Hold Your Convictions Loosely

 “It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.”

— Mark Twain

“The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.”
— Alvin Toffler

I know that the title of this post seems counterintuitive.  That statement alone conjures images of a weak-willed flip flopper who is easily manipulated.  Let me explain, convictions are NOT the enemy of growth.  In fact, they are extremely important.  They give us direction, purpose, and moral grounding.  ALL of which are necessary.  The danger arises when our convictions become immovable.  When we clutch them so tightly that new information, better evidence, or lived experiences are dismissed before they are truly considered.  When our convictions conflict with new information or experiences, we feel significant discomfort and we often resolve it by defending our convictions rather than revising them.

Our identity is stabilized by our convictions.  Many of our convictions are not simply ideas that we hold, they are ideas that hold us. This is why when they are challenged, they do NOT feel like an intellectual disagreement and more like a personal threat.  Our convictions become intertwined with our self-concept, professional reputation, and our sense of competence. That is why these types of conversations often become defensive and emotional:  the SELF is at stake, not just an idea.

This is where cognitive dissonance comes into play.  Cognitive dissonance is the discomfort we feel when we are presented with information that conflicts with our convictions (beliefs, values, practices).  

Much like Bobby Boucher, our brains instinctively look for ways to reduce that discomfort.  Common responses include:

• Dismissing the source ("They don't understand OUR situation")
• Minimizing or devaluing the evidence ("That's just one study.", "They did that in a BIG school, it won't work here.")
• Rationalizing current practice ("What we are doing works for US." - when the evidence suggests otherwise)
• Avoiding the information all together 

These reactions are not signs of poor character.  They are deeply human.  We are all guilty of it from time to time.  The problem is when it becomes a habit.  When curiosity is replaced with dissonance avoidance.  

Education is a profession built on learning, but it is not immune to fixed thinking.  We become attached to practices because they are familiar, comfortable, and/or historically accepted.  When convictions harden, innovation slows and growth stalls when we are unwilling to scrutinize long-held practices.

I was challenged with the following question a while back:

"Think about the person you were and the convictions you held strongly 10 years ago.  Were you right about all of them?"

No, I most certainly wasn't.

"Ten years in the future you will look back at the convictions you have today.  Convictions that you are 100% sure you are right about, and realize you were wrong about some of them."

Let me be clear, holding your convictions loosely does NOT mean abandoning standards, values, or professional judgement.  It means recognizing the difference between principles and practices.

• Principles such as rigor, equity, and student well-being should be held firmly
• Practices should remain flexible and evolve based on new evidence

Learning leads to new thought.  Holding convictions loosely does not weaken education, it strengthens it.  I had a college professor provide the following definition:  

"Science is an increasingly more accurate approximation of the truth." 

We are all working with incomplete information.  As we gain more information, our understanding should reflect that, even though it is still (and always will be) incomplete.  If we can't accept the idea that what we know might not be totally right, then we will cease to grow, innovate, and advance.