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    Won t Learn From ,You!on the Role ofAssent in Learning

    Herbert KohlYcars 180 ClIICof my fifth-grade students .medillbis grandfather Wilfredospeak English. Hesaid thatIRIUCrbowbard you lried10u=tch him,ignom wbarcver words you tried to kaChfon:ed you 10speak to him inSpanish.I got 10bow hisgmndfatber I askedSpenisb.wbeIber I could teach him8IIdhe tOld me unambiguously thatdid DOtwanllO learn. Hewas frighrened.said. that his pandchildren wouldneverSpanish i f be pve n l ite therest ofadultsIIIdspoke Englishwilh the .'1bc:n. be said.1heywouldnotwho theyweR. At the endof our

    be adamandy Ihalcouldmake himIeam to speakfamiliesand culturescouldnotiftbe children lost theirparents'thatleaming whatwantedyou to learncan sometimesyou.I discussed WJlfredo's reflections withand they interpieted hisas a cover-up of eithel'hisownfeartrying to learnEnglishor his failure to doTbesc x p l n t i ~ ho\ycver, showaof RSpect fot Wilfredo's abilitytowhat is p p r o p r i e ~ n g fandhis grandchildren. Byaan butingto Wd redo and refusingto .the loss his family wouldduough not knowingSpanish,Iumed a cultural problem intoaproblem: they turnedrefusal to learn inlO failure to learn.I ve thought a lot aboutWilfreda'srefusal10learnEnglish andhavet sympathy for hisdecision.I grewup inbilingual familyand ina house

    by my parents. born in New Yorkand grandparents, born in the YiddishPolish part of he Jewish .in EastEurope calledthePa1e,know what it is like10facethe problemandthedissolutionofIn addition I have encounteftldnot-lcamingduoughoutmy30yearsleaching, and believe that such not .isoften anddisastrouslymist3kcn

    for failme to learnor the inability to learn.Learninghow to not-leam is anintellectual and social challenge;sometimesyou have to wort.very hard at it It consists

    of an active, often ingenious,wiUfulrejectionofeven the most compassionateand wdl-designcd teaching. It subvertsattemptS t remediation asmuch as it rejectslearning in the rust place.It was tIuoughinsight into my own not-leamingthat Ibegan 10understand theillnerworld of

    . .How can feliche... . am fo dl.Ungul.h willful not-l.amlng It OIIIl.IIu,..

    studentswhochose10not-learnw.hatlwanted to leaCh. Over the years I ve cometo side with them in their refusal10bemoldedby a hostilesocietyand have come10look upon not-learning as positiveandhealthyin manysituations.Not-learning lends to lake place whensomconehas10deal with unavoidablechallenges10heror his personal and famoyloyalties. integrity, and identity In such

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    I Won't Learn From You!coatiauedsilWldons. thereareforced choices andno \apparent middlegroood. To agree to learnfrom a strangerwhodoes notrespect yourintegritycauses a major loss of self.Theonly IItcrnadve is to DOl-learn and !ejectdlcirwodd. .In dlccowsc of my reaching career, Jhave seeD childn:n choose to DOl-learn manydiffaau sk:iI1s, ideas. auiIudes,opiDioas.lDdvalues.At firstI confusedDOt-learning withfailing. WbcR JhadyoungsimJn myclasses wbow= substant i a y ~ in adiog J assumedthatIhey bad failed to learnIiowto read.'ThcIdcnlloobd f thesources of theirfaiI_ in Ie8dingrxograms theywacc:xposed to, in theirIdationsbipswilliteaebm and other adults in authority, in thesocialandeconomic conditions of their .1ives.11SSUIIledIbatsomed1ing went wi'ongwhea dley faced a written text that eitbel' .tbcymade errors theydidn'tbow how toc:caec:t. U WCl'Cthevictimsof bad teaching.Othercausesof failure I searched for weremismatebes between the students' languageand daC language of the schools, or betweenthe students' experiences and thekindofcxpcrience presupposed by their teachers ortheJCadjng texts.lad of thesecases I assumed thatmystudenas had failedat somethingtheybadtried10 do. Sometimes I wascorrect. and .thea it was easy to figureouta stratesY tohelpthemavoid olderrors and learn,freeoffaUurc. But there were many cases I cameupon whereobviously intelligent studentswere beyondsuccess or failure when itcame 10readingU ocher school-relatedlearning. They bad consciously placeddlcrnsdws outside the entiresystemthatwas trying to coerce U seduce them intolearning and spentall of their dme andenergy in the classroom devising ways of

