Gary Stager first blipped onto my radar screen at NECC 2009. He was standing on a big stage, in a big room, talking about contructivism and education. But more than that he was espousing his views about bad education, bad ideas, and young upstart presenters, who he thinks should sit down and listen to the seasoned experts. He was straight shooting and articulate, but also a bit bombastic and harshly unapologetic, but I loved it. I have the highest level of respect not for the people who I 100% agree with, but rather for those who have powerful ideas, backed by powerful evidence, who are willing to challenge the powers that be, or any one else, with the intentions of making the world a better place. I think that description describes Gary Stager perfectly. He doesn’t pull any punches, and he’ll challenge the biggest names in education. But he does this because he has had extensive experience and done extensive research and has a lot to back up the claims that he makes. Gary Stager is My Ed Hero #4 because he frustrates me, he challenges me, but in the end he makes me a better educator.
So who is Gary Stager? If you don’t know him already, he’s a progressive educator who has a website, a blog, and a gathering, Constructing Modern Knowledge, that he supports in addition to his many other endeavors. He’s also the executive director of the Constructivist Consortium, he’s a contributor to the Huffington Post, and he’s probably the biggest devotee in the entire world to the work and the person of Seymour Papert. I shouldn’t put words in his mouth but if I were to describe what I see as his mission in life, I would say that it is to reinvent the whole educational monster around the ideas and values that progressive educators have shared for decades, maybe centuries (got to get Dewey in there). That is, education should be child-centered, constructivist, democratic, empowering, and engaging. It should encourage learners to think creatively, critically, analytically to solve problems, to create, to discover, and more.
“Okay, so he sounds like a pretty great guy, but what effect has he had on you?” you might be asking (maybe you aren’t wondering that, but play along). Well do you remember at the beginning of this piece I mentioned that he was putting young upstart presenters in their place at NECC 2009? Well, at the time, I was a young upstart presenter. I presented at the Computer Using Educators conference for the first time in 2009. So I felt like he was telling me to sit down, and this made me uncomfortable. I could definitely understand where Gary was coming from. There have been so many thinkers and educators who have had valuable and critical things to say. And despite having these ideas as part of our collective body of knowledge, they are yet to be truly taken to heart and implemented. At the time I knew something about historical and contemporary perspectives on education, but there was definitely so much for me to learn. Despite coloring at the cheeks a bit and sending my mind racing to justify my existence as a young upstart presenter, I think he was right. I needed to do some soul searching and look backwards at the significant figures of the past and look around me at what is being said today by those with the most relevant and important experience. This has prompted me to examine my educational roots quite a bit more and is a big part of why I want to pay homage to My Ed Heroes. I think this one example of Gary Stager’s effect on me is a perfect illustration of constructivism at work. You need to be challenged and experience cognitive dissonance in order to significantly reorganize your cognitive schema, your understanding of the world and take a leap forward.
This is just one example of Gary’s influence on me as an educator. It really goes far beyond this initial experience. I definitely dig constructivism and enjoy hearing him share his ideas at conferences and on the Future of Education podcast and in other places. I also have started to chip away at his reading list for serious reformers. Someday I hope to be able to attend Constructing Modern Knowledge. Heck, I’d like to meet the guy and have a conversation. What I like most about Gary Stager is that although I agree with him about so many things, I disagree with him too. It doesn’t make me admire him less that I disagree with him. I like to be challenged. When I find that I disagree with him, I am pushed to re-examine my rationale for my belief. Sometimes I change my mind and find that I think he’s right and sometimes I decide that I still disagree. It is the dialogue, the critical discourse, and the flexing of mental muscle that continues to change me as an educator and as a person generally. It is something that I value immensely. For that, I thank you, Gary Stager. I look forward to continuing to be challenged by you. And if I do every meet you and get to have a conversation I won’t just say I’m a huge fan (although I probably will say that). I also have a few bones to pick with you. But regardless keep being the arms swinging educational reformer that you are!
#1 by Gary Stager on September 26, 2011 - 5:00 am
Hi,
Thanks for the very kind words. I do hope you make it to Constructing Modern Knowlege.
So, what do you disagree with me about?
Best,
Gary
#2 by Heidi Beezley on September 26, 2011 - 9:19 am
Wow! Hello, Gary! I’m so honored that you replied here.
I emphasized disagreement because I believe that having ideas duking it out during a bout of cognitive dissonance is one of the primary ways we make great leaps forward in our thinking. Otherwise we get mired in dogmatism and stagnant thinking. The disagreements I have with you are only on the finer point; largely, I agree with the things you say. Since you asked, though, here are a couple of disagreements I have with you. : )
1. One disagreement I have with you will be discussed in my next post called Clash of the Titans. So I won’t write about it here except to say it is related to your call for learners “to do.” For example, “to do” science rather than just learn about it.
