On bearing witness and embracing children's full humanity
A couple days ago, I saw a video on social media titled The Body Languages of the Children in Gaza. As I watched this video, I could feel across the screen their fears, deep pain, and trauma. My writing purpose for this post is to reflect on what it means to bear witness to the pain and disasters experienced by so many people across the globe. We live in a time where terror is palpable but there are people that do not get to “turn it off” during the day. This is their daily reality. As I watched this video of children revealing through gestures signs of anxiety, displacement and the terror of not knowing what will happen next, it made me press pause as an educator. It pushed me to think beyond what my eyes are bearing witness and start thinking about what this means for the future of these children.
As an educator leader, I get to sit in a lot of meetings where we carefully and intentionally discuss how we can support our multilingual learners. I’m proud that we take the time to engage in critical dialogue that embodies every part of a child’s lives. For me, it feels like a hugging their full humanity and not leaving any part of them at the door. Every lived experience matters. Every form of literacy is important. These meetings give us opportunities to discuss families’ funds of knowledge (González, N., Moll, L.C., & Amanti, C., 2005). As an immigrant who grew up in South America where our lifestyle are very different than the rush and fast speed of living in the USA, these meetings sometimes feel like home. They are meant to slow us down, to reflect, to ask deep questions and revisit our learning. It is a process of learning and unlearning. It resists the effects of colonization that pushes us to do things fast in the name of “efficiency” or “productivity”.
There are times, however, when a fast action is needed and as educators we recognize those moments instantly. But there are other moments, where it feels like we must pull back from our daily focus on standards and skills and ask ourselves what other lens do we need to consider or reconsider. Are there parts of this child’s journey we have not considered or paid enough attention to? Are there lived experiences that we have overlooked? In the world of teaching and learning with multilingual learners the acronym of SIFE refers to students with interrupted formal education. The reasons for interruptions may include: inaccessibility to schools due to geography, economics, displacement, or war. Right now, the world is bearing witnessing to the traumatizing events that children in Palestine, Gongo, Sudan and Central America are experiencing.
How do we honor and embrace children’s humanity when they have experienced so much as such an early age? I believe that we embrace children’s full humanity by attending to their social-emotional needs. When we meet to discuss support for students, we must place this focus at the center of our dialogue. Not as an after-thought but as a place where we begin. From here, we start pulling threads for support and considering an otherwise.
Our westernized educational system often pushes us to think about what a child can do or show in terms of skills as if education is measured only by the success of those standards. In a time of displacement and trauma, we must come back to center, we must come back to that compass that guides us with questions that are driven by a long term vision of growth and continuing support.
What does this child need? Today and tomorrow and probably for a while? How do we provide and support an academic life where we continue to cultivate learning and growth but in expanding ways? What changes in our mindset as educators and administrators that this requires of us? For me, I know that I have a long way to grow in my understanding of students under the SIFE category. I know that I must continue to pursue my learning and expand my horizons in understanding the brain and the way it connects to our social emotional capacities. I believe the questions I am exploring is not an either/or situation. It is an invitation to amplify the AND in our discussions. It is critical we support students’ academic growth AND nurture their sense of safety & belonging. It is important we hold high (not hurried) expectations for all students AND that we hold space to embrace their stories, lived experiences, and needs. It is critical that we consider their lived experiences as valid and important. In other words, embrace their full humanity. When we bear witness and honor them fully we deliver very concrete messages
come as you.
You are welcome here.
We got you.
Photo by Wylly Suhendra via Unsplash.