    not-learning and short..Qn:uitingdaebusiness of learning Iltogether.1bey wereengaged in a struggleof wills withauthority,andwhatseemed10 be at stalcefor them was nothing Jess than their prideand integrity.Mostof themdidnot believethey were failures or inferiorto SludeltlSwho IUCCCCded on Ibeschool's terms,anditwas 10 distinguish them fJom thewounded self-effacing students who wanted10 learnand had not been able10do so.

    Barry'sNot-LearningI remember onestu!lent. Barry.who wasin one of my combined kindcrgancn firstfOrM,. r ~ ~ c : r ~ in Rertcelev in !he 19105. He

    had been heldbackin the fust gmde by hispreviousteacherforbeing vdefUUlt. and nOtready for the dem8nds ofsecond grade." Hewassent to myclassbecause it wasmuld-age,mded.andtheprincipal hoped Jcouldgd him to catch upand goon withother slUdents his I by theend of1hcyear.Barry was oonftdeot andcocky but DOt rude. Fromhiscomments int was clearthatbe was quiac sensitiveand intdligenLTheother SIUdeats in thedassJeBpeCted himas the best fiPca andathlete in class,andas a skilledandfannySfO Y tener.DuriIlg Ihefirst,weekof school one of thestudentsmendoned to medialthdrlast .year's teacher was afmid ofBany. rve seena nwnbel' of cases wbelewhile teacherstreat veryyoungAfricanAmerican boysas

    i f chey were17, over six feet tall, addicted10drugs. andmenacing. Barry was a victimof thatmanifestation of racism.Heevidenlly wasgiven therun of theschoolthe previousyear - was allowed10. wanderaround thehalls at will, tduse participationin groupactivities,andavoid any semblanceof academic work. Consequenlly he fellbehind and was not promoted from fIrSt tosecond grade.Thefust limeI asked Barry to sit downanda d wich me hethrew a temper IanbUmandcaned me 111 kinds of names. We nevergot near a book. I had10 relate10 hisbehavior, nothis reading. 1bete was no wayformerodiscoverthe levelof hisslcills or.his knowledge of bowreadingworb.l Uicd10gd him10read a few more limesandwatched his responsesto me verycarefully.HisIInlrums WCI'C clearly manuCaetwed onthe spot. They te alU'8lCBY or notreading. He nevergotclose enough10abook 10 have failed to leam how10 read.The yearbefore,!his response had the

    Until we learn to distinguish not-learningfrom failure. and respect the truth behindthis massive rejection of schooling bystudents from poor and oppressedcommunities I f wil l not bf) possible tosolve the major problems of education inthe United States today,.

    effecthe wanted. Hewas let aloneandas abonusgainedstatus in theeyes of theotherchildren as someoneteachers' feared. Notreading, as tragic as it might becomeinhisfUlW'e, was verysuccessfulfor himas akindergartner. Myjob asa teacherwas togd himto feelmore empowered doingmtding than practicing his activenotlearning to read.I developed a straIegy of empowenneilt(or Bany anddidn'teven bolher withtbinking about remediation. I wasconvinced hecould learn 10read pedecdywen if beassellted to learn how to read,Thescrategy was simple and involvedacalculated risk.I decided to fOJCC himtoRad wich me and then make it appear toothermembers o( Iheclass thatheread sowen chat his pastresistance was justa game

