Kevin K. Kumashiro's Against Common Sense

 Overview of the Book

I recently finished reading Against Common Sense: Teaching and Learning Towards Social Justice by Kevin K. Kumashiro to continue to build ideas for improved equity in the classroom. The edition I read was the third edition, and one of the first things to surprise me about the book was that the 2015 publication was the 10th-anniversary edition of the text. Equity often seems like such a modern-day idea for American classrooms; I was surprised to see this book was about 15 years ahead of me and my longing for change in modern classrooms. The book explores the role of the teacher as the teacher incorporates anti-oppressive lessons into the classroom in a variety of subject matters. The author, who has experience in a variety of classrooms and grade levels, offers personal anecdotes and stories to illustrate the successes of an anti-oppressive lesson. 

Main Points and Organization

The book is organized into 11 chapters, and the 11 chapters are organized into two parts. The first part, chapters one through five, are written specifically for teachers who want to create an anti-oppressive curriculum or classroom. First, the role of the teacher is examined: as a learned practitioner, a researcher, and as a professional. Then, the role of the student is explained to help teachers prepare themselves and students for change. The reader is reminded of what it means to be a student and what it means to learn in a classroom during a time of change. Next, Kumashiro addresses the uncertainty with challenging "commonsensical teaching" and switching to anti-oppressive teaching. This leads into a short section on healing and an overview of Buddhism beliefs as they could be helpful for mindfulness in the classroom. Lastly, in part one, Kumashiro introduces the term "Things Queer," and explains how it helps prepare teachers for activism. Part two is subject-specific. The text offers specific examples from the author's experiences in the classroom changing curriculum to be anti-oppressive. Each subject-specific section is followed by an essay written by a credible professional reflecting on Kuashiro's work on the school subject. The subjects that are included are Social Studies, English Literature, Music, "Foreign" Language, Natural Sciences, and Mathematics. For example, in the chapter on music education, Kumahsiro provided authentic and historical Hawaiian music and asked for images it inspired. Then he gave a history of the colonialization of Hawaii, which wasn't as pleasant as the images of resorts, ocean, and palm trees that students envisioned. Kumashiro sang the Hawaiian tune again and asked for new images now that students were more aware of the history of Hawaii and the song he shared. The examples in the subject-specific chapters were easy to follow and adaptable to many subject matters and grades. 

A visual representation of the text

What I Liked

• Most of the story is written in the first-person perspective, which made it less like textbook reading and more conversational and leisurely. 
• The story is filled with stories the author experienced in the classroom with various grade levels and subject matters, but his transparency made each believable and relatable. 
• The examples are given of lesson plans for a variety of subject matters, but each subject-specific lesson could still be adapted to other subject matters or inspire ideas that could be used in various subjects and grade levels. 
• Each of the author's suggestions seemed achievable; nothing left me thinking, "that would be nearly impossible." 
• I appreciated the author's views on standards and standardized tests; he feels state and national standards should only be a (small) part of students' learning and measurements for success. 

What are others saying about the book?

• 4.5 stars on Amazon.com with 15 global reviews
• 4.13 stars on Goodreads.com with 77 reviews

Some of My Favorite Quotes

• "Some teacher educators suggested that, along with examining what we yet to learn, it is important to examine what we have already learned..." (pg 12)
• "Sometimes the person filling the glass is the teacher (through lectures and good discussion), and sometimes it is the student (through discover or collaborative inquiry), but the goal remains the same: to fill the glass." (pg 24). 
• "It is not our lack of knowledge but our resistance for knowledge and our desire for the ignorance that often prevent us from changing the oppressive status quo." (pg 27)
• "Learning that the ways we have come to make sense of the world does not always work can be disorienting, which helps to explain the signs of frustration, confusion, and anxiety among so many of our students." (pg 29)
• "Learning is about releasing our dependence on knowledge that has, until now, framed the ways we live in this world." (pg 48)
• "We need to examine how including and excluding different things tell different kinds of stories, and how the questions we ask or do not ask about those stories can make possible very different ways of making sense of our world, and of our obligations toward others" (pg 64)
• "The expression, 'the more you know, the less you know,' has always reminded me that each of us has an infinite capacity to learn and critically question the world." (pg 72)
• "It is not enough to expose students to a wider variety of literature if students continue to interpret or analyze the literature as has traditionally been done." (pg 78)
• "Literature can mean (politically) different things to different people since we all read using lenses that have been colored by our unique identities and life experiences." (pg 82)
• "We rely on different stories to frame our understanding of the world. The 'objective' or 'commonsensical' understanding of the world is not a neutral one, but one that uses an unacknowledged, favored story." (pg 120)
• "Recognizing that teaching and learning are acts of love provides us the imagination to dream of something new." (pg 129)