2. A more recent disagreement that I have with you is based on your analysis of the book The Help. A few weeks before I read your piece in the Huffington Post, I had read the statement made by the Association of Black Women Historians. The claim is that the story “distorts, ignores, and trivializes the experience of black domestic workers” and that the depiction of the main characters is a “disappointing resurrection of Mammy.” I haven’t seen the movie. I’ve only read the book. But from my perspective these charges may be true of the movie, but I think they are unfair and harsh criticism of the book, and it’s important to distinguish between the two. Here’s why:
a. Claim 1 – The Help resurrects Mammy – I don’t understand this charge. Aibilene is not at all fond of the white family she works for, but she does care for the children quite a bit. But this care fades when the children learn to think less of people of color and see them as different. Once the children begin to learn prejudice, she can’t stand to be around them and stops working for the family. The other main character, Minny, doesn’t like any white people and she is not silent about it. I don’t see how these depictions are a resurrection of Mammy. Are the members of the Association of Black Women Historians making the claim that only way to accurately portray the plight of black domestic workers is to portray them as hating all white people including the children? Both of these characters evolve over the course of the story, as any interesting literary character does. Aibilene decides to do what she can to keep Mae Mobley from being taught the status quo hatred and prejudice of the white community. Minny evolves to being able to see one white person as a person rather than hating all white people uniformly. I don’t think either story is a resurrection of Mammy.
b. Claim 2 – certain aspects of the era are glossed – for example, the sexual harassment as well as physical and verbal abuse in the homes of white families and the civil rights activism of the era. In the book, at least, these two aspects of the era are portrayed, though they are not a central element of the story (unless you consider the telling of these stories a form of activism). Minny is fearful of her safety when the husband of one of the women she works for comes home unexpectedly. She has no idea what he will do to her, but fears that it will be bad. This same character is physically assaulted and nearly sexually assaulted by an odd white male outside the home where she works. Also, the story of Medgar Evers and other civil rights activism are a thread throughout the story. In the book you experience the reactions of the main characters as they hear about events on the radio, by word of mouth, and in the papers.
c. As for the movie (I admit I haven’t seen it and my guess is that it doesn’t capture the story portrayed in the book very well, but what movie adaptation ever does?) You comment, “I wonder what the reaction would be to a film in which happy Auschwitz prisoners help their Nazi captors find their voice? Would we take classes of eighth graders to see that film?” But doesn’t Schindler’s List nearly do just that. Oskar Schindler is a business man who just wants to keep his business a float, at first. He is unwilling to risk his own wellbeing. But as he continues to witness the plight of the Jewish workers and their experience in the concentration camp, he decides to help them despite personal risk. Movies like Life is Beautiful turn the experience of Jews in concentration camps into comedy, but ultimately despite the artistic license, the movie helps to bring home the larger point. Is a story invalid because it tells the story of the oppressed altering the hearts and minds of one or more of the former oppressors? Is it only important to act like all people from the 1960′s era were horrible brutish white people?
d. Related to the last point, I think most movies about historical events and time periods gloss over aspects of that period in an effort to tell a particular story. Here’s a silly example, but a recent movie called Middle Men was based on the true story of how two guys invented a way for people to pay for porn on the Internet and got rich. The story, though based on a true story, portrays the conditions of porn industry workers as glamorous and carefree. People aren’t complaining that it doesn’t accurately portray the plight of porn workers by showing the fear of disease, exploitation, rape, etc. I think many stories gloss over certain details in order to keep the focus on the story. For example, are all stories that depict women pre-1970 guilty of whitewashing history if they don’t deal with the servitude, sexism, oppression, and abuse of women?
e. The last thing I’d like to say is that I didn’t view the book as “light entertainment.” The book helped me to see the time period differently. It’s easy to paint an era as a fight of good versus evil, good versus add, wrong versus right. It’s easy to look back at the civil rights era and see anyone who perpetuated racisim as bad and anyone who suffered under it as good. What I liked about the book is that it was nuanced. It didn’t try to paint all white people as horrid oppressors and all black people as heroes struggling with oppression. I felt like the portrayals of all of the main characters were very human. It felt like the story of a few members of two groups separated by history trying to find a way to move forward. The story helped me understand better how trapped blacks of the time period were. Speaking out could result in losing your job, lies being spread about you so that you go to jail, beatings, or murder. Whites of the time still managed to enslave blacks despite the fact that slavery had ended nearly a century before the era of the book. It helps me have new respect for the bravery of those who did do something to try to change things given all of the ways that the whites, who had the power, could squash you. I also learned something from the character of Skeeter. She wanted to see herself as different and better than some of her other friends because she was disgusted by the way her friends talked about “the help,” but what she realizes is that she also is part of the problem. She realizes the ways that racist attitudes are embedded in her world view and the ways that she perpetuates racism, and she tries to change. I think this is an important point. Some people, myself included, like to tell themselves stories that their ancestors fought on the side of the north in the civil war and are from northern or western states, so they weren’t a part of the problem. But most likely just about every white living during that time was racist, and many people who are in many ways “good people” perpetuated racism because it was what they were taught. The book, I think, shows one way that a person who had been complacent in her thinking moved from going along with it to finding a way to fight it. So rather than whitewashing history, in my case it helped me to remove the whitewash.
Sorry to be so long winded about this issue. I agree with your larger points that classrooms should provide a context for viewing the movie or reading the book. It would be a disservice to the era to have the story in the Help as your only window to the period. I also agree that students should read other perspectives, especially primary source documents and personal accounts in order to get a more well-rounded and complete understanding. I think that it is a much larger problem that history classes often “reduce complex historical events into simplistic, inaccurate, feel-good cartoons,” but this happens with regard to just about every event and era in history.
I think I should close by saying, I’m still so thrilled that you replied. I’m beaming about it. : )
Heidi
#3 by Gary Stager on September 26, 2011 - 5:05 am
PS: My friend Deborah Meier is an excellent choice for #1, but I am so much cooler than Benjamin Bloom!
#4 by Heidi Beezley on September 26, 2011 - 9:22 am
No worries. The numbers next to each of My Ed Heroes doesn’t correspond to a coolness ranking or any ranking at all. It’s just the order in which I’ve blogged about my ed heroes. I agree that you’re cooler than Benjamin Bloom. The order is more about the way that one ed hero naturally links to the next.