220. HELLO HUMANS - A Teacher Writes on Their Inclusive Classroom
This week’s Philosophy Unleashed is by guest writer, Yaaseen Baksh:
Earlier in the week, a student said to another student in my class ‘what do we have next, man?’. I replied with ‘Please refrain from addressing other students with the word ‘man’, thankyou’. To which another student said to me ‘But, Sir, you call us ‘humans’, so why can’t we call each other man?’.
He was right, I do call the class ‘humans’ every time I finish the register to draw their attention.
Then the bell rang and I could not think of a response in the thirty seconds I had to dismiss the class so left the question unanswered. I have been thinking about a response ever since so I have decided to write this.
To not be allowed to use the word ‘man’ but to continue the use of ‘humans’ is not a contradiction. This is because the perceived equivalency in meaning between the two is false. This confusion arises from the fact that ‘humans’ and ‘man’ are thought to be interchangeable as ‘man’ comes from ‘mankind’ to describe all humans. Though, ‘man’ is not being used in this way when the students use it in conversation. Rather it is used to specifically refer to a specific individual, not just in place of their name, but to convey a tone of annoyance.
In addressing the class as ‘humans’ I too could be seen as specifically referring to the class in place of their class name. However, it is understood I am saying it in a humourous way to catch pupils attention rather than to disrespect them or set a tone of annoyance. When I say it, sometimes it is met with ‘who are not the humans?’, ‘If there are people who are not humans, who are they and what are they doing here?’ or ‘What if those who are not human still responded to my attention of ‘humans’, why do they want to trick the rest of us into thinking that they are human?’. This shows that it gets student attention and starts the class discussion in a comfortable manner. When a student says ‘What do we have next, man?!” The use of the word is to show frustration with their situation so as to convey urgency to solicit the right response. However, it is usually met with ‘How do I know, man?!’. This does not lead to the advance of conversation, new knowledge, or collaboration in finding the right next lesson to go to through oracy skills.
This is the antithesis of when I address my class as ‘humans’ as when I say it it brings the advance of conversation through deliberation and problem solving by working out how we can tell if there are non-human robots who do not want to be discovered but answer my attention of ‘humans’. For example, going around the classroom and finding out who is not looking at me or who looks the quickest because they will be scared to be revealed as a non-human. Then we discuss that ‘scared’ is a human emotion so we should perhaps not use that marker in finding non-human robots.
I am not the only one antagonised by the use of the word ‘man’ when ending a reply in a conversation. I might work in a boys school but there are plenty of female members of staff who work at the school. I often hear students say to them ‘What did I do, man?!’ to which is replied ‘I am not a man’. Others can be so focussed on the word ‘man’ that the meaning of their reply is lost and forgotten. This creates the perception that those who use ‘man’ are not able to control their language to convey purposeful meaning and interaction which creates a loss of confidence in them. This is because they have deliberately excluded others by insisting upon a male-language centred environment.
However, using the word ‘human’, as I do, leads to more inclusivity in certain situations and settings where appropriate. It directs conversation open to anybody, including possible robots, and not just those who identify as male. It also creates an environment where students are encouraged to take control of their language by asking questions, as I have outlined.
I am not suggesting that they use the term in formal conversation. However, it models to students on of the many ways in which they can be inclusive. This is especially important as we do not live in a male-only world (at least 50% of the population is female). Students can tell me that they do not like it when I address the class as ‘human’ but they cannot deny that it means all humans (and perhaps robots which look like humans) are included in my class right from the beginning, something which using the word ‘man’ could never achieve.
So I shall continue to address each of my classes as humans and continue to stamp out the use of the noun ‘man’ when students ask a question or give a reply. And next time a student asks me why, I shall have this ready to read out to them and hope they will tell me I am wrong. This is so the conversation can be continued and I can show them that addressing them as ‘human’ does garner more attention, advancement in conversation, and inclusion in a respectful manner than using ‘man’ so the two are not equivalent.
Guest Author: Yaaseen Baksh, Year 7 (Humanities) Teacher at Lordswood Boys’ School
Yaaseen is a teacher now, but used to write for us a lot back in his student days:
On history and counterfactuals
On the positives of a pandemic
It’s nice to see he’s still thinking philosophically about things…