    hecontrolled. The goalwas to havehimshowme up inclass,as if his pastfailurewas a jOke hewas playing 00 us aU, anddisplay to Ilie entireclassm.ding abilitybedidn't know hehad..I prepaIQt myselffora bit of drama. OneMondayafternOon I askedBarry 10comeread wich me. Naturallyanof theOCherstudents stoppedwbale\'eC.1hCy weredoingand waited for the show. They wanted tosee ifBarry wouldbe able to not-read onemoretime. He lookedat me.thenturnedaroundand walked away.I picked upabookand went ro him. Then I gentlybutfumly sat him down in a chair andsatdown myself. Before he could Ihrow theinevitablelanlnam I opened the bookandsaid, "HeR'. the page youhave ro Jead.ilsays, "This isa bug.This isa jug. This is abug in the jug.' Nowread it to me." Hestarted10lqUinn andput his hands over hieyes.Only I could.seea sly grinforming Ihe snucle a look at the book.' had givenhitheanswers,told himexactly what hfhad

    d J

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    .do to show meand abe rest of theclass thathe knew how 10 read all along. It was his'decision:10 go onplayinghis not-learninggame or ICCCpt my face-saving giftandopenup the possibility of learning 10 read. I'offered him the possibility of enaering into ateaehing/leaming relationship with mewithout forcinghim 10give upanyof hisstatus andfortunately heaccepted thegiftHe mumbledwrbis is a bugL this isa jug..This is a bug in a jug," then tossed abe bookon the floor,and.turning10 oneof theother

    children, saiddefl8lltly, "See,llOld you Ialready knowhowto read."This ritualbatllewas repealed allweekand inlO Ihenext,subsiding slowly as hefeltthat the same was'no longernecessary andthat he was figuring out the relationship oJcaer fOsounds,wordsandmeaning. After a.whileradiog became just another oneothe things that Bany didin class. I neverdid anY.RmediaI teachingorRated himasa failed'reader. In fact. I was able to reachhim by acknowledging hischoice10notlearn andby Uicking himoutof i tHowever, i hehadrefusedassent,there isnoway1could have forcedbim 10 Ieam10Thatwas a very important lesson tome.It helpedme undersland the essentialrole wiD and freechoiceplay in Jearningand laughtme the importance oftowardsIt'alningin the largercontextof thechoicesma1ce as theycreate livesand identitiesthemselves.Over the years I've bown manyyoungsters whochose to actively not-learn'whatschool, society,or theirfamilies triedteachthem.Not all of themwere)OfeIltial victimsof theirownchoices 10

    Forsome, not-learning wasathatmade it possiblefor them tofunction on the ofsociety insteadfalling into madnesS or IOla1 despair;It .them builda small safe world inwhichtheir feelings of beingrejectedbyfamilyandsocietycould be sofaened. Notplayeda positiverole andenabledto lalce controlof theirlivesand get

    The Struggles ofAkmirAlcmir, a youngAfricanAmerican man IhadIhe privilegeof knowing for the lastthree yearsof his life, waswiser aban I was,andsuuggled to learn and maintain hiscultureand Ieamhis rootsdespitea racistschoolsystem that he was required 10auend. In school hewasa passionate notleamer.I Jemember him Idling me ofspending a semesterina juniorhighschoolsocial studies class not merelynot-learningthe subjectbutactivelytrylng 10destroy theleaCher s andIe1tbook's credibility. Akmirhad joined a militantseparatistgroup thatwasan offshootof theNation 1Islam.

    They believed that they wereamong abe 7%of African Americans who understood the, lIUth that thewhilemanwas a devil and had10be ruthlessly rooted out and destroyed.Oneof theirgoalswaspurifying Harlem ofall whites.AJcmir s experiences with whitesdid verylittle to refutethe7krs analysis.Thatopinion accurately applied10 one ofAkmir's highschoolhistoryteacherswhobelieved thathisstudents, who wereallAfricanAmerican and PuertoRican, werestupid, lazy,and not capableofunderstanding complex ideas.He talkedtothe class in a c:ondescending way,addressingthemas"you" as in, "Youpeopledon't know how to hold a job," and"You peoplehavenever learned 10adoptAmericanvalues and that's whyyou can'tcompccc in the marketplace."Mostof the Sludents were content 10notIt'aln what he laught by playing d ~ AfQW acauaUy leamedwhat he taughtandbelieved that they stupidand incapableofproductivelives.Akmirandone friend,Thomas X,were activelydefl80L They notonly refused to Jcarnwhathetaught, but

