“YOU WERE ALL WRONG” – The Dillinger Escape Plan
*Note – the video below contains strobing lights for those sensitive.
11 years ago, almost to the day, I was at a welcome dinner for 100 or so educators on the campus of Stanford University. We represented the inaugural cohort of Hollyhock Fellows. The fellowship was a two year program designed to support and retain early career educators in high poverty schools.
While in line to get food, I struck up conversation with the woman on the other side of the serving line.
“Hi, I’m Jeff.” I said.
“Hey, Jeff. I’m Janet. Nice to meet you.” Janet then gestures at my tank top and asks “So who are ‘you all’, and what were they wrong about?”
“Oh. Ha. Well, it’s a lyric from this obscure metal band I’m really into called the Dillinger Escape Plan.” I replied.
Janet became genuinely curious, and asked me a bit more about Dillinger.
“If I had to describe their sound, imagine two electric guitars, a bass guitar, and a drum kit being tossed down a flight of stairs with someone screaming. I’ve seen them live like 10 times; their shows are super intense – in a good way! A lot of people would classify them as ‘mathcore’ or ‘math metal’, but I’d say they’re more ‘hardcore/punk’ than anything.”
I quickly realized I had dropped fully into superfan mode based on a genuine question about a tank top and an authentic interest in my response.
The craziest part?
Janet wasn’t half-listening to me gush about a band; she was 100% there for it – fully engaged, and maintaining a genuine curiosity throughout our chat.
At our opening PD session the next morning, I learned that Janet – who had fully embraced my Dillinger fandom – was Dr. Janet Carlson, faculty director of the Center to Support Excellence in Teaching.
As a superfan of science education, a delayed starstruck feeling crept in. I had read and cited a number of Dr. Carlson’s research works while assembling my capstone project for my masters degree in technology and curriculum integration a few years prior. Yet there I was the night before, at Stanford, explaining to Dr. Carlson how “math metal” is a bit too narrow of a category for Dillinger.
While I doubt Janet listened to any Dillinger on her bike ride home the previous night – or ever in the decade plus after our exchange – she modeled a universal truth: the simple act of noticing and engaging someone without judgement matters.
Especially as teachers.
We must fully see, validate, and affirm something within each and every one of our students if we have any hope for true learning to take place in our classrooms.
This truth is not some new research discovery; there’s a reason why Rita Pierson’s TED talk has amassed over 23.5 million combined views.
Stereotypes, Circle Pits & Circles of Identity
“So, you like Jack Johnson, right?” – Nearly anyone I’ve ever met when talking music
Given how I present physically – a tall, blonde, lanky, mostly laid back guy with a giant wave tattoo on my shoulder who responds with “partying!” when asked how it’s going – one might ascribe an identity or value set associated with “surfer” culture.
While I do surf, and love the ocean, I’m not that keen on the mellow riffage of Jack Johnson. This is an example of a cultural stereotype based on my physical appearance and behavior; there are aspects of surfer culture that I do identify with and aspects that I do not identify with.
When I say I’m into metal, some people are surprised. They’ll say things like “but you’re so laid back!”.
I’m into metal not because I’m angry; quite the opposite. For me it’s a healthy, cathartic release. Have a rough day? Put on some loud, angry music and it’s like the audio equivalent of a juice cleanse for your soul. Your favorite band is coming to town? Here’s a perfect opportunity for a low cost (depending on the band) version of primal scream therapy.
There’s nothing better than going into a venue with a few hundred to a thousand people and collectively screaming it out.
For those of us who go to shows, and need a bit more of a physical release, there are mosh pits. Mosh pits are as varied as the individuals who go to shows: there are circle pits, push pits, hardcore dancing, walls of death, and more. Depending on the band, the song, or the genre, you may see any or all of the these pits.
While moshing may appear violent, ask any fan and they’ll probably say the same thing: moshing is a natural, cathartic, physical response to the music. Despite the perceived violence, there is a universal rule of “pit etiquette”: if you see someone fall down in the pit, you pick your brother, or sister, or them, up. No questions. No excuses.
On the third day of professional learning while at Stanford, the National Equity Project joined us to facilitate as a Circles of Identity exercise. In the exercise, participants were asked to create a circle on a sheet of paper and write their name in the center. Then, they asked us to make a web of circles surrounding our name and enter a word or phrase into each circle that captures some element of our identity.
Naturally, I wrote “metal head” in one of my circles. I also wrote “male”, “white”, “first generation college graduate”, “athlete”, and “beach lifeguard”. After we all had completed our Circles of Identity diagram, we arranged ourselves in the room in two concentric circles, an inner circle and an outer circle.
Kind of like a nested circle pit, to be honest.
We then spent about 30-45 minutes engaged in a rigorous discussion protocol – not too different from a “think/pair/share”. The facilitator would read a prompt, then both participants would have a minute to think about the prompt. After a minute, each person was allotted a full two minutes to share their response.
Here are just some of the prompts we wrestled with:
- With which descriptors do you identify most strongly? Why is that?
- With which descriptors do others identify you most strongly? How do you feel about that?
- Describe a time when one of the elements of your identity definitely worked to your advantage, either in your educational experience or in other areas of your life.
- Describe a time when one of the elements of your identity appeared to hold you back, either in your educational experience or in other areas of your life.
