Humanistic Teaching

An approach to learning English

How much violence is there in your classroom? This is a question I have been contemplating about my own classes recently. Despite avoiding competitive activities here's more than I would like and I'm wondering what I can do about it. But what, exactly, is violence? How many of the following statements do you agree with?

1.    Violence can only be concealed by a lie, and the lie can only be maintained by violence.

2.    The state calls its own violence law, but that of the individual crime.

3.    Violence and smut are of course everywhere on the airwaves. You cannot turn on your television without seeing them, although sometimes you have to hunt around

4.    No society that feeds its children on tales of successful violence can expect them not to believe that violence in the end is rewarded.

5.    Violence isn't always evil. What's evil is the infatuation with violence.

6.    Violence is not merely killing another. It is violence when we use a sharp word, when we make a gesture to brush away a person, when we obey because there is fear. So violence isn't merely organized butchery in the name of God, in the name of society or country. Violence is much more subtle, much deeper, and we are inquiring into the very depths of violence.

7.    From the moment of birth, when the stone-age baby confronts the twentieth-century mother, the baby is subjected to these forces of violence, called love, as its mother and father have been, and their parents and their parents before them. These forces are mainly concerned with destroying most of its potentialities. This enterprise is on the whole successful.

8.    It is better to be violent, if there is violence in our hearts, than to put on the cloak of nonviolence to cover impotence.

9.    Our most important task is to transform our consciousness so that violence is no longer an option for us in our personal lives, that understanding that a world of peace is possible only if we relate to each other as peaceful beings, one individual at a time.

10.    I hate to advocate drugs, alcohol, violence, or insanity to anyone, but they've always worked for me.

11.    Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent.

12.    In some cases non-violence requires more militancy than violence.

13.    Peace cannot be achieved through violence, it can only be attained through understanding.

14.    Democracy don't rule the world, You'd better get that in your head; This world is ruled by violence, But I guess that's better left unsaid.

These 14 statements are, of course, quotes. Just for fun see how many surnames of the people responsible you can find in the following wordsearch. Can you match the names found to the quotes above? Be careful as there are more names to find than you actually need.

If I had included the authors' names as blanks with the quotes then I would have been near to a worksheet format I have just started experimenting with.  I think the format of mixing a wordsearch with a short story containing blanks has a lot of possibilities. The puzzler can use the context of the sentences as a hint for which words to look for and if each individual letter of the missing words is replaced by an underscore that can further narrow down the search. Where words have the same number of letters the context can dictate which word goes where. A picture clue can be included for learners who need more help, but I digress. Back to violence.

I agree with Krishnamurti who links violence with fear. A put down, a scowl, a sneer these are forms of violence. I also think that all too often authority is latent violence. If those with power demand something from those without it at what point does that demand become violent? Under what circumstances is authority not violent? For example, last week one or more children made their way into our school loft. We have a board at the top of the stairs with a sign in both English and Japanese stating that the loft, which we use as a store room, is off-limits. Twice a year for Halloween and Christmas we build a tunnel in the loft and it may well have been anticipation of this tunnel that led to the transgressions. But regardless of the reasons, what do you do if a child has gone somewhere and refuses to come out? Isn't an angry voice violent? And any threat of retribution or punishment surely is. Once a situation of defiance is created what else is there but violence? Yes, one can argue that the child "broke the rules" and that in itself is a form of violence but what's the old adage, two wrongs don't make a right? Or do they?

End of Part One

P.S. If you would like me to turn the wordsearch above into a fully-fledged worksheet just let me know.

« All Or None | Main | Violence (Part 2) »

• I had a dream...
• Turning Fifty
• Yada!

• Turning Fifty
    - Alex Case
    - Todd Pratum
  
• New Year Resolutions
    - Robert Sieveking
    - Chris (Hunt)
    - Steven Williams
    - Chris (Hunt)
    - Steven Williams
    - Robert Sieveking
  
• The Keyword Game
    - Brett Iimura
    - Renae
    - Steven Williams
    - Chris (Hunt)
  
• Yada!
    - michelle
    - stash
    - Chris (Hunt)
  
• Quitting
    - Jon Otto
    - Chris (Hunt)
  
• Improvisation
    - Dr. Michael Cubbin
  
• Violence
    - Jon Otto
    - Chris (Hunt)
    - Jon Otto
  
• Ambivalence
    - Ben Shearon
  
• Negotiated Syllabi
    - Harry
    - Phil
  
• Mitigating Quietness
    - Alison Miyake
  

• Festivals (1)
• Murmurs (9)
• Quick Activities (10)
• Untried Ideas (5)
• Worksheets (2)