    tried to lalce over thecl ss ~ d chaD ge thecurriculum inlO an auaek on white racism.Whenever he talked about American values,for example,theywould pointout thatslavery was an American value according 10the Constitution, and try to demonstJate thatracism,not lackof inaelligence or ability,was the root of blackfailureand poveny.The reacher tried10shutthem up, refeaedthem to Iheguidancecounselor, sent themto the principal, and, in every way butansweringtheirchallenges, tried to silencethem. Nothing worked. since Akmir andThomas X refusedto accept the validity ofschool audaority and preachedjo theprincip8t and the counselors the Samelinethey preached in class.Afterone semesterof biuer suugglewithin the school, bothAlcmir and Thomas X were transfened to aspecial schoolforstudentswith disciplineproblemswho had no criminal records.These wereschoolsfor youngsterswho hadmasIered strategies of not-learningandn ~ school authorities but haddonenothing wrong. Theywerecreated tosegregate teachers whowerefaiJing theirstudents from theirangry victims, within analreadyraciallysegregated system.I didn't know Abnir until thtee yearsafterhe lerthigh school.-He hadpassed aJ Iof hisclasses,buthisdiplomahad beenwithheldfromhimfor "citizenship"reasons. The principal and guidancecounselor decided thathe wasn't a loyal. American, since heraisedquestionswhichthey. inlerpreted asanti-American. Theydecided that hedidn't deserveto graduatebecause of this attitudeand dccnled that hehad to takeandpassa course in citi7.e1\shipsometimeduring the two years after his

    class graduated in order to receive thediplomahehad earned by passing aU theftlquired courses They also told him thalthey woulddecide whatwork orschoolexperience couldcount as a citizenshipclass sometime in Ihefuture. Akmir toldthem whathe thoughtof them.beforeleavingtheschoolfor what he believedwa:the last time.At the time(it was 1965)I wasa gradualstudentat Teachers College, ColumbiaUniversity, and BettyRawls, anothergraduale student,and I were teaching aclass in psychology fora group of highschool-aged who were olderbrodtersand sistersoffonner studentsofminefrom Harlem. BrendaJackson,oneofthe students. broughtAJcmir to class oneday.Theywerea bit late,and whentheyanived theclassWasdiscussing wheIberFreudian ideas applied to aeenagers growingup in Hadem.The discussionwasquitelively,butwhenBrenda and Alanir cameinto the room,everyonefeU silenLBrendasat down, but AJcmir remainCd sr.anding andlootedstmightat me. I noticed howsarong

    he looked, bothphysicallyandmentally.SincecvCl) OftC else in the room nmainedsilent,I talked aboutmy understanding ofFreudand broughtup some questions1hadaboutsome mainFreudianconcepts. Afteraboutfive minutesA1anir took a few stepstowards thefrontof the room and said,quietlybut fiercely, "That's white man'spsychology."I didn't disagree, and suggested he gointo his reasons formakingthat sc.atemenLHe said therewas no point in doing it for awhiteman, and I IOld himhe was wrong.adding1hat IhOugh Freud wasa wbiJe man,he also was a bourgeoisViennese Jew whogrewup in the laic 18005 and it was unclearwhether his ideas were adequate ro accountfor thepsychologyof non-Jews,of workingclass people. of women,and ofyoungpeoplein the 19605 as well as of blacks.He pushedaside my commentsandbegana harangue O( racism.injustice. and IheWildemessof North America, whichwasthe way BlackMuslims referred to theUnited sbites. I got angryand told himthatthe class was voluntary, that he could leavei he wanted to. but that we'werc"lhcIe toleamtogether,and I wasn t bullshiUingabout wanting 10 know his ideas. Anyintelligent position could be presented,defended, argued.but learningcouIdn'l takeplacewithoutrespect foreverybody's voice.The studentsanxiouslyg1anccd back andfof1h from Akmir to me. I rcsled my caseand hesmiledand said, "WeD,maybe weshould start withego psychologyandseewhatego means for whilepeopleandforblack people," I agreed and we entered intothat discussion.

