PeaceApril is the month for all seasons of weather. There are the warm days when we first let our bare feet touch the sand. The frozen days when snow can fall and chase us back to the basement to find out stored away boots. There are the rainy days – cold Cape Cod 45 % angle rain that cuts through you. And there are the foggy days when warm winds blow across our cold waters and cover the land with a cloud. Together these days combine for a dissonant mix that ushers in summer harmony.

Learning happens much the same way our Spring evolves into Summer. Dissonant voices collide and produce new ideas in created third spaces. World views overlap and become entangled until a new perspective emerge. Lived experiences are shared and differences emerge that allow for increased empathy and understanding.

School is a physical place where we gather to learn with, from and for one another. A place built for differences to come together, for norms to be challenged by new possibilities, for history to be honored and traditions to be upheld. Schooling at its best is a diverse community that produces harmonious results. We work together toward understanding – leaning on each other through the chaos of not knowing. Working in solitude has value, but it is when we share our work with others who are unlike us that we make progress beyond our capacity. 

Just as the warm air of Spring combined with the cold ocean waters gives shape to the sea fog that announces the promise of another summer, our dissonant exchanges give shape to progress. One idea runs up against another and a third idea is formed – the mark of progress made by learning beyond what we already know and can do.

April is a time when we long for a blue-green summer postcard day, but there is something about the sea fog of our Spring that is more interesting – more thought provoking. The fog draws our attention – causes us to slow our step, take a deep breath to feel the chill of the air, and realize the earth beneath our feet is warming. 

So too school is a place that demands our attention, invites us to pause, engages us with voices and ideas we do not understand, and challenges us to make sense of it all, realizing the world around us is changing and needs us to engage so we can all learn and grow together.

I hope this weekend you have the opportunity to take a morning walk, feel the fading chill of winter, see the surrounding signs of an approaching summer, feel the way Spring mixes two opposing seasons,  and consider how your learning is enriched by those with whom you disagree.

Peace,
Chris