These prompts forced us to reflect upon and verbalize beliefs we held about our identity. For some, it was validating and affirming. To others, it was mildly uncomfortable. For a select few, it was just as uncomfortable as it is :15 seconds into the first song after the main act takes the stage and a push pit crushes your chest into the rail.
What parts about being a “metal head”, or an “athlete”, or a “male”, or “white” truly resonated with me? How have any of these aspects of my identity provided an explicit or implicit advantage? Or held me back – specifically within the context of education?
The Circles of Identity discussion forced me to name the values I consciously or subconsciously ascribed to aspects of my identity, and allowed for me to validate and affirm parts of my own being that others may misrepresent. The ability to distinguish between culture, values, identity, and stereotype, is a critically important skill in order to fully see and value oneself and others.
As important as it is for us to recognize, validate, and affirm certain aspects of our own identities, it is equally – if not more so – important for us to surface, validate, and affirm aspects of our students’ identities.
In-Groups, Out-Groups, and Values
My wife’s response when it’s metal?
“Ew. Can we not listen to that loud angry stuff?”
My wife and I share multiple value sets, identity markers, and cultural backgrounds, but we are totally unique individuals. Something we don’t agree on? Heavy metal music. What she hears and sees is often categorized by her as angry, violent, and sometimes, scary. Again, this is a common and incorrect stereotype of heavy metal music fans.
From my vantage point as a metal head, Jamie is firmly a member of the out-group. Members of out-groups have perceptions about in-groups that are based on their own beliefs, what they’ve seen, read, or heard about the in-group from media or social media, and/or misconceptions about members of the in-group.
Although my wife does not identify with any aspects of heavy metal culture, she still loves me. I feel validated and affirmed in my identity as a metal head because she lets me listen to what I want – just not with her and the kids in the van – and lets me go to metal shows – though catching a show happens far less frequently because of our 3 kids under 5, and the fact that I’m approaching the midpoint of my 40’s with an ankle that cracks like a metronome when I go up stairs.
One circle of identity which we both share is that of “athletes”: she is both a former college lacrosse player and nationally ranked beach lifeguarding competitor (yes, that’s a thing) and I’m a former collegiate swimmer. Even though we consider ourselves part of the “athlete” in-group, the way the identity of “athlete” manifests within us – such as the type of exercise we enjoy, or the music we listen to while exercising – is totally unique. When I head to the garage gym in the morning to do my workout, I typically play metal music. When my wife puts in her earphones to go for a run, she blasts early 2000’s hip hop and EDM music.
The ability to recognize, validate, and affirm each other – even in areas in which we share values which may surface differently – is critical to our relationship. It’s hard work, and can be uncomfortable at times, but it is well worth it. The same holds true for educators in schools.
A Call to Embrace Culture
These GenAI powered tools range from teacher workflow productivity solutions to student-facing GenAI chatbot study assistants and content creation tools. The interface is simple: just type and it writes back or produces content. That’s it. The training curve is slight and the benefit is infinite.
Right?
Not quite.
As an instructional technology specialist, the heart of my role is to understand technology practice** within classrooms in our district. Not only do I have to understand the technical aspects of the platforms my teachers utilize, I also have to understand the cultural and organizational aspects of my district.
The addition of these GenAI tools – while appreciated – has made my role significantly more challenging. Big picture, organizational needs – like updating our district’s acceptable use policies and student device agreements in light of these new GenAI tools – have moved from the back burner to the front.
Additional tasks, like creating opt-in/opt-out policies and deciding which tools to activate, are now competing for precious institutional attention as pre-existing initiatives like standards-based grading and our transition to a new student information system (SIS) are nearing their launch in September.
From the cultural aspect, there are significant challenges as well. A shared aspect of teacher culture is a want for our students to succeed. How that surfaces in a classroom depends on the educator. Some choose to use technology while others do not. Some educators value the efficiencies provided by GenAI tools, like PowerBuddy and Pear Start and identify as “technology leaders” in the classroom. Those within that in-group may view educators hesitant to adopt and use these tools as members of an out-group, and have associated stereotypes of being “behind the times” or not being willing to prepare our students for the future.
By reflecting upon our own beliefs, values, and cultural identities, we are able to hold space for those whose values aren’t exactly aligned with ours – including beliefs about technology. If we can become more radically curious about each other, our beliefs, and our values – like Janet was to me over a decade ago at Stanford – we can ensure that the implementation of GenAI in our schools is centered on the most important aspect of the profession: supporting student learning. Instead of assuming a teacher hesitant about AI is ‘behind the times,’ we might ask: ‘What concerns do you have about these tools?’ or ‘How do you see this fitting with your teaching philosophy?’
When we broaden the aperture of the technology practice to include the cultural and organizational aspects of including GenAI in schools, we notice an immediate set of ripple effects and unintended consequences that must be addressed if we are to meaningfully incorporate this technology into our practice in service of student learning. This means moving past a narrow conception of technology practice and engaging with the cultural and organizational challenges included with the full definition of technology practice.
Be well,
Jeff
If you enjoy this blog, sign up for my Substack, People+Machines, where you’ll get early access to my posts before they drop here every other Monday!
* – “Free” in the technology world just means you really need to double and triple check the terms and conditions of your user agreement. Especially with the value of data in the GenAI era.
** – Technology practice: “the application of scientific and other knowledge to practical tasks by ordered systems that involve people and organisations, living things and machines.” Pacey, 1983, p.6