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On Making Assumptions

Bonnie Tsai

Bonnie Tsai is a teacher and teacher trainer who has worked around the world running teacher training courses for teachers of all ages, levels, and needs. She has been trained in such humanistic approaches such as Suggestopedia, N.L.P. and Psychodramaturgie Lingusitque. She has studied the theory and practice of Multiple Intelligence with Dr. Howard Gardner at Harvard University. Long time Pilgrims trainer. 
E-mail : tsaibonnie@hotmail.com

An assumption is something that is taken for granted.  It is something believed to be true without proof, without looking for evidence.

I suppose that we all make assumptions everyday. We believe something is true or false or even good or bad.  But if we ask the question, “how do you know?” The answer is often, “well I don’t really know for sure, but…” or “Everyone knows that is true.”

One aspect of N.L.P. is to challenge assumptions. It goes like this. Some teachers I recently worked with believed or assumed that children who wiggle and wouldn’t sit still in class, were difficult.  If we challenge that assumption on a scale of 1 to 5, we might find that there is little evidence to support this assumption.  We may however look further into “students who wiggle are difficult factor” and find that they need more movement in class for example.  

So when I first read Michael Berman’s article on Shamanism (HLT March 2007), I thought how interesting.  In spite of the fact that gave his definition of Shamanism, I went to a dictionary and looked up Shamanism. I wanted to find out what it was all about from an objective point of view.

This is what I found.  Shamanism is the ability to communicate with the spirit world to provide healing, guidance and wisdom.  I thought to myself that sounds a lot like prayer that some people practice on a daily basis.  But I decided to go further into the subject of shamanism.  It is a form of mediation between the visible and spirit world.  It is a way to bring about balance between the spiritual and the physical world.  At this point I thought of Thomas Merton, one of the most influential Catholic authors of the 20^th century.  He was a spiritual writer, poet, and social activist. He was well-known for his inter-religious dialogue with people like the Dalai Lama, Thick Ntah Hanh., and D.T. Suzuki. If you ever have read any of his writings, you would immediately see that he was seeking the same connection. 

I also thought how this seems to be an age when many of us, each in our own way are seeking to find our own connectedness with what is beyond ourselves. Mediation is one of many ways of doing this.

Now here comes the best part: A shaman will use singing, dancing, chanting, story-telling and healing in their ceremonies.  That actually sounds a lot like what I do in my classes.  Yes, healing-because I work with a lot of “wounded learners” when I teach with Suggestopedia. These students have had negative learning experiences in the past and I would even go so far as to say that they have with them in the classroom “the ghosts” of past teachers and experiences.

So now I feel that I know what shaman is basically about. I continued to think how useful and interesting it was that Michael had brought my attention to the world of Shamanism.  At that point I read with equal interest his Shamanistic story published in HLT (issue 3, year 9 / May  2007}.

Now I love and collect stories and find them a peaceful way to send messages to my students, so I am always on the look out for new stories.

Then, a letter was published in HLT in May.  It was very short and to the point. The question asked was, “what does Shamanism have to do with humanistic teaching?”   I would have thought that the question should have been, “Why haven’t we found out more about this and other similar areas in order to gain a deeper understanding of what humanism is all about?”

What knowledge or references did this person have to dismiss Shamanism so abruptly?

I wonder why we so often make assumptions and judgments so quickly. Where is the openness and willingness to go beyond the traditional approaches to learning in order to bring the learner more and more into the forefront of the class?

So here is my personal confession.  I read tarot cards. I have been learning over the past 2 years from a highly gifted and qualified teacher.  Now stop a moment and ask yourself, “What are your assumptions about tarot cards?  Do you know for example that it is possible to earn a Master’s degree in reading tarot cards in some British universities?

So here is what happens. When we read the cards, it is like telling a story, a very personal story.  A trained tarot card reader does not tell clients the future or what they should or shouldn’t do.  For the client it should be like opening windows of the mind or if you like the spirit and giving a different way of looking at ourselves, our relationships, and our past.  In fact the most enlightening aspect of tarot is that it helps us understand how our past has influenced and determined our present.  It gives us total freedom to change, understand, and keep whatever we want.

But wait a minute, it gets worse. As part of my tarot training, I did a course in Voodoo.  I know what you are thinking: voodoo dolls and zombies! Well I am sorry to disappoint you but I didn’t meet any zombies and the so-called voodoo dolls have nothing to do with the original voodoo which is the official religion of 7 million people living in the West African country of Benin.  I remember that when I took instruction with the Dalai Lama, he had representatives of all the major religions there including the high priest of Voodoo.  So there it is in spite of Hollywood, Voodoo is a religion. By the way the infamous voodoo doll came from France where they were commonly used in the countryside.  It was introduced into Haiti by French settlers and from there into the Caribbean version of Voodoo. Quite honestly, I didn’t particularly enjoy the “Voodoo experience.”. It is deeply intra-personal and was based mainly on symbolism found in visualization. BUT, I had all my assumptions washed away.  I learned something new.  I broadened my horizons.

And what about this visualization or trance state?  Raise your hand if you have never used visualization in your classroom. I guess that truth be told; I was disappointed that Voodoo wasn’t more “exotic.”   

If we do strive to be humanistic teachers shouldn’t we then be open to many different feeder field and cultural traditions.  Isn’t this a way to open our students up to different ways of learning and just BEING?  When I teach primary student using a generative topic on Native American People, how could I not introduce them to shamanism?  How could I ignore this essential part of their belief system?

Also shouldn’t we as teachers, open our students up to challenging assumptions especially in today’s world.  This is one of the essential elements in the Multiple Intelligent curriculum.  Students need to learn creative thinking and to question what they read in history books and hear on the television.  This is what true understanding and learning is about.

So I make my plea to teachers and learners alike.  Remain open and willing to challenge our assumptions.  Every time we break down an assumption to see to what extent it is correct and well founded, we are increasing our own awareness.  Every time we seek the truth behind our beliefs, we are using our ability to think, really think in a deep and creative way.

The  Creative Methodology for the Classroom course can be viewed here.
The  English for Teachers course can be viewed here.