Conformity and Schools

After reading Chapter 5, nothing from that chapter jumped out at me that said anything earthshaking. We know that when we find a group of people that think like us and are also in the throes of their Element that we are also encouraged to improve or excell where other might have tried to deterr us or stop us all together. Duh. Chapter six though covered a lot of "duh" moments also but I thnk they touched more on a subject that has been a struggle in schools forever. Something that has been plagueing education for a long time. Conformity.

Conformity and fitting in with the mob that is present in schools is often paralyzing to the ones that often can't fit that mold. Don't get me wrong, I don't want anyone to think I am referring to them in a deroggatory manner or being mean about this. It has been something that I have been combating for a long time because I was one of those "different" people that just couldn't fit the mold. The preconcieved notion that what the mob said goes. If the mob thought it was uncool to be smart or excell in school then you were looked upon with disdain. If you thought hanging out with friends and going to parties every weekend were cool then you found your place among the mob but would in essence lose yourself. You lose the will to do the things that you like or appreciate for fear of what others will think of you. I liked chapter 6 because they touched on conformity and the mob that keeps students from finding their Element for fear that they will be bullied by the mob if it does not line up with their preconcieved notions on how you should behave, the things you enjoy doing or how you should dress, etc.

Chapter 6 was another one of those things that we see every year in every classroom and every grade. What is the solution? How do we solve the problem of the mob and help them understand that people who beat to their own drum or who are different aren't bad? I know that schools have been combating this for some with workshops and counselors but will it ever truly end? This problem might never be solved but that is one of the reasons that students fear finding their Element for fear of what the mob will think. Some students, no matter what the mob thinks, will follow their dreams anyway and those are the people who go on to do great things. Why does the mob still believe they are going to be the innovators when it is really the ones that travel outside of the mob or the ones that can travel within the mob but still keep themselves seperated from the mobs influence, are the ones that will change the world as we know it? Just a thought.