I just read danah boyd's crib of her talk at Supernova and Le Web Titled: "Do you See What I See?: Visibility of Practices through Social Media"
The entire read is incredibly insightful. danah is and has been unearthing extremely significant info for everyone, and especially for educators. I have not read anything of hers that didn't teach me some major insight that I was either missing or needed to drastically re-emphasize.
To me - this is the makings of a Nobel Peace Prize.
please don't go places with that comment, i'm simply saying she is doing extremely spot-on work/research - desparately needed in the heartbeat of our nation, of the entire world.
This particular talk focuses on the implications of visibility. It is reading that - quite honestly - if you have a beating heart, you will be unable to put down. Two parts that especially struck a chord with me:
on a dad joining his daughter's myspace:
Rather than misinterpreting what was visible, he made a decision to understand the context. He did not force her to take it down, but rather, used it as an opportunity to open a conversation that he's very glad he had with her. Choosing to look is one thing; having the confidence to know that one's interpretation may not be accurate is another. The key is asking, talking, opening up conversations.
and
on a girl's public accounts of abuse and outcry for help:
It was heartbreaking. For months, she had been documenting her mother's alcoholic rages through her public blog postings on MySpace. Detailed accounts of how her mother physically abused her, yelled at her, and psychologically tormented her. Her own decision to start abusing alcohol, her own confusion about what to do. Her friends had left comments, offering emotional support. But they were in above their heads and there was no adult present in any of those comments.
... No one was willing to listen. ... it was clear to me that she had no adult in her community to whom she could turn.
Just because we have the ability to see does not mean that we're actually looking. And often, as in this case, we aren't looking when people need us the most. In her recent interview via Bobbie Johnson, I think she pens what gives her this unique insight: The questions I continue to want to ask are the things that are challenging to me: having to sit down and be forced to think about uncomfortable social stuff, it's really hard to get my head around it – which means it's exactly what I should dive in and deal with."
As educators, are we willing to take this lead?
Are we willing to be challenged? ... to be uncomfortable?
Come on now ... for the sake of authentic learning.. for peace ... world peace... and more importantly - individual soul peace...
Take note of wise people - they keep telling us just one thing - to listen.
No prejudice, no interpretation, no ignoring/blocking, no surmising, ...
Seems really quite simple.... just uncomfortable.
Let's budge.
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