Critical Brain Theory

The other day, one of my students got angry and threw a punch at one of his classmates. Happened on the basketball court. Saw the whole thing on tape. But when I asked about the anger and the punch, this child couldn’t explain it. He couldn’t explain his actions. Not right away, at least. So I dug a little more. After a few minutes of calm discussion, he told me that this other child had kicked him out of a group the day before, that he was harboring a grudge like a ticking time bomb. It wasn’t an excuse, but it helped me to understand his behavior, to recognize that what he chose to do, while wrong, didn’t emerge out of thin air. It had a source. And helping him figure it out, helping him work it all out, that was my job. Because I’m his teacher.

Whether it’s academic, social, or emotional, I do this kind of thing every day, helping my students figure out the why. Helping them figure out why numbers do what they do, why hurricanes form at certain times and at certain temperatures, why states and territories once drew their lines here and there. When it comes to math, I’ve been fortunate to work with aggravated, yet open-minded parents who sometimes wonder, when we’re teaching multiplication for example, why we teach multiple methods rather than the one method they learned when they were kids. We do this for the same reason we do everything else. It’s a process I’ve decided to call Critical Brain Theory, or CBT. Basically, it means we’re teaching kids to think critically about everything, about math, about science, about music, about people, about the world they see and experience every day, the world they have questions about and the world they want to understand.

Now. I get that if you’re a mom or a dad, you try to do the same thing, best you can with the time you get. My job would be a thousand times harder if you didn’t. Seven hours a day, five days a week isn’t nearly enough time to help them learn everything they need to know to be successful in this life. You’ve got a lot on your plate and so do I. And as I said above, I’ve been fortunate to work in collaboration with parents from all walks of life, to support them in their efforts at home, and vice versa, with parents asking how they can assist their child with the homework I give or the concepts I teach.

But I think you’d agree that there are several topics that we both get a little nervous talking about with our kids. Sex is a big one, for sure. I’ve never met a teacher who likes talking about the reproductive system to a bunch of middle schoolers. I’ve also never met a parent who eagerly awaits the birds and the bees chat. And yet, we all play our part, uncomfortably at times, because we can’t really get around it. The alternative, of course, is that they figure it all out on their own, and make a heck of a lot of mistakes, sometimes leading to graver, more serious and life-altering consequences.

The reason I’m bringing this up, moms and dads, is because of late, many of you seem terrified of teachers, of what insidious and underhanded things we must be cooking up in the classroom, in our curriculum, as if our job were somehow different than its always been. I recognize that you’re concerned about the discussions we may have with your child regarding social and cultural issues, that we might say things that somehow indoctrinate them into believing dangerous, unpatriotic, devilish ideas. But after more than a decade in the classroom, I’ve never actually met a teacher who believes, in any way, shape, or form, that their job is to tell children “how it is.” Most of us are just desperate to see our kids thinking on their own. Most of us are just trying to get them to open their minds a little bit.

I’ll give you a quick example.

One of my boys this year insists on doing every math problem in his head. He’s convinced that he’s brilliant. And I’ll admit, there are times I’m amazed at what he can do without showing any work. But more often than not, he gets questions wrong, he squeaks by on tests, he underperforms his potential, because he’s locked into a belief about himself that I’m striving to help him unlock. I love that he loves doing stuff in his head. But I’ve been able to help him perfect his errors when he and I sit down together and he does the work in front of me. I’ve been able to help him spot mistakes and have more consistent success. He can be stubborn, but I don’t mind that he’s got his own way, his own mind.

My point is pretty simple. I don’t indoctrinate. I don’t insist on one way of doing things. I simply teach. I inspire. I prompt. I pitch ideas and concepts. I let my students talk through them. I’m not a day care worker and I’m not a babysitter. I didn’t enter this profession so I could supervise a bunch of children for a few hours each day and never guide them through the many issues and subjects they’ll need to understand in the world. I am, again, a partner with parents, not an adversary. Because I want, as much as you want, for your child’s brain to be pushed and pulled and strengthened to its full potential. And that means having a myriad of conversations with them about a myriad of topics.

It’s my Critical Brain Theory.

So let me end by saying this. Despite a decade in the classroom, despite a degree in history and political science, despite a masters in library and information science, despite having written and published a book about black liberation theology in 2009, I had never actually heard of Critical Race Theory until some of you brought it up earlier this year, until some of you actually got so angry about it that you chose to vote for people who would make sure it would be forever banned. Made no sense to me and I’ve read a heck of lot of books, particularly by and about those who’ve experienced being black in America. But at various times in my career, I’ve most certainly had to help my students talk through and work through racial disparities. I’ve most certainly had to help my students work through gender disparities, and financial disparities, and mental health disparities. It comes with the job. Within my curriculum even, I’ve had to let my kids work through questions about Native American rights, and the questions of Manifest Destiny, about who has a right to what land and what space. Again, it comes with the territory of the topics we cover.

Please don’t be afraid of us or antagonize us. We are not now, nor have we ever been a threat or an enemy. We are your partners. And we all want our children, this next generation, to be able to think critically and honestly, about everything, race or otherwise.

Thanks for your time.