Student won’t learn = Creative Maladjustment?
What is Creative Maladjustment?
The concept of Creative Maladjustment was pioneered by Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and was brought to a wider array of educators via Herbert Kohls essay “I won’t learn from you,” Creative maladjustment is used by Rev. Dr. MLK Jr. to describe the act of refusing to conform to unjust systems, and is expanded by Herbert Kohl to educational experiences. What does it mean in educational literature today?
Educators strive to create welcoming environments for their students. However, the individuality of each student, institutional pressures, and our own shortcomings may create situations a student perceives as unjust. A students refusal to conform (learn/participate) under situations