ECS 210 Reading Response 1

How does Kumashiro define ‘commonsense?’ Why is it so important to pay attention to the ‘common sense’?

In Against Common Sense: Teaching and Learning Toward Social Justice the author Kumashiro, defines common sense as “what everyone should know” (Kumashiro, XXIX). Kumashiro goes on to describe when he traveled to Nepal to teach. He explains how in Nepal the customs were remarkably different from the common sense customer he knew where he was from. He also describes how he handled the struggles he faced in adjusting to these customs. This is a great example of how ‘common sense’ is not all the common everywhere around the world. His story also shows how we often do not challenge or question common sense but instead just accept it as normal.

 

Kumashiro’s story illustrates the importance of paying attention to the ‘common sense’. He describes how he was sent to Nepal in order to present a new way of education but had multiple struggles in doing so due to push back from students, parents, and faculty that did not like the idea of changing the common practices they already had in place. As future teachers, it is important to pay attention to these common sense narratives because they have a huge part in how the education system works. For example, if you take the common sense that students go to class during the day Monday to Friday, get taught by the teacher then return home for homework already discludes children that are home schooled or provided their education in alternative ways. Paying attention to these common regularities in our lives can cause a sense of discomfort away from the normal, which is often a reason for why we do not challenge the common senses in our lives. However, straying away and challenging these common senses in our lives makes room for improvements and progression in our society.

 

Works Cited:

Kumashiro. (2009). Against Common Sense: Teaching and Learning Toward Social Justice, XXIX – XLI