Preamble: see Part 1 for my explanation of what I’m doing.
About the book: Beyond Order follows JBP’s 2018 book, 12 Rules For Life: An Antidote to Chaos (for a total of 24 rules between both books). Each chapter is devoted to one rule. The chapters may include discussion of self-help ideas, psychological and other scientific research, analysis of literature, popular culture, mythology and/or religion, political and social commentary and anecdotes to build on the theme. This is much like JBP’s speaking style which many know from his popular online lectures and podcasts. Part of the delight and enjoyment is watching thinking and sense making in action.
Links to other posts in this series (I will make links live as I write and post each blog):
Part 2 (Rules 4, 5, 6)You are reading it
Part 3 (Rules 7, 8, 9)Part 4 (Rules 10, 11, 12)
Rule 4: Notice that opportunity lurks where responsibility has been abdicated
I had this advice in mind when I offered to teach a subject and group of students outside of my current specialization earlier this year. It was a year of staffing challenges because of some students choosing online learning, thus a lack of teachers. I also saw some potential benefits to my core group of students if I made myself available to fill this need area. So for one class a day, I taught a small group of very complex learners. I was often learning the subject (history, politics, current events) at the same time as them. It was not exactly academically challenging but the challenge was keeping the students engaged and creating a supportive learning environment. There was a lot of improvisation and dialectical conversation.
Did this assignment increase my stress level? Definitely. I had a lot of anxiety about being able to teach the subject effectively but especially over my students’ mental health and behaviours. Could I have hypothetically refused to take on this class? Perhaps. Am I glad I took on the challenge? I am! I learned to really like my little group, despite their complexities, and I know they liked me in return. We had many interesting conversations together. At the end of the course, the students asked to have a potluck. I was impressed with how they supported each other (apart from occasional squabbles) and how they each made an effort at the end to have this celebration, bringing food and serving each other. I even got my favourite donut.
Rule 5: Do not do what you hate
Conflict is not something I seek out, that’s for sure. It’s not that I will never have a confrontation, but I have to talk myself into it. That is not perhaps a bad thing as I do approach difficult situations thoughtfully. But avoidance is always a temptation. One reason I appreciate Dr Peterson is he reminds me to take a hard look at this side of my character and ask if I need to take a stronger stand sometimes.
An advantage of the close relationship I have formed with my co-teacher this year is that she is less agreeable and more willing to say No to people. I have been able, in an appropriate and respectful way, to see what happens when we set stronger boundaries. And often things get better. A few people become and remain grumpy, but others are supportive and start to play a better game with us.
My efforts to follow this advice are ongoing.
Rule 6: Abandon Ideology
I work in an area (education) that is susceptible to fad ideas. They may take a while to trickle down to the actual classroom level, because teachers and students are very routine based and it’s not easy to suddenly change your practice, whether or not change would be beneficial.
My view is that teaching is not actually that complicated, though it is hard. Complex and poorly prepared students of course make it harder because you have to invest a lot of time and energy figuring out their priority of needs, and it’s often a struggle to find the time and resources. So the problems of society impact us. But are there some sort of special teaching techniques that can be learned that will make a huge difference? For some students with specialized needs, sure. There are strategies that can help. But there is no “secret formula” or easy solution. It comes down to relationships, flexibility, and the beneficial use of authority.
It is however, always tempting to believe that there are simple solutions. It’s easier to teach a simple idea, for one thing. I often felt overwhelmed trying to explain news stories. I told my students we could easily spend the entire course learning about one news story about China, or Canada’s indigenous people, or any other topic. Sometimes they would ask why we were discussing a “current event” from a year ago. I answered that almost every story in the news had been developing for years, maybe generations. It is impossible to understand it by reading one story.
It occurred to me, as I was doing this, often awkwardly, that it would be easier to say that current events are caused by systemic racism, or colonialism, or patriarchy, or whatever. Not only would such terms give a quick, easy explanation, they would give me and the students a pleasant feeling of being allied against such evils. All of them were active on social media too so had at least some exposure to these words and the groups that promote them. I could have invited them to be part of a “tribe” that has a straightforward story about the past and present. There would have been some pushback, but I was after all the authority.
I didn’t, and I won’t, because as Dr Peterson notes above, the ideological explanations oversimplify and misdirect. They make it too easy, and satisfying, to name and shame villains. They minimize how incredibly difficult it is to actually stand up against something that is wrong, instead offering group belonging as a cover. I have seen how activists actually behave when they have decided somebody is a racist, or a transphobe, or a misogynist, or any other name they choose. It is usually mostly or entirely arbitrary. It is vile and ugly. There is plenty of ugliness in the world, including some that lines up with some definitions of racism, misogyny, etc. But this does not justify the creation of further viciousness. I will not indoctrinate other people.
When students (or anyone, really) confronts me with their (often justifiable) anger or sadness at something in the world, I ask them to observe their own life, relationships, physical and social world. What can they make better? What can they stop doing wrong? Absolutely anybody can find something they can change for the better. By contrast, if they lash out in anger against another person (and the selection of target is again almost always random and/or selected by another person with their own agenda), who benefits?
It’s a good thing I am getting some experience teaching (and applying) these ideas as I don’t see the need lessening any time soon.
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