What does Chimimanda Ngozi Adichie say is the danger of a single story?
As many of you begin with students this week, how are you thinking about her message and the ways it relates to students and families?
Keep up the good work and the thoughtful responses!
I've enjoyed reading your thoughts and responses to next weeks readings in Glickman.
Have a fantastic week with kids and staff!
I have moved to a new building this year to work as an interventionist and complete my internship. Listening to Chimimanda talk of the single story, I realized I have only heard a single story of my new building...it is the lowest achieving elementary school in our district riddled with student misbehavior, staff conflict, and parent issues. At one point I was really questioning my decision to move there. That changed Thursday and Friday when I was needed to supervise recess and train our paras on proper recess supervision. I started getting to know the staff and students and realized I was buying into the single story I had heard so many times. While we are the lowest preforming school in the district, that is not what will define us and it is not our only story. I need to start telling the other stories when the single story is being told.
ReplyDeleteKrista I love this! It is such a powerful example that speaks directly to the message Chimimanda gives. Thank you for that!
DeleteWell said Krista. I am in a building with a very similar story, depending on what statistics you look at, or who you speak with. However, it is when we have authentic human interactions with our staff members, our students, and community when we realize the depth of each of our stories...and how collectively they either contribute or contradict the most pervasive "single story."
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite quotes from Chimimanda Ngozi Adichie, is, “The problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue but that they are incomplete. They make one story become the only story.” I loved this part of her speech, and the idea that stereotypes are not untrue but incomplete. As educators, we must engage all the “stories” of our students in order to truly understand them as learners. Additionally I ask myself and all educators; are we creating the trust needed to access all the stories of our students? Do teachers even want to know all the “stories” of our students? What is essential? Where is the balance?
ReplyDeleteYour words connected with me Krista and Elissa! It's so important to not have one defining moment capture your "single story". I heard the other day from a teacher, "I have a new student who came to us from another building in our district and he's not welcome back there. He's already getting into trouble and being defiant on the first day." My first thought after hearing her words was have you had a positive interaction with him at all. Is this his "single story" (his defining moment), a troubled student who got kicked out of his last school? It reaffirmed that we have to take a moment each day to make meaningful connections with our students...learn who they are, what makes them tick, what fears they have, so we can help them add to their story. An individual needs to have the ability to tell their own story, not have others create and share it.
ReplyDeleteKristin- appreciate the language you used here " ...take a moment each day to make meaningful connections with our students...learn who they are, what makes them tick, what fears they have. . ." By taking time to know and understand, makes a world of difference to children and adults alike.
DeleteWell said, Kristin! There is always more to "those stories" and they should be the ones to tell it. I shared similar feelings below in my reflection.
DeleteAs I think about the dangers of a “single story,” my thoughts move to those particular students who inevitably come to me each year with a “single story” that is told to me by a colleague. I’ve never asked for their stories, but there is always someone (with good intentions) that has decided I need to know. I made the choice early on in my career not to listen to those stories, but instead to form my own story as I spend a school year building a relationship with that child. The danger of those “single stories” is that they hamper efforts to build positive connections with the students who need it the most.
ReplyDeleteSari: I think you hit the nail on the head when you mentioned that a single story hampers efforts to build positive connections. It seems that once I made more of an effort as a teacher to "listen to learn" about my students they began to let down their guard and share more of their personal stories with me, especially at the high school level. Unfortunately, most of those stories have been sad but have allowed me to build a stronger rapport with them throughout the process.
DeleteSomething I took from this Ted Talk is the importance of creating "balanced stories" within our classrooms and in our schools. That has been a huge focus for me in the first week of school. Kids have had many opportunities to share their stories with me and their classmates. They have written letters, shared pictures, taken and shared multiple intelligence inventories, interacted at a deep level with their base groups, completed venn diagrams with their classmates, written and responded in dialogue journals, shared items from their homes that represent who they are, etc. It has been very important to me that I give them time to share their stories to "empower and humanize" the students in my classroom.
