There are those who think that social justice should be a part of a school’s curriculum, and there are those who think schools should stick to academic topics. When John wore a pink shirt, he embodied both sides of the dispute, integrating social justice and discussions of gender into the day’s academic focus.
Education is leading a person out. Out of what? Out of narrow-mindedness and into open fields of possibility. Out of banal (and cruel, and false, and stupid) generalities and into an infinite world of unique people and unique events. Out of group-think and into thinking critically for oneself. Education should give us the disciplines—the habits of mind—to make each decision in the moment as it comes on its own merits. “Hey, Mr. John, I like that pink shirt on you.”
Of course, it is mean to mock someone for the shirt they wear or to make any kind of gender-related slur. For this purpose, most kindergartners just need to be reminded about kindness. However, for school to be an education, we must create an environment in which these young humans can create something beautiful, something brilliant, some new line of poetry like, “Only a real man can wear pink.”
From the Principal’s Office: Lessons on Learning, Life, and Parenting is published bi-monthly. Each column is written by Rick Ackerly, a distinguished educator with thirty years experience in middle and elementary school education, who is currently the Head of the Children’s Day School in San Francisco.
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