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As regular readers know, I was a community organizer for nineteen years (primarily with the Industrial Areas Foundation, founded by Saul Alinsky) prior to become a high school teacher twenty-two years ago.

That experience has certainly influenced this blog, as you can see in the following “Best” lists:

The Best Posts & Articles On Building Influence & Creating Change

The Best Sites To Learn About Saul Alinsky

A BEGINNING LIST OF THE BEST RESOURCES ON LEARNING ABOUT LEADERSHIP – SHARE YOUR OWN

 

More importantly, however, it’s also influenced my teaching in the classroom.

Here are a few of the most useful organizing adages I’ve been able to use with students (keep in mind, however, that although community organizing often relates to being involved in political fights with opponents, I would never characterize a student as an “opponent” or as an “enemy”:

 

1)  “Sometimes the only worse thing than losing a fight is winning one.” 

In organizing, that can mean you’ve won a political fight, but have drained every last ounce of energy from your organization, and now it’s hollowed-out.

In teaching, it’s informed my strategy about carefully selecting which “fights” (rules, classroom routines, student comments) I choose to enforce – and when.  There are ones that are critical to effective learning taking place.  And there are ones that are not critical to that goal.

Abraham Lincoln made a similar point about the value of making wise choices to conserve our energy.

Of course, this organizing maxim can also apply to avoiding power struggles with students – we teachers can never really win one.  It may appear like we have, but the resentment created will always poison the atmosphere.

Which leads me to the next organizing lesson….

 

2) “If you’re going to polarize, always de-polarize, as soon as you can” AND “There are no permanent allies or enemies – only changing self-interests.”

In organizing this means that, yes, political fights require polarization.  However, it’s likely your opponent is still going to be around after that political fight is over.

So, don’t humiliate today’s opponent, and figure out ways to re-engage with them as quickly as possible in case they can be an ally in the next fight.

In teaching, this adage has reminded me to never do something that would embarrass a student (and, if I do, make sure I publicly apologize) and, when tension does happen between a student and me, I work towards “depolarizing” it as soon as possible (by the end of the class period, by the end of the day, at the beginning of class the next day – at the latest).

This organizing advice reminds me of wisdom from educator Marvin Marshall, who recommends that teachers keep this in mind:

Will what I am about to do or say bring me closer or will it push me away farther from the person with whom I am communicating?

 

3) “All organizing is reorganizing” AND “We live in the world as it is, not as we would like it to be.”

In organizing, this can mean two things.

One, it acknowledges that everything is, indeed, organized – our schools, our classrooms, our communities.  However, they may very well be organized in the wrong way.  But we have to acknowledge what is here now before we begin to make changes – we have to grapple with the reality of what exists and work with it – the systems and the people.  That doesn’t mean we should hesitate to challenge injustice and make change – we just need to approach it with both eyes wide open.

Two, it also speaks to the fact that we can never become too comfortable with our situation.  Once we stop evaluating and re-evaluating what is working and what is not, we start moving backwards.

In teaching, these adages remind me to be realistic about changes I can make and to lead with curiosity/inquiry and not judgment when viewing my colleagues and administrators.  It has also reminded me of the need to constantly evaluate what I’m doing in the classroom and to try avoiding getting stuck in ruts.  My biggest teaching mistake was a result of ignoring this adage.

 

4) “Never do for others what they can do for themselves. Never”

In organizing, this means that we don’t have a social service mindset – that, instead, we are focused on developing leaders who make decisions, and implement them.  This kind of perspective is key to organizing success – community organizing groups are not focused on specific issues (jobs, crime, housing, etc.).  Instead, they are focused on leaders, and creating opportunities for new leaders to be identified and developed.  That focus on leaders is what will often make organizing groups more successful in tackling community issues than social service organizations that have been specifically created to respond to them.

In teaching, this idea has strongly influenced how I operate in the classroom.  One student told me last year (in an observational tone, not a critical one), “Mr. Ferlazzo, other teachers stand in front of the classroom and tell us what to learn.  You make us teach ourselves.”   But, as in organizing, it’s “guided discovery,” not a “good luck, go at it” mentality.  As one of my blog posts from earlier this year, If “Inquiry” Or “Direct Instruction” Is The Question, Then I Think “Inductive Learning” Is The Answer.

 

You can learn more about organizing at the “Best” lists cited earlier in this post.

Every year, I also share a PDF of a book by legendary organizer Fred Ross, Sr. that you might find interesting.