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    AfterclassAkmircameup andintro:duoedhimself. I toldhimthathisquestJonsandchallengeswerejustwhatthe classneededandinvitedhim10 join us.BettyandI usuaUyassigned material 10beread. fo-:eachclass, butmostofthe studentsdidn tgetaround 10 reading it so we b e ~ eachclasssummarizingtheissues we U l t ~ 10discuss. Akmirreadeverything,stuched Itthoroughlyand came 10 classprepared 10argue. Heread allofthematerial aggressively,lookingforsentencesor thalindicatedorcouldbe interpreted 10unplyracism,ranging fromusesofthewords. ."black"or"daJk"lOsignifyevil10 O P ~ ~ -C8Ied r g w n e n ~ thatimpliedthe s ~ n o n t y ofWestern culture.Forafew ~ I o r : w theclass was dominatedbyhisquest1011IRg our1eX1S. At fJl'St Ithoughtitwas agamemeanttoprovoke me,but it soonbecameclearthatthatwas ancgotisticresponse ~ myJ'lIrt:.Abnirwashuntingdown m ~ Englishforinsinualionsof racismandtlyUlg 10purifythe a n g u a g e ~ Hehad learnedSC?me ofthesetechniquesfrom theBlac:k u s l u n sand 7krs whowere veryskillfulm huntingoutclaims ofEuropean pureness andAfrican primitivity,andwho understoodthatwhen sophisticated WesternerS werecontrastedwithunsophisticatedpeoples ofcdor,racism was afOot. .Ilearnedfrom,Akmir's ~ ~ how!teo fell i n l O ~ O P P Y ~ t g u ~ h a b l l S andcame 10takehiscnliasrnsseriously. I .IriedtoreadtexIS ftom hispointofview pickoutthephrasesandthoughlS ~ t hemightfindoffensive. In somecasesItmadereading somefamiliarmaterialveryuncomfortable.Ihadthoughtofhavingtheclassanalyze Conrad'sThe H ~ l oDar1cnUs fromapsychoanalYUc pointo!view butdecided10abandon thatexercise~ onrereadingit withAkmir"s

    have encounteredwIlled not.learnlngthroughout y 30years o teaching,and believe thatsuch not.learningis offen anddisastrouslymistaken forfailure to learnor the inabil i tyto learn.

    sensitivitiesin mind, theexplicitandoffensiveracism at the heartor the story,,"":111,.11 m,. r \-nl'w ht-Jorl'.h:ll .hI-. c:,nrv

    -uu.u De Go> ._ UUl . . . . . . c l V I ~ lalways felt thatthatwas just a e c o ~unfortunate aspectofan ~ pIeCeof writing. This time,thoughthequalityofthewriting wasn't diminishedbymynewreading.1heSIOr)'had become.rcpuanant 10me. Theracism became theprtm8I)'characteristic or the wriring.not aSCCOI ldarYone thatcouldbeunderstoOd andexplainedawayinlightofConrad'sculturalbackground andhistoricalsituation. AndIunderstood thatI shouldn'tleaCh TheHearl.01Darlcness unlessIwas10deal explicitlywith thetext'sracism andcondemnConrad.Last year,more Ihan 20yearsafterthistincident, IJeadanessaybythe NigeriannovelistCbinuaAchcbeentitled,"AnImageofAfrica: Racism inConrad'sHearl ofDarkness (inHopes and ImpedimenIS,Doubleday 1989,pp.I-2O)thatconfmnedmyanalysisoftheConradstory.lit theessay, Achebe. afrermakinghiscase againstConrad. statesquite unambiguously, "Thepointof myobservationsshould bequiteclearby now. namelythatJoseph Conrad~ atbclrougbgoing racist.That IbissimplebUlb isgIoSscd over in Criticisms ofhis

