In yesterday’s post Angie Neal Replying to @DoctorSam7 @PATSTONE55 and 5 others had said:
“I’m not arguing for the sake of argument.”
I like debating which some may read as arguing. When I realise I am wrong I say sorry and move on. No one will be able to continue arguing when I have said sorry. No one will remember the event after a short period.
Quite often debates rage on for a long time because the parties debating want to be right instead of trying to find the truth.
We all want to win arguments but we should be flexible when it comes to the possibility of being wrong.
2 Corinthians 13:8 says, “For we can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth.”
The truth never changes. There is always the possibility that our opinion of what we think is right is not the truth.
Sometimes when you are arguing or trying to convince somebody of something, your main concern is not so much discovering the truth or having an interesting conversation. Sometimes you just want them to accept what you are saying as right, whether or not it is true.
It is this desire to be right rather than finding the truth that has prevented many from accepting what I have learned from my students.
If we can entertain the possibility that we may be wrong and are open to learning from the experience of others, then and only then can we be able to progress. When we admit we’re wrong, we can grow closer to the truth.
The Anglosphere has been talking about instructional casualties but has anyone, other than me, said what is being instructed wrongly that cause kids to disengage from learning to read?
If our main aim is to help kids to learn to read, then we can reduce if not eradicate illiteracy.
Here is a story I read today that may be relevant.
A guy was walking along when he saw a small note on a tree. It said ‘I lost 50 rupees somewhere around here. If anyone finds it, please bring it to my home at the address below’.
The guy found the house, an old dilapidated house, and handed over 50 rupees to the old lady saying he found it near the tree.
The old woman replied, ‘Sir, about 30 to 40 people have come over and handed me 50 Rupees each. In fact, I did not lose any money near the tree. I don’t even know how to read or write. When you get back to that tree, please take down that note’.
The man thought to himself as to who that kind soul who wrote the note may be.
Stop bickering and focus on helping kids who are unable to read and together we can reduce illiteracy.
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