ReplyDeleteI've heard this speech a few times and it always rejuvenates my passion for developing relationships. In my classroom I strive to get to know each and every one of my students as individuals. Personally, I feel classroom management comes down to connections with students. If you are able to connect, then you are able to engage students in the content. It is interesting how many preconceived notions can be developed once those classroom rosters are released. In my building you hear talk of families and students and what sorts of issues they will bring to your room. This imprints a negative image before we even meet them! I wonder how this impacts the relationship that is built after. There will always be talk of challenging students and families, but I think moving forward we need to remember that is just one side of the story. We need to invest time in getting to know both sides of the story and develop an understanding to move forward. For our students, we especially need to remember that their story has just begun. We as educators are in the unique place to positively influence the pages that are written following their time with us.
ReplyDeleteWhat does Chimimanda Ngozi Adichie say is the danger of a single story?
ReplyDeleteSingle stories are not complete, it is not everyone’s story and it robs people of dignity.
As many of you begin with students this week, how are you thinking about her message and the ways it relates to students and families?
There is always something more to know, another layer of understanding about the students and families we serve. At the beginning of the school year I do not know their multiple stories. I have not walked in their shoes, I do not know what life experiences they have nor do I understand what has molded them into who they are. When our paths cross it will be my opportunity to learn about and become aware of the collective stories of each student and their families.
Investing the time to get to know the ones I serve will benefit my students but it also benefits me. Filling my life with new individuals and regaining “a kind of paradise” through understanding and appreciation of other people and their multiple stories allows my life to become richer.
“When we realize there is never a single story about any place, we regain a kind of paradise.” -Chimimanda Ngozi Adichie
Lori: I'm with you 100%. I gain so much from my students when I take the time to learn about their backgrounds and unique talents. It's been an inspiration for me throughout my career and has provided multiple service opportunities as well.
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ReplyDeleteChimimanda Ngozi Adichie spoke to the heart of what education is about: understanding our kids so we can better understand each and every student who walks through our school doors.
ReplyDeleteSingle stories are not representative of our kids. As educators, we sometimes hear these single stories from: colleagues, families, and students. We can not let these single stories represent our understanding of our students. It is our job to continually evaluate the stories of our students. I believe that our students stories never have an ending, there is no "The End". We must encourage our kids to understand that not one "thing" or "story" defines who they are or what they stand for, we must motivate them to be lifelong learners of themselves.
I think of the time we spend with our kids to understand their stories and paths that have led them to be who they are currently, as an investment. It can be time consuming to understand our kids at a deep level, however, there is no better time spent than to understand one another. I will continually make investments into the stories of my kids, families, and colleagues. These investments not only benefit the teaching and learning environment for students but it instills a well rounded cultural understanding for the teacher.
We must foster our kids stories and give them meaningful opportunities to grow and continue writing their story as there should never be an end.
I have implemented a PBIS CICO system at Brouillet, we are in our 2nd year. The understanding that has come from these check ins with our students who typically exhibit non appropriate behaviors and myself has been amazing. Seeing, understanding, and creating safe and trusting relationships it all it takes to influence our discipline rates in schools. Kids need to feel valued, safe, needed, and loved---once they feel this they share their stories and feel empowered to continue writing their story instead of it having it end prematurely.
This was the second time I've heard this speech. Like Kelsey said, it rejuvenated a passion for developing relationships with my students and seeing them in a different light, let them tell their own story. It makes me think of some of those more unique personalities I've worked with, and how important it is to build the relationships with them, get to know them outside of their "data", which is easy to get wrapped up in in today's world. It also draws me to think of the many stories that child has to tell about themselves. When we only allow a child to be that single story we are selling them short. We are limiting who they are and who they will become.
ReplyDeleteAs school starts, I think about school as a rite of passage. We are supposed to be teaching our students how to be successful. While I don’t necessarily agree with our speaker’s way of expressing her message, I understand what she is getting at. However, like our students and her message, there is more than one story to be told here. As educators we must consider how to engage our students with what they know and can relate to. However, our student’s success, in our nation, is not based (nor valued) on their understanding of other cultures. It is based on their understanding of how to be successful in our nation, economically. An understanding that is at risk should we stray too far from our story.
