Negotiating Non-Negotiables

There was a moment today that I couldn't help but think of one of my all time favorite books, Catch 22. I felt like I was playing Yosarian in a stage performance sequel with the plot revolving around Yosarian adapting to his new job at an American High School.

Principle Daneeka started the meeting. "Yosarian, welcome to your first day of training, we are about to start the school year so we need you to get on board with our non-negotiables." 

"What are non-negotiables?" Yosarian asked.

"Simple, they are the things you have to do every single class no matter what. They are not up for debate." 

"OK, so what are they." 

"We haven't decided yet. We are all going to have a debate to determine what they are." 

"You mean we need to have a debate to determine the things that we are not allowed to debate." 

"Exactly." 

"But how does it make sense to hold a debate for negotiating the things that are so fundamental that they are beyond negotiation and not up for debate?" 

"You are obviously new to education, Yosarian." 

 Don't get me wrong, I had a list of things that I felt had to be a part of every lesson (I say "lesson" and not "class" intentionally.) My "non-negotiables" include a hook, purpose, peer-to-peer interaction, and fun. My cohort collaborated and came up with a very solid list: essential purpose, tools for preparation, genuine interaction, pauses, and fun. Although we were all satisfied, I don't know if I would say we liked this list more than our own. I wonder what that process would be like with 50 educators instead of 5.

I don't think I like the term "non-negotiable." I feel like no matter how much time and effort goes into choosing what should make the cut, the list won't be perfect and certainly won't fit for a diverse group of learners and teachers. In the preview to this activity we saw a school that advocated using non-negotiables and mentioned that graphic organizers were one of their items. I don't know if I would like to use graphic organizers every day. More importantly, I don't know if graphic organizers are so important that I need to reserve class time that could be spent having a 1-on-1 conversation with a student, continuing a great discussion, or giving students the opportunity to contemplate a new concept with their friends.

I doubt anyone at our summer institute would advocate for something as specific as graphic organizers, but I can see "non-negotiables" as a vehicle to standardize instruction, even if in small trivial ways. Still, that seems to be the opposite direction innovation, which is the direction Insteaducation is facing. That being said, I could totally get behind "seriously, you should probably be considering this for every class or you are likely not doing that good of a jobables."