Important New Book: Pursuing Bad Guys

06/29/2021

Important New Book: Pursuing Bad Guys

There’s the good guy and the bad guy in all of us, but knowing that doesn’t need to overwhelm us. Whatever we can do to help ourselves – and anybody else – discover that’s true, can really make a difference in this life.
Fred Rogers

What would happen if teachers, who noticed that children talked a lot about “bad guys,” initiated a year-long research project, alongside children, to thoroughly investigate what it means to be a bad guy? This is the question at the heart of Donna King’s important new book, Pursuing Bad Guys: Joining Children’s Quest for Clarity, Courage and Community, a new title in the ROW (Reimagining Our Work) series. Donna calls this kind of work “reciprocally-created research.” The book is a courageous and authentic account of what it means to truly listen to children, reflect with them, respect their thinking, and, as teachers, leave the comfort zones of “familiar” experiences. Donna writes about the ideas that she, her co-teacher, and their mentor, Pam, discuss as they begin on their new venture:

“We will listen, yes, but not simply to document. We will listen in order to connect with the children’s thinking and emotion, and to align with their intention, in a way that is not intrusive, but informed, and therefore genuinely respectful and responsive. In this way of working, teacher action does not interrupt, but, instead, meets up with the children’s agenda. Even more compelling, Pam is convinced that the teacher’s involvement – when sensitive enough – can help children move from mere preoccupation with a concern to a sense of mastery and empowerment around that concern. We are unsettled but intrigued.”

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