Counter Interpellation

 Counter interpellation resonated with me as I don't often like getting with the program if I can't see the benefit for the students or if I just think something is a waste of time.  I often say to people that I have self diagnosed ODD.  

When have I said no?  Too many times to think about but I don't generally say no straight out, I ask a lot more questions for clarification and the questions often get others thinking and seeing my point of view. I am definitely an activist in education for causes I think important.  I know how to pick my battles (most of the time) now.  I think it important to be an activist otherwise there is no change and no accountability.  If everyone just goes with the flow there is no innovation.  

How do I go about counter interpellating people in a situation - I get facts and evidence to try change the norm wherever possible.  Our school had a expectation that students had to post on a 'portfolio' 4 times a term.  The platform we used wasn't user friendly and we had very little parental engagement.  It was very stressful for teachers to get the 'posts' done and there was little value in them for the students and parents weren't engaged.  Our parents wanted to see photos of their children not read an LI and SC.  I went with evidence and statistics and asked questions to promote deeper thinking from the person directing the expectation.  As a result it was being reviewed and the 'norm' started to change.

Very small example - everyone had students lining up and walking in gender lines around the school.  It was an unsaid norm - I countered that especially having students that didn't necessarily fit comfortable in a gender line.  We switched to just having two lines of whoever in each.  It started to change across the school.

It is good to counter interpellate some norms.  There are also a lot times in education in my opinion when interpellating students and teachers is also beneficial for everyone.