We Need Nuance

The first time I saw the false binaries was in my teacher prep program. The teacher wrote, in large letters, "Is teaching an art or a science?" I couldn't answer it. It seemed, at the time, that any craft is part art and part science. In fact, it felt, after taking an amazing science class, that science was an art form. So, if science was the art of inquiry and observation and if there was a science or a process to creative works, I couldn't see the need for two separate spheres. Since then, I've seen so many more binary options, usually posed as "for" or "against." Take homework, for example. I'm generally against homework. However, I support home learning and I believe in making homework a really engaging, optional extracurricular activity. I also think that kids who goof off and never finish projects in class might need to spend time outside of school finishing things up. The truth is nuanced. The same goes for grading. While I don't support traditional grading, I see a need for offering feedback. I think student reflections are valuable alongside teacher feedback. I like aspects of standards-based grading, because they get kids thinking about the learning rather than just the product. Yet, I love the product-based focus of project-based learning. I feel the same way about practice versus problem-solving in math, whole language or phonics in reading, slack versus grit, unschooling versus schooling. The truth is often far more nuanced than the binary options we are given. When we adopt a binary mindset, we run the risk of becoming extremists and ideological purists and ignoring the messy reality of a classroom context. When this fails, we run the risk of ruthless pragmatism, jumping from idea to idea without ever asking why something is working or failing. I get it. Nuance isn't something that gets people passionate, but I wonder if that's because people mistake nuanced opinions with being nice.  Sometimes nuance can feel like moderation. It can feel like a bland balance that cuts off all extremes and keeps a tidy middle zone. In reality, it's more like a messy artist's palate with a million different shades and colors.  It's not that we ignore the "extremes" so much as include all extremes, expanding our worldview beyond a rigid ideology. We deal with canvases and not code. We deal with people and not programs. So, any system that exists can't be written in binary code. It can't be limited to two options without any overlap. Truth will always be more nuanced than that.