The Power of Protest; the power of words to change our world

What follows is a response I sent to a question asked on our English teachers' forum: "how to approach the violence in some of the texts [we're] teaching this year, so as to do more than wring hands about it; to use it as a vehicle for reflection and change."

I love my job so much - I love how much I get to be involved in the lives of young people who are so amazing and curious and angry and scared

My awesome Y11 class of 2016

and willing to try but needing guidance. So, this is what I said:

Firstly, (to paraphrase Edmund Burke) that the only requirement for evil to flourish is for good people to do nothing should be one of the cornerstones of what we do what we do and why we are teachers. To me, being an educator is not about 'knowledge transference' alone but about helping make the (wider) world a better and safer place because, man o man, there are some really, really bad people out there.  

I've suffered terribly at the hands of bullies (when a child and as an adult), abusers (physical, emotional, sexual); I've seen or experienced first hand the heart break of racism, sexism, all manner of discrimination. My family has suffered as a result of cruelty and lies and judgement. Yet, despite these terrible things, I have endured. So has my family. 

And so has (and do so) many who have suffered such great injustices and heartbreak because, though the human propensity for violence is shocking, the strength of the human condition to survive and thrive and make the world a better place is at the core of why great literature, great story makes living on this earth bearable. It's no longer enough to teach the skills of reading and writing -  for what is the use of that, if they are not used to challenge all that is wrong in society and to celebrate all that is good?

Secondly, our rapidly changing world demands that we encourage our students to not sit back and allow 'evil to flourish'. We have to mobilise them and give them the tools and education to challenge their own thinking about difference and violence. It is NOT okay to accept causal racism, misogyny or homophobia (thank goodness) but our communities are stained by the nastiness of fear and judgement of difference. 

Scratch the surface of any institution, and there it is: the Harvey Weinstein and the #metoo movement; the Black Lives Matter movement and our own 'Roast Busters' and the Russell McVeagh 'open secret' of abuse of power.  And I'll add the vitriolic reaction to Guyon Espiner and RNZ using te reo Māori because that's the waka I'm on at the moment.

The comments on blogs and Twitter and Facebook show that, despite the Civil Rights Movement, the Feminist Movement, Gay Pride Movement, people still have multiple forums to spew their fear and nastiness and so give voice to this 'evil'. We need to show our students this and unpack why it's there. 

Thirdly, we all ask this question when considering texts: what was the author's purpose? Or, 'what is it the author wanted me to learn, know and understand as a result of this text?' In my opinion, the answer is always about shining light on the human condition and to challenge the reader to reconsider their own view of themselves and, hopefully, modify the way they think and act. Make it personal and relateable. Using another paraphrase (from Atticus this time), that you never really understand a person until you climb inside their skin and walk around it, it is on us to do what we can to bring this understanding. Understanding is the antidote to fear and discrimination. 

A reader's short response to my novel

I have just finished reading Bastion Point with my Y9s and it has woken many of them up to our history and brought some understanding as to why Māori have continued to protest about land loss, the Treaty, and the importance of language. I have shown them news footage and let them listen to first hand accounts. Reading the text was only the start. I deliberately chose the novel because of a survey I did with all my classes last year around Māori language and protocols. The heartbreaking results have spurred me to try to challenge the thinking that the survey exposed - from disinterest all the way to open aggression against things Māori…I had to ask 'where is this anger coming from?' It is helpful too that, as the writer of the novel, I can first hand answer the question around author's purpose and I'm lucky I guess that I can do that but it's only one tool to help to challenge the negative mindset of so many.

Finally, I tell all my students that their voices matter; their words DO have the power to mobilise and make a difference. I tell them that they must never stop speaking out. My Y12s in particular have had a lot to say about the students from Stoneman Douglas High School and those who are speaking out. Those kids have cause, have the fuel to feed their anger and are using whatever means they can to speak out against the wrong. 

