Wednesday, October 5, 2011

I don't care what anybody tells me...

Saying "I don't care what anybody tells me..." is a conversation ender.

Rather than inspiring a rich dialogue around how we can improve, it further polarizes the professionals who need to collaborate, and will only encourage us all to further entrench our defensive positions.

Saying "I don't care what anybody tells me..." is really just another way of putting your hands over your ears and yelling "La la la la la".

For those who are are permanently married to their preconceived notions about how the world works, it's important to remember what Robert Pirsig once said:

The real purpose of the scientific method is to make sure mother nature hasn't misled you into thinking something that you don't actually know.

3 comments:

  1. "I don't care what you say!" Very much the defensive response of someone who indeed does feel threatened by the ideas presented. You rarely hear that said dispassionately. I wonder if the person remains receptive despite his or her words.

    Compliance still plays a role in my world. It seemed to play a larger role when I was an administrator, but that perception may just be an emotional echo. I learned that challenging suggestions were often met with initial resistance. Given time, I might see a stransformation. One might hope this is true in the educational community.

    Perhaps too we can minimize this response by proceeding from a collaborative problem solving approach.

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  2. I agree that a collaborative problem solving approach would work for not just the kids but the adults too.

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  3. Oh, I am so happy to see someone else refer to Pirsig, I was beginning to suspect I was the only one. Well picked quote to that.

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