ReadingAForcenturies,InuithuntersnavigatedtheArcticbyconsultingwind,snowandsky.NowtheyuseGPS.SpeakersoftheaboriginallanguageGurindji,innorthernAustralia,usedtocommand28variantsofeachcardinaldirection.Childrentherenowusethefourbasicterms,andtheydon’tusethemverywell.InthearidheightsoftheAndes,theAymaradevelopedanunusualwayofunderstandingtime,imaginingthepastasinfrontofthem,andthefutureattheirbacks.ButfortheyoungestgenerationofAymaraspeakers—increasinglyinfluencedbySpanish—thefutureliesahead.1ReadingAThesearenotjustisolatedchanges.Onallcontinents,evenintheworld’sremotestregions,indigenouspeopleareswappingtheirdistinctivewaysoftheworldforWestern,globalisedones.Asaresult,humancognitivediversityisdwindling—and,sadly,thoseofuswhostudythemindhaveonlyjustbeguntoappreciateit.2ReadingAIn2010,apapertitled“TheWeirdestPeopleintheWorld?”gavethefieldofcognitivescienceaseismicshock.Itsauthors,ledbythepsychologistJoeHenrichattheUniversityofBritishColumbia,madetwofundamentalpoints.Thefirstwasthatresearchersinthebehaviouralscienceshadalmostexclusivelyfocusedonasmallsliverofhumanity:peoplefromWestern,educated,industrialised,rich,democraticsocieties.Thesecondwasthatthissliverwasnotrepresentativeofthelargerwhole,butofthepeopleinLondon,BuenosAiresandSeattlethatwere,inanacronym,WEIRD.3ReadingAButthereisathirdfundamentalpoint,anditwasthepsychologistPaulRozinattheUniversityofPennsylvaniawhomadeit.Inhiscommentaryonthe2010article,RozinnotedthatthissameWEIRDsliceofhumanitywas“aharbingerofthefutureoftheworld”.Hehadseenthistrendinhisownresearch.Wherehefoundcross-culturaldifferences,theyweremorepronouncedinoldergenerations.Theworld’syoungpeople,inotherwords,areconverging.Thesignsareunmistakable:theageofglobalWEIRDingisuponus.4ReadingAThismarksamajorchangeofcourseforourspecies.Fortensofthousandsofyears,aswefannedoutacrosstheglobe,weadaptedtoradicallydifferentniches,andcreatednewtypesofsocietiesintheprocess.Wealsodevelopednewpractices,frameworks,technologiesandconceptualsystems.Butthen,sometimeinthepastfewcenturies,wereachedaninflectionpoint.ApeculiarcognitivetoolkitthathadbeenconsolidatedintheindustrialisingWestbegantogainglobaltraction.Othertoolswereabandoned.Diversitystartedtoebb.5ReadingATheWEIRDtoolkitcomprisesourmostbasicframeworksforunderstandingtheworld.Ittouchesoneveryaspectofexperience:howwerelatetospaceandtime,tonature,toeachother;howwefilterourexperiencesandallocateourattention.Manyofthesementalframeworksaresoingrainedthatwedon’tnoticethem.Theyareliketheglasseswe’veforgottenwe’rewearing.6ReadingAConsiderourobsessionwithnumbers.Inglobal,industrialisedcultureswetakeitforgrantedthatwecan—andshould—quantifyeveryaspectofexperience.Wecountstepsandcalories,trackinterestratesandfollowercounts.Meanwhile,peopleinsomesmall-scalesocietiesdon’tbothertotrackhowoldtheyare.Somecouldn’tbecausetheirlanguagesdon’thavenumbersbeyondfourorfive.ButWEIRDquantiphiliaisquicklycatchingon.Hunter-gatherersintheAmazonarenoweagerlylearningPortuguesenumberwords.InPapuaNewGuinea,oncehometoarichvarietyof“bodycount”systems—numberedlandmarksonbody,usuallyrangingtoabout30—childrenarelearningEnglishnumbersinstead.7ReadingAAnotherpeculiarpartoftheWEIRDtoolkitisourfixationontime.Webudgetit,struggletosaveit,agoniseoverlosingit.Wecountdays,hoursandseconds.Wearealwaysorientedtoexactlywhereweareonthelongarrowofhistory.IntheUnitedStates,forexample,whendoctorsscreenpatientsforcognitiveimpairment,oneofthefirstquestionstheyaskistheyear,monthanddate.8ReadingATomanyinnon-Western,non-industrialisedgroups,thisfixationmightseemodd.Oneearly20th-centuryethnographer,AlfredIrvingHallowell,observedthattheOjibweofnativeNorthAmericawouldbeunruffledbynotknowingwhetheritwasaThursdayorSaturday.Whatwoulddistressthem,heremarkedin1957,isnotknowingwhethertheywerefacingsouthoreast.NotsoforWEIRDpeople:ourfixationontimeappearstobebalancedbyabreathtakingobliviousnesstospace.A2010studyfoundthatStanfordstudentscouldnotreliablypointtoNorth.9ReadingANow,suchobliviousnesstospaceisgoingglobal.Satellite-basednavigationsystemsaredisplacingtraditionaltechniquesworldwide.It’shappeningintheArctic,aswehaveseen,butalsointhePacific.InMicronesia,seafaringwasonceaccomplishedwithjaw-droppingprecisionbyusingaconceptualsystemsodifferentfromWesternonesthatscientistsstruggledtounderstandit.Today,thismasterworkliveslargelyinmuseumexhibits.10ReadingAHumancognitivediversityjoinsanumberofotherformsofdiversitythataredisappearing.Diversityofmammalsandplants,oflanguagesandcuisines.Butthelossofcognitivediversityraisesissuesofitsown.Cognitionisinvisibleandintangible,makingithardertotrackandhardertorecord.Youcan’tpinmindsetstoaspecimenboard,orstoretheminaseedvault.It’snoteasytoposewaysofknowinginadiorama.Thinkingleavesfootprints,ofcourse—inlanguage,inartifacts,inknottedstring—buttheactitselfisephemeral.11ReadingAThelossofcognitivediversityraisesanethicaldilemma,too.Theforcesthatareerodingcognitivediversity—theforcesofglobalWEIRDing—areoftenthesameforcesthatareraisingliteracylevelsworldwide,promotingaccesstoeducationandopportunityinindigenouscommunities,andconnectingpeopleacrosstheglobe.Fewwoulddenythatthesearepositivedevelopmentsforhumanity.Sowearelefttoask,notonlywhetherwecanslowthelossofhumancognitivediversity,butalsowhetherweshouldeventry.12ReadingBTeachingandLearning“Respect”and“Acceptance”intheClassroomIntoday’sclassroom,somestudentsareveryexpressiveandoutspoken.Insomecases,they’rerespectfulandinformative;inothercases,offensiveordisparaging.WhenIapplytheMayaAngelouquotetostudentperceptions,Iconsiderthateveryinteraction,discussion,debate,andcollaborationhasthepotentialtoimpacthowsomeoneintheclassfeels.Eachpersonbringstotheclasshisorherownbeliefs,experiences,andwaysofbehavingandinteracting.1ReadingBDiversityintheclassroomscouldincludedifferencesin:●race;●

ethnicity;●culturalnorms;●experience;●age;●

language,dialect;●socioeconomicstatus;●

familydynamics;●educational/careeraspirations,backgrounds;●

religious,politicalaffiliations;●sexualorientation;●gender;●physicalappearance,attire;and●physicalabilities.2ReadingBItisimportantthatIreflectonandmonitormyownbehaviorandhowImightbestmodelrespectandacceptanceofothersintheclassroom.Itisalsoimportantthatstudentslearnhowtomonitortheiractionsandwords.ReadingB3BuildrapportDeveloprapportwithstudentsandusepositivecommunicationtohelpthemconnectandunderstandtheideasofothers.Inanarticletitled“CreatingPositiveEmotionalContextsforEnhancingTeachingandLearning”,WilliamBuskistandBryanSavillefoundthatdevelopingrapportintheclassroominvolvesacombinationofbehaviorsconsistentlyimplemented.Tonameafew,someofthestrategiesthatIhaveusedaretoaddressstudentsbytheirnames,learnbackgroundinformationaboutthestudentsanduserelevantexamplestheycanrelateto,acknowledgestudentcommentsandquestionswithpraise,andberespectful.ReadingB4Teachinginvolvesmuchmorethanthedisseminationofcoursecontent;itinvolvesinteraction.Thereisalwaysachancethatsometopicorcommentmightsparkdebateaspeopleshareinformation,personaldifferences,insights,beliefs,oruniqueexperiences.Toencourageawarenessandrespectofothers’viewpointsintheclass,IincorporatestrategiesthatIrefertoasD.E.E.P.Iestablishcommunicationexpectationsandalearningenvironmentthatenablestudentstofeelincludedandvalued.ReadingB5ReadingBThinkD.E.E.P.DevelopingappropriatelanguageuseintheclassroommeansestablishingclearcommunicationexpectationsandmodelingthestandardsIexpecttoobservebetweenstudents.Informstudentsthattheclassisa“judge-freezone”byavoidingstatementsthatappeartojudgeoroffendotherssuchas“that’sdumb”,“you’recrazy”,or“you’restupidifyoubelieve”ReadingB67Instructstudentstorefertoothersbyname,notbylabelsorphysicalcharacteristics,byavoidingstatementssuchas“thatperson”,“thosepeople”,“thedudewiththe”Ifeducatorshaveeitheraclasssizethatistoolargeorabadmemoryfornames,havestudentstakeasheetofpaperandcreatetheirownnameplatetositontheirdesk.Collaboratewithstudentsinthebeginningofthesemestertosolicitfeedbackonalistofclassroomcommunication“dosanddon’ts”orwordsandphrasestheyfindpersonallyoffensive.Individualsknowthemselvesbetterthananyonewhenitcomestowhatwilloffendthemormakethemfeelexcluded.8ReadingB9Modelgoodlisteningtechniquesbynotinterruptingthespeaker,anddemonstrateappropriatewaysofresponding.Statementsthathelpare“whatIheardyousaywas”,“Iinterpretthattomean”,“inmyexperiences”,“Ihearyourpointofview,andthisismyexperience/understanding”Encouragingopenandhonestdialogueallowsstudentstoexperiencebothsimilaritiesanddifferencesbetweenoneanother.ReadingB1011Planopportunitiesforstudentstosharetheirviewpointsandexperiencesusing“think-pair.share”momentssharinginpairs,smallgroups,orlargegroups.Whenstudentshavethechancetothinkindependently,thenruntheirideasandviewsbyasmallgroupofpeersfirst,theymaybemorelikelytodialogue.Thisisalsoagoodwaytohelpshystudentsfeelmorecomfortableandhaveavoiceintheclassroom.ReadingB12Forsensitiveorcontroversialtopics,youcanofferopportunitiesforin-classresponsestowhole-groupquestionstobemadeanonymously.Forexample,handoutindexcardsoraskstudentstotearasheetofpaperinhalf(theycansharetheotherhalfwithanearbyclassmate),andwritedowntheirresponsetoyourquestion.Collect,shuffle,andreadtheanonymousresponsestotheclass.Empoweringstudentstosharewithoutridiculemeansacknowledgingthattherewillbedifferencesintheclassroomandthatindividualsareuniqueinvaryingways.ReadingB1314Interveneimmediatelywhenstudentsviolaterespectfulcommunicationexpectations.Bedirectandreiterateinstitutionalexpectations,studentcodeofconduct,coursepolicies,andthestudentself-reportsonwhattheyperceiveasoffensiveordisparaging.Processinginformationsharedbyreconnectingittocoursecontentmeansmakingsurestudentdiscussions,viewpoints,andideasarebothvaluedandsummarizedinthecontextofal