"Other people, with their differences, 

can also be right"

April 26, 2024

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking over the last couple of months. 

Perhaps it’s because I’m coming to the end of my main parenting responsibilities as my daughter was just accepted to Columbia and will go off to university next year.  

Perhaps it’s because Sofia and I recently got married in a wonderful ceremony along the river in the backyard of our house here in Santiago, Chile.

Or perhaps it’s just because I tend to think about the deeper aspects of life quite a bit.

No matter the reason, there’s this one phrase that keeps popping into my head. 

Oddly, it comes from the mission statement of the IB (of all places).  

I’m not really one to bite or buy into mission statements of schools or organizations much. To me, while important for creating a community, they often sort of say the same thing.  

However, during my preparations for our onsite full-faculty IB Training for Umoja International Academy in Sacramento, California, I took the time to reread the IB Mission Statement.

Here it is in its entirety:

Ok, I get it.  

At first, it looks like just another branded mission statement, saying all the right things.  

And it is.  

All the right organizational buzzwords are in there—inquiring, knowledgeable, caring, intercultural, rigorous, international, etc.  

But then I read the last line.

And I read it again.  

And again.  

“The IB Programme encourages students across the world to become active, compassionate and lifelong learners who understand that other people, with their differences, can also be right.”
 
Other people, with their differences, can also be right.
 
Also.

Meaning me and you.  

Him and her.  He and She.  Us and them.  

Everyone and everyone else.  

Can also.

Also.  Can also be right.
 
I like that our work as educators is designed around the idea that when we disagree it doesn’t mean one of us is wrong, perhaps it just means we need to listen a little more closely.
 
 I like that.   

A lot.
 
 As a teacher.  As a father.  As a friend.  As a son.  As a partner.  

And just as a dude in this world trying to make it a better place.

Just like you.

Be good out there.

See you next week.