ReplyDeleteWhen I stop and think about what Chimimanda Ngozi Adichie is really saying the only conclusion I can reach is that she wants multiple perspectives, what she calls stories. I am all for this but until our system values these things then the focus will not be on them. Our system is built on capitalism and competition. If you want other stories and want to empower others then our system tells you to wait until you have paid your dues, much like Nigeria has paid their dues. However, ironically enough we are paying their dues for them. In Fiscal Year 2014, USAID spent $350.5 million dollars in Nigeria. Of that $294.3 million went to health compared to $9.7 million that went to education (USAID). The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in Nigeria was worth 568.51 billion US dollars in 2014 (World Bank). So let’s get this straight, a country worth over five hundred billion dollars is still receiving USAID. There has got to be a story here….
She is telling us that we have to be wary about a single story. Yet she has one story, that she knew, and American media portrays. One story about where she is from. However, would she be in a position to offer this story to us if we did not invest in Nigeria for the past sixty-four years? Is it not ironic that because we invested in them that she now has the ability to tell us that there are more stories? Does the U.S. not have more than one story? We get blamed, ridiculed, and other nations paint us as cruel, yet people continue to flock here and leave their corrupt systems, perhaps leading to a (more) corrupt system here? We have a system that allows the oldest, wealthiest generation to be in positions of power. They function on the ideas of when they were youth what they wished for. They govern under a system that doesn’t have a youth voice. Call it a forgotten story, perhaps a single story. The single story of a government of those who, now older, are making decisions for our future based on their past and not our current needs. Some call this the beauty of our system.
As educators we are constantly asked to build relationships and relate to students. I am all for encouraging them to tell their story. However, once again, we do not have a system that encourages this. Our education agenda has only recently been focused on cultural competence and understanding. One could make the argument that it is barely focused on keeping the American cultural system in place, outside of greed and economics. We charge large amounts of money to immigrants to become citizens yet our graduating high school students couldn’t pass the same citizenship tests. Until we value educating our youth on our political system we risk continuing to spend our money and invest our time in places like Nigeria, which “is currently the United States' most important trading partner in sub-Saharan Africa, largely due to the large volume of petroleum imports from Nigeria which satisfy 8 percent of U.S. crude oil import requirements (USAID).”
How’s that for another story?
The biggest danger of a single story is missing out on, what Paul Harvey coined, The Rest of the Story. Regardless of their background, students are entering our schools with stories that extend beyond the typical categories of gender, race, ethnicity, socio-economic circumstances, and learning abilities. Exploring our school’s Learning Environment Plan, for instance, was a great opportunity to begin the process of adding chapters to the rest of our students’ stories at Carson. In particular, discovering that 25-30% of our student body meet the requirements for homelessness is a story that mostly goes unnoticed. In addition, due to our high military population, numerous students suffer from depression and anxiety as a result of a parent who is on deployment. Without taking the time to learn about and appreciate our students’ backgrounds/stories, we are missing out on multiple opportunities to connect and make a positive, lasting impact. As assessments continue to pile on teachers’ responsibilities, time at the beginning of each school year must be intentionally devoted to recognizing and respecting each child rather than curriculum. By modeling this expectation and genuinely caring about each child and his/her culture, teachers will gain the trust of their students and develop sustainable relationships that strengthen the bridge between the home and school and increase the ability to further understand the many unique and special stories that defines each child. Finally, as the school leader we are responsible for being the positive change that incorporates culture into our school’s atmosphere and helps to change mindsets in an effort to reveal additional stories of not only our students, but our staff and extended stakeholders as well. One way that our administration, including me, attempted to meet this goal was to share what we called My Story during our professional development. It was an opportunity for us to share who we truly were and the obstacles that we have had to overcome to achieve our current status. While each story was unique in its own way, our staff has been able to relate to us in a whole new context and understand what drives our actions and personalities.
ReplyDeleteVince,
DeleteI believe you to be right on...the statistics speak for themselves. Students want to be noticed, heck everyone wants to be noticed. to have an opportunity to tell your story is validating, and empowering. It does "build a bridge" to sustainable relationship. The single story becomes a whole person.
