Once upon a time, a long time ago, Claude Steiner wrote a little story called A Warm Fuzzy Tale. It tells about how when people were born they were given small, soft fuzzy bags and anytime they would reach into this bag they could pull out a Warm Fuzzy. The small fuzzy was about the size of a child’s hand and would instantly grow a little larger when you would remove it from the bag. When given away, the little fuzzy would snuggle up to the person and give them a good feeling all over. Warm Fuzzies were given freely and were in abundance; but one day a bad (yet enterprising) witch stirred up jealousy and envy in the people causing them to become stingy with giving away their Warm Fuzzies. Eventually the witch even started giving out bags, similar to the fuzzy bags for free, but these bags contained Cold Pricklies. Eventually people started to give the Cold Pricklies away rather than the Warm Fuzzies. Even the children, observing the adults, began to change their behaviors on giving Warm Fuzzies or Cold Pricklies. The situation became quite complicated as people began doing all kinds of things for Warm Fuzzies. You can read the whole short tale here.
But what do the warm fuzzies and cold pricklies have to do with inclusive pedagogy? Well, I believe we have experienced, at some time in our lives, feeling all “warm and fuzzy” (which is where this expression originates) when people treat us kind and with dignity. Just as I believe we have all felt “cold and prickly” when we are treated poorly or unjustly. Surely we all want to experience the warm and fuzzy feeling most of the time, if not all of the time, like in the start of the story.
Our society has become much like the unhappy land described in the latter part of the story. A place where we are stingy with our warm fuzzies, feel guilty over sharing our warm fuzzies, and feel distrustful if someone is trying to give us a warm fuzzy because we are not all to sure it isn’t a cold prickly. It has even spilled into the lives of our children who watch the adults intently on how to treat others.
So, as an educator I have a choice to make, do I want to remain in a state of unsure and unease because I live in fear of getting a cold prickly? Have my classroom be a place of cold learning and fear of sharing one’s self freely and fully? Or do I want to be like the new character introduced near the end of the story, the Hip Woman who generously shares her Warm Fuzzies and encourages others to give them away as if there was indeed an endless supply?
I hope my classroom will be one which makes everyone feel welcome and provides a safe space for the freedom to be their true authentic self. I hope to operate with a heart drenched in a strengths-based, relational-cultural theory and a focus of working towards a relational competency which can navigate relationships to promote the well-being of my self and others. I would like to create an environment where any student would feel welcome enough to discuss their thoughts, ideas, and feelings with at least me, if not the class as a whole.
I know that I can not change others; that is beyond my scope of control. I do know that change starts with one decision, one choice. Many of minds need a whole paradigm shift when the word inclusivity is mentioned. It is not about suppressing one to allow another to excel, rather it is about making room so we all can excel. Inclusivity is not a habit that needs to be changed, but rather a desire that needs to be fulfilled.
My wish now is for you to freely share a warm fuzzy with someone today!
drkareblog 
Thanks for sharing the warm fuzzy tale. It is really interesting to describe both feelings as an actual thing that we can give to others. I like your sentence “feel guilty over sharing our warm fuzzies, and feel distrustful if someone is trying to give us a warm fuzzy”, I think it is true to a great extent in today’s life. I think teachers can easily convert their classrooms to a place where warm fuzzies are given. teachers are the leaders in their classrooms, they put rules for their students. If they want the classroom to be a good place for students to feel welcome and safe, it will be. So, do not worry about your classrooms, it will be as you feel and believe.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks for sharing!
I really like your post. I agree with you, is our decision to make everyone feel welcome, despite the system and some of its representatives thinking is not necessary.
I wonder, have you thought more about how to achieve the goals that you have for your classroom? What specific things can we do?
LikeLike
Thanks for your comments! I have thought a little bit about what kind of things to assist my goals in a classroom. Things like including wanting the space to be open and safe in the syllabus, broaching the differences between us all in a class to show I am available to (and welcome) discussions, focusing on strengths that my students have, and approaching all students as valuable individuals which I can learn from as well as teach. I’m still trying to figure out how to address the negative or unacceptable limits when they may occur in class. Just learning all of this and trying to figure it out; however, I hope that my future students will help shape this as I go also.
LikeLike
I love the story! It shows what happens when we begin to worry in excess about lack. But how can love, compassion, etc. run out? I really like how you relate it to pedagogy, and it makes me feel better about how to approach my first class. If we expect lack, that is what we will get. But if we foster a good environment and give out warm fuzzies, we will likely get some back!
LikeLike
Exactly! In the story the warm fuzzys are never in danger of running out, it’s the people who become fearful they will, so they change their behavior based off of that fear. But I think it’s true that you can get back what you put out, but knowing that sometimes other’s will just be prickly. Even if they are, it’s ok, because I can only strive to meet them where they are at and offer out what I have to give. I prefer giving out the warm fuzzies! Thanks for commenting!
LikeLike
Well written. The story is an appropriate allegory for contemporary forms of greed, racism and cunning hatred of others. There is something scary about the public/private divide in our society and the hypocrisy this can create in people. The rational self in public, the ideological in private. This is not always how societies were, even though we may come to feel this is normal.
I like your last line very much: “Inclusivity is not a habit that needs to be changed, but rather a desire that needs to be fulfilled”. This points to the reality that we all like and want inclusivity amongst diversity because diversity is simply a fact of life. If our children come to see us as practicing inclusiveness as an act of charity for ourselves rather than others — for ourselves to become better — they would no doubt carry that warm fuzzy to their children. Is this ideological? You bet, but it is one that does not conflict with the reality of lived experience and the incredible bio-diversity of the world that we have yet to — and may never will — fully realize.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you for the thoughtful post! You make a great comparison with the “warm and fuzzy” tale to today’s society. I agree I want to make my classroom a very welcoming environment where students can express their thoughts, opinions, and ideas. I like that you said inclusivity is a “need to be fulfilled.” I completely agree. We should focus on the needs of all students in the classroom so they feel safe and all are set up for success.
LikeLike
Thank you for your post Karen (Dr. K(C)are) 🙂 Your post made me think of a story called “Have you filled a bucket today” by Carol McCloud. It talks about how we carry an invisible bucket with us and the ideal would be for us to fill everyone else’s buckets and not steal from them. It is a great way to teach elementary aged children to develop capacity for respect, politeness and altruism. I got an inside view of how it is being used in one particular elementary school this past Fall and it was an amazing experience. As important as it is for us to be talking about inclusivity, it is also important for us to decide how we are going to shape the younger generations…this really does go down to the nitty gritty of how we are going to educate our little people (i.e. children). I find myself privileged that I have had the opportunity to live my life in my own bubble for a while before I realized how harsh this world can be…I am saddened that the children in my family have not had the same privilege – my niece was five years old when she got off the bus crying one day and when I asked her what had happened she said, “a boy on the bus said he didn’t want to talk to me anymore cause my skin was brown and yellow”. Heartbreaking…it still brings tears to my eyes because I know for a fact that she did not see herself the same way after that day in comparison to how she viewed herself before. We do need more warm and fuzzy in our world.
LikeLike