It's on me to provide the tools, the words, from the best minds so that my students have a fighting chance. Wisdom and words from Shakespeare, from Harry Potter, from David Hill, from Selina Tuilata Marsh. But also, Mike King and Lesley Elliot and Chloe Swarbrick.  Isn't it always the poets and the students who start the revolutions? I apologise that I am going to mangle metaphors and overstate things, but, as an English teacher in a NZ secondary school,  I see myself as the 'arms dealer' in the battles against all that is the wrong.

Writing and Teaching: teaching writing, writing about teaching

So, I'm back in the classroom. 

Back in my happy place being kept on my toes by reluctant 14 year old boys who can't but help stare out the window or eager girls who have so many ideas they just. Can't. Stop. Them. Bursting out and into the chaos that is sometimes our class discussions.

I'm back spending more time thinking about my students than my husband or myself or my writing deadlines. Back feeling guilty that I’m not organised enough, don't know the needs of the kids well enough, don't have enough time.

In the past, people have asked (actually still do) 'How do you/have you/did you find time to teach AND write?'

I joked then and sorta do now that I don't exercise, garden or dust. I don't play netball or golf or belong to a book-wine club. I teach and I write.

What's good about me being teacher who is a writer is that the energy and ideas and responses I get from my students FUELS me. I write mostly with the YA world in my head so, while I was out of the classroom for two years finishing my degree, those voices, that attitude, waned to the point of almost invisibility. Now, it's back in Technicolor discordant wonderfulness. I've easily found the right name for some character who has popped into my story. I've overheard and stolen snippets of intense and important conversation; I've been reminded of what is really like in Feb in a hot classroom in New Zealand, at the beginning of the year when teachers are trying to set the tone but the boys just want to sleep or go out and play rugby.

What's good about me being a writer who is a teacher is that I'm taking a senior English class focused on writing and reading, another class is 'doing' creative writing, I'm taking a junior writing club and overseeing a Theatre Sports club. These feed my writer soul too because while I'm teaching the students better ways to write, I'm reminding myself; when I look for blogs or places with helpful hints and tips (I always start at this blog first), they help me too.

 my manic board work trying to teach the importance of logical sequencing in action and NOT doing the overkill in dialogue

I have done a lot of research for the novel I'm working on now. It hasn't been easy because there isn't a 'book' on the topic (The occupation of Bastion Point). I've had to read through screeds of old newspapers, bander copies of notices from the occupiers for their supporters. I've interviewed some key people and sent follow up emails. I've watched film footage and documentaries and listened to radio interviews. The more I've read, the more I've spoken to people, the more I've seen evidence that people do what historians know: they miss-remember, they self-edit/self-censor; they make mistakes.

Which brings me to how I connect both my working worlds of teacher and writer:

I have to teach research skills to my Year 10s (14 year olds). I could do a literature based one and I'm sure the girls would mostly be into this. But, I've been looking at doing something which really engages the boys as well. 

 I guess it's NOT poetry, then.

Years ago, I used to do a really successful unit called 'What happened on the day I was born?' This was before Google and YouTube. The students loved it: it connected them with their parents/grandparents in a way that delighted all generations; it was special to them - it was THEIR day after all so learning about who were the leaders of the world's countries, what was popular etc., what was news, what was going on at the moment that THEY entered the world was of enormous interest. 

So I have great buy in.

I'm hoping the same this week with my two year 10 classes. This time, I'm going to introduce them to the idea of research via the work I have been doing on Bastion Point. I will show them some clips from the news, my time line wall chart, 

and explain the process - the highs and lows and the reason for it. Then I will give them their own research assignment. To find out what happened on the day they were born: in their family, in their city, in their country, in the world. What was cool? What were the global concerns? What movies? Songs? Books? People?

I want them to learn how to map out a research task. How to go about gathering information (primary and secondary sources); how to evaluate that information for reliability and usefulness; how to 'translate' data and use it to make judgments about the information; how to interview/talk to people (a biggie for teenagers these days); how to present their findings in a way that is of interest to others and easy to understand.

I'll let you know how we all get on.