So recently, after attending the regional EARCOS Leadership Conference, I felt compelled to re-read one of my all time favorite books, and to be honest, I came away feeling even more inspired than I did the first time around. The book is titled, Factfulness, by Hans Rosling, and even though it was released in the spring of 2018, I think it resonates even more deeply with me now in 2023. Seriously, If you haven’t read this book yet then you should, and if you have, then I’m encouraging you to read it again because the world has changed drastically over the past 5 years, and much of our thinking around the issues that we are all facing in today’s global environment need to be filtered through a different and updated lens.
Rosling, and the information that he presents in the book absolutely challenged my thinking, and my biases, and ultimately drove me to change the way that I view the world. It was also helpful for me because the book highlights the tendency that we all have as people to believe that we know what we really don’t know, and to believe that our individual “truth” is the actual truth, when oftentimes it’s not. This book will absolutely disrupt your thinking, and it connects perfectly with many of the themes that were discussed throughout the EARCOS conference. Themes that are just too big and urgent to ignore, and ones that need to be discussed deeply in every educational setting across the globe.
Two of these urgent themes, and the ones that had the biggest impact on me as a leader, revolved around the deep and ongoing need to embed a culture of belonging within our schools, and of course, how Artificial Intelligence is rapidly changing the global landscape of education. We will all need to approach and manage these conversations not only contextually, but with a focus on systems thinking, data analysis, and pacing with regards to change management.
This book will also help you to think about the human instincts that we all have, which can ultimately distort our views of the world. Instincts that can blur our focus as we step into some really important work. Some examples of these instincts that are outlined in the book, and ones that have resonated deeply with me are below…
Straight Line Instinct – The tendency to assume that a trend line will just continue straight and ignoring that such lines are rare in reality. (Think population growth as an example)
Fear Instinct – The hardwired tendency that we have as people to pay more attention to the frightening and negative things that we see in the world, rather than the positive.
Generalization Instinct – The tendency to mistakenly group together things or people or countries that are actually very different. High context versus low context cultures for example.
Destiny Instinct – The idea that innate characteristics determine the destinies of people, countries, religions, or cultures; that things are as they are because of inescapable reasons.
Single Perspective – Our tendency to focus on a single cause or perspective when it comes to understanding the world. (Relying only on the media for example).
Blame Instinct – The tendency to look for a clear, simple reason for why something bad has happened. It’s never as simple as you think.
As you can see, Factfulness has much to unpack, and all of it is worthwhile. In fact, after reading this book I’m sure that you will want it included as mandatory reading for all High School students, and I agree. Anyway, we really are living in a time of incredible change and it’s exciting in so many ways. In other ways it’s scary and daunting, knowing that the work ahead is in many ways uncharted and foreign to us as educators. The work is full of purpose and hope however, and we are up for the challenge I know. We just need to make sure that we enter into it with the right world view, the right lens and perspectives, and with all the facts. Have a wonderful week ahead and remember to be great for our students and good to each other.
Quote of the Week…
Cultures, nations, religions, and people are not rocks. They are in constant transformation.
– Hans Rosling
Related Articles –
TED Talks – Hans Rosling
Inspiring Videos –
I remember his TEDtalks well. I just took the book our on Libby! Have 2weeks to read it!