In reading other posts, I would like to propose a question rather than post to one person as a response.
ReplyDeleteDo you think investing in other stories, sharing other stories, incorporating other stories,etc., goes with or opposes the emphasis for Math and Science in our schools? What do we lose out on, if anything, and who is responsible for making up for the loss, if it is a loss?
Jason,
DeleteI've read both of your posts and appreciate the critical and thoughtful lens in which you approach our prompts. I've thought a lot about your two posts here and I don't want my answer to come across as simplistic. But in a way it is. We have very little impact on our students if we place academic or political gains above relationships. Agreeing or disagreeing with Chimimanda Ngozi Adichie is not the issue. Taking the time to connect with our students and families any way that we can is the issue at stake here. Without personal relationships, we have nothing to leverage. We need those deeper, human connections to lay the groundwork for the academia. We can talk about CCSS, NGSS, SBA data, or whatever acronym is being debated by the water cooler in the staff room all we want...but the achievements of our students depend on the culture we create in our school communities. As building leaders, we have to know our audience, really know them, in order to push them to grow or take risks. The ability to leverage those relationships is our success criteria as leaders. If we miss those opportunities...it's OUR loss. Period.
Thanks for the thought provoking question Jason!
Chimimanda Ngozi Adichie warns that if we hear only a single story about another person or country, we risk a critical misunderstanding.
ReplyDeleteAs a cultural anthropology major - the first round of college - I learned quickly about a single story. We were assigned an ethnography to read from 1949 by Horace Minor about a culture of people names Naciremas. In it we read about a culture whose..." fundamental belief underlying the whole system appears to be that the human body is ugly and that its natural tendency is to debility and disease. Incarcerated in such a body, man's only hope is to avert these characteristics through the use of ritual and ceremony. Every household has one or more shrines devoted to this purpose. The more powerful individuals in the society have several shrines in their houses and, in fact, the opulence of a house is often referred to in terms of the number of such ritual centers it possesses. Most houses are of wattle and daub construction, but the shrine rooms of the more wealthy are walled with stone. Poorer families imitate the rich by applying pottery plaques to their shrine walls.
While each family has at least one such shrine, the rituals associated with it are not family ceremonies but are private and secret. The rites are normally only discussed with children, and then only during the period when they are being initiated into these mysteries. I was able, however, to establish sufficient rapport with the natives to examine these shrines and to have the rituals described to me.
The focal point of the shrine is a box or chest which is built into the wall. In this chest are kept the many charms and magical potions without which no native believes he could live. These preparations are secured from a variety of specialized practitioners. The most powerful of these are the medicine men, whose assistance must be rewarded with substantial gifts. However, the medicine men do not provide the curative potions for their clients, but decide what the ingredients should be and then write them down in an ancient and secret language. This writing is understood only by the medicine men and by the herbalists who, for another gift, provide the required charm."
We soon become aware that the ethnography was a play on Americans (Naciremas spelled backwards). When reading an ethnography on people, the humanity can be hidden in the vocabulary of words like dwelling (instead of home) and objects describes with one languages words that may not translate equally across languages. We instantly labeled these folks as "different/they" instead of looking at humanness....the irony -as the wise professor hoped would be shown- is it WAS us and we could NOT see it through the language.
This ted talk always reminds me of this ethnography because it is often a single story that many base a preconceived belief upon.
Assuring we have literature and informational text that covers a wide range of stories and that provide all children with faces and actions that they can relate to and know as well as others that provide new learning is vital. To see the humanness, the sameness as well as the uniqueness of all people.
“The consequence of the single story is that it robs people of dignity. It makes our recognition of our equal humanity difficult and it emphasizes that we are different rather than how we are similar.”
– Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Brittane,
ReplyDeleteVery interesting story. And more interesting, is the connection to the hidden meanings of a society. Until someone bothers to wonder or ask or notice, the preconceived beliefs just seem a matter of translation semantics. Fascinating to note, single stories are, on many levels, lacking translation and interpretation, simply because of a lack of interest to know individuals' shrines.