    wortisduetodie fact thatwhiteracismplgainstAfrica is suchanormal wayorlbinIdngthat its.manifestations gocomP ~ l y to (pageII): The Lessons of San Antonio" Over the yearsI'verome10 believethat1JW1Y oftheyoungpeoplewhofail in ourschools do soforthesamereasonsAkmir$1id ~ d use manyofthe samestrategieshe"adopted.Iremember visitingsometeacherfriendsin SanAntonio.Texas,about 15. 'years ago.Iwas theretrying10helpintheirstruggles10eliminateanti-Latinoracism inthepublic'schoolsinthebarrios.Therewere vezyfewLatinoteachersandnoLatino.',administrators inbanio schoolsinthe parts;1>fSanAntoniowheremyfriendsworked.:Many or theadministrators wereAnglo, retired mUitary personnelfromtheSan\'\.nlOnio airforcebase whobad hostile.,.jmperialist attitudesIOwards thechildren:Jhey taughtandthecommunitiesthey

    ~ ~ r v e d . I wasaskedby acommunity group,:JS anoutsiderandasanAnglomyself,10visitanumberofclassroomsandparticipate

    someworkshops discussingthespecificwaysin whichracism functioned in theirlcbools.In one juniorhighIwas invited10'bbserveahistoryclassbya teacherwho.Jdmitted Ibalhe neededhelp withthisparticulargroupofstudents. all ofwhomwere Latino.Theceacher gavemeacopyofhistextbook,and Isat in thebackor theroomand followed the lesson (ortheday.whichwas entitled.Tbe ftrstpeople10seuleTexas."Theceacber asked forsomeone10YolunlCCl' 10read andnooneresponded.Mostof thestudentswmslumpeddown in theirdcsItslind noneofthemlookeddircc:lJy attheteacher.Somegazedoffintospace,othersexchangedglimpsesandgrimaces.Tbeteacherdidn't"",..t,. r I A . _ .. .

    ..............- . . . ;: .... - _ -- -- ---- a 1--'" . . . .people10 scu1e Texas arrivedfrom New i . England and theSouthin _:'" TwoboysinIthebact puttheirhandsintheircyes.thereIwereafcwJiggles and some murmuring.Oneband shotupandthatSIUdent blurted iout,What are we, animalsorsomething?":Thereacher'sresponse was, "Whatdoesthathave10dowiththetext?"Then hedecided 10abandon thelesson, introduced imeasavisitingteacher who would substi- Itutefortherestoftheperiod andlefttheroom. iI don'tknowif heplanned 10 dothataU 1. alongand setmeup10fail with. thestudell,justashedid,or i hisangeratbeing .observedovercame himand hedecided10dumpthewholethingonme.Whateverthemotivation,helefttheroom,andIwas widt the students. I wentup frontandrereadthesentencefrom thebookandasked the I fclass10raise theirhands i theybelievedwhatIbadjustread. Afewofthem becamalert. though theylookedat me suspiciouslasIcontinUed. -nus islies,nonsense.Infact.IthinktheIClttbook isracistand aninsult10cvel)'OllC in this room."Everyonewokeupand thesamestudentwhohad .1asked theteacher b o u t ~ a I lifeturnedimeandasked "'You meandtat?" IsaidI .Jdid. and thenheintmuptedandsaid."We"there'smoredtanthatbookthat'sracist Iaround here." I-continuewithwhatI'dopenedup or o s e ~ theconversation downandprotecttheteacher. Idecided 10continueonandsaid .1didn'tknowtheirteacherbutthat IhadruninlO morethanoneracistwhowas ceachin .and ought10be thrownoutbythestudentsIand theirparents,Iadded thatitwas .obvious thatthetextbookwasracist.itwas thereforeveryone10read,butwondered Ihowtheydetectedracismintheir teachers.Theclasslaunched intoaseriousand sophisticateddiscussionof.the wayin Iwhich racism manifeslS itselfintheir IeverydayIiVCSJl.t school.Andtheydescribed the stancetheytookin orderto Iresist that racism andyetnot bethrown outlofschool.ItarnQUnted 10nothing less than full-blown andcooperativenot-learning. ITheyaccepted thefailinggradesit r o d u ~ inexchangeforthepassivedefenseor theirll

    petSOnal andcultwa! integrity.Thiswasaclassof schoolfailures,andperhaps,I ~ \ b c ; n 1IOdatlU \)eUevc. the .repository forthepositiveleadershipand intelJigence oftheirgeneration. Inred1inJcjng my leaChing experience the lightof not-learning,I realize that man youngsteqwho ask impertinentquestlOns'llisten. Iheirteachers inorder10contradictthem,anddo not talcc homework orteslS Iseriouslyare practiced not-lcamers.The Iquieternot-leanteI1 sit sullenlyin class Iaydreamingand shuttingoutthe sound 0theirteacher's wicc.TheysometimesfaUofftheirchairs orthrowthingsacrossIheroomorresort10other strategiesofdisruption.Some pushthings sofarthal J Iltheygelput in special classesorthrown 1or ~ h n n l rn II nrthl p I ,, 'hI .. ,,,.n.. I

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    ~ h ; l t h ~ ~ h ~ i ~ t t Y i ~ i t U > U t ~ h . On thatlevel,no failureis possible, since there hasbeen noauernptto learn. It is common toconsidersuch students dumborpsychologically disturbed. Conscious wiUed refusal ?fschoolingfor political or cultural reasons ISnot acknowledged asan appropriateresponse to oppressive education. Sinces t u d e n ~ havenoway10 e g i ~ ~ t e l y criticize theschooling they aresubjected 10or the people theyare required to learnfrom, resistance and rebellion arestigmatized. The system s problem becomes thevictim s problem.

    However, not-learning is a healthythough frequently dysfunctional response toracism,sexism,and otherfonns 6f bias.Inlimes of social movements forjustice.suchrefusal is often twned to morepositive masspro cst and demonstration and thedevelopment of alternative learningsituations. Forexample duringthe 1960s inNew York,students whomaintained theirintegrityand consciously refused the racistleaChings of theirsegregated schoolsbecameleaders in the school boycotts andteachers of reading and African Americanhistoryin Freedom schools.Untilwe learn10 distinguish not-learningfromfailureandrespect thewth behindthis massiverejection of schooling bystudents frompoorand oppressedcommunities. itwillnotbepossible to solvethemajorproblems of education in theUniled Slates today. Risk-taking is at theheart. pf h i J : l g .weU. That means thatteaChers wiUhave' 10 not-learn thewaysofloyaltyto the system and to speak: out for,as the traditional African-American songgoes, theconceptthat everyone has a rightto the tree of life.We mustgive uplookingat resistant students as failures and tum acriticaleye IOwards this wealthy society andtheschools that it supports.Noamountof educational research nodevelopment of techniques or materials nospecialprograms or compensatory services,no restructuring or retraining of teacherswiIJ makeany fundamental difference untilweconcede that formanystudents theonlysanealternative 10 not-learning is theacknowledgement and directconfrontationofoppression - social,sexual,andeconomic - both in school and insociety.Education builton accepting thathard truthaboutoursocietycan break through notlearning and leadstudentsand teacherstogether, not to thesolution of problems butto directintelligent engagement inthestruggles that might leadto solutions. 0Herbert Kohl is author 0/36 Childrenand. most recently. FromArchetype 10ZeirgeisL This essay is dediC4 ed 0memory Betty Rawls and the continuingstruggle/or justice This essay is excerptedfrom tM booklet I Won t Learn from YouPublishedby Millovud Editions. Minneapo-lis MN 1991.

    Willed nof.leamlng I different rom fa ure.

    : ~ . t 0 < _ ? l - 51 4-cu 1S{It 7/,n-N / 9 ~ . 2 . hI 7 t} i