? With this in
mind, it stands to reason that he may see potential danger lurking in every
alleyway, corner store, and may prove reluctant to venture far beyond the walls
of this building.
The
point is that what we see is largely determined by what we have seen; that is,
our past experiences serve as our roadmap to guide us through the unknown. We use previous experiences to make sense of new experiences This has become increasingly apparent to me
over the course of the past three years as I have led a largely white staff
serving a student population comprised largely of children of color. Just the other day I met with a staff member
and discussed how our view of one another is largely influenced by a number of
variables. For example, how we view
others, and situations, is largely influenced by the following:
- Ethnicity
- Gender
- Sexual orientation
- Socio-economic status
- Education level
- Religious identification
- Family dynamics
- Life experiences
- Social circle
- Personality preferences
Working together I have no doubt we
could generate a much longer list, but I think the ten variables above will suffice
for the present. Imagine that you are
standing directly across from another person with a sheet of glass between the
two of you. Ideally you should be able
to view one another clearly, but let’s also suppose that the two of you share nothing
in common when it comes to the variables listed above. Furthermore, for each difference, imagine
that each of you must dip your hand in grease and wipe it across the plate of
glass. Pretty soon your view of the
person on the other side of the glass becomes distorted and you don’t quite see
them as clearly as you did at the beginning of this exercise. In fact, it quickly becomes apparent to you
that in order to see them clearly, you now have to reposition yourself so that
you have another vantage point or you must clean your side of the glass and
hope they do the same on their side.
As school leaders it is imperative
that we influence our staff to change their perspective, or vantage point, and clean
their side of the glass in order to get a better view. Moreover, we must influence our adults to do
so first because the kids need to see us making the move before they will
consider doing the same. Furthermore, in
my opinion, it is important that we model the way for the students we serve, so
going first makes perfect sense in this—and all—situations. This is an initial step in building capacity
in a staff by increasing the collective cultural competency of the people we
lead.
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