My absolute pleasure! = )

This perspective is not a casual one. In addition to being a parent, I’m also an educator 14 years in the classroom. 8 in leadership and consulting. Obedience is about power and submission for the benefit of adults. For their convenience. Is does very little to benefit the child. Working in schools where obedience and submission to authority or face punitive consequences for something as little as looking in the wrong direction when told to track the speaker, did nothing but create soldiers who lacked common sense or the ability to make rational decisions about much of anything if they weren’t directly told. Obedience eliminates the necessity for critical thinking. Most people who think children are bad for not taking orders like soldiers lack fundamental education in child development. As is the case in all “no excuses” charter schools. They don’t have the goal of developing an adult citizenry that has common sense, can critically think and challenge the oppression created by authority figures including exploitative employers. It trains them to accept it as normal. It trains them to accept the status quo. Submission to authority has done nothing for black and Brown working class and poor people. The schools/ parents that encourage cooperation, collaboration, mutual respect not just respect upwards, educate and raise the future leaders and employers of the “obedient”. Children can listen and be respectful without obedience. They will do so willingly when they feel respected and are taught the skills and rationale for why socially acceptable behaviors benefit them and the group. When their learning is relevant and engaging they comply willingly. If they still struggle there is likely a reason caused by challenges at home, learning deficits, or an unskilled teacher. The random bad kid that just doesn’t listen with no explanation is a fantasy of folks who don’t want to do the work of understanding child development or that child as an individual or that lack the skills of knowledgeable skilled teachers. This is not about obedience vs chaos because there’s a lot in between. I’ve primarily worked in severely under resourced communities but consult in more affluent communities in recent years as well. when compared to the mindset of the institutions who know they’re not training the next generation of docile worker bees, the approach is night and day. It is more work for all adults, but what is the ultimate goal? Critical thinking, the opportunity to ask why, in respectful ways, building skills that leads to more autonomy in the classroom, in age appropriate ways, leads to a willingly cooperative student population because they don’t feel the need to constantly battle their oppression or combat the constant disrespect. They cooperate because they want to. Not because they’re told to. I train people in decolonizing their classrooms. I stand firm on having a productive, respectful, classroom without obedience. I’m willing to put the work in for the long term benefit of all students I serve. As to safety… my response to this common response is here. instagram.com/reel/ClEVJtjOPRN/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

Absolutely agree!