Shades of Gray

I used to be a pretty black and white person.  I felt strongly about how most things "should" be done, how people "should" live, right/wrong, good/bad, were all pretty clear to me.  I was pretty young and I was very sure of things.  Over time I have learned that there can be many "right" ways to do something, that people usually have a good reason for the choices they make, and that right/wrong and good/bad are pretty subjective. One of my favorite sayings now is, "Don't should on me." 

All that to say that I am delighted by the two articles we read this week.  Both of them took existing ideas about things and said, "Let's look at it this way."  Harris proposes that rather than approaching our students with an attitude of converting them to our "language," we acknowledge the value of the multitude of languages the students already participate in and simply add the language of the university to their experience. Winsor suggests that technical work and technical writing are mutually dependent rather than isolated events, and that all writing, even scribbles on post-it-notes, can be considered a factor in invention.

This is a beautiful aspect of academic dialogue; just when someone espouses a theory that makes perfect sense and everyone is applauding, someone else steps up and says, "Let's think about it another way."  All of these challenges to the status quo are what keeps us on our toes, keeps us considering new possibilities, and makes us better students and teachers.  Anytime someone draws a line in the sand and says, "This is the way it is.  This is the way is should to be," we need to be cautious.  Rarely is only one way the right way. Rarely are absolutes a good thing.  Let's keep our hearts and minds open so that we will always be willing to consider a new way of thinking or doing things.  And let's be especially careful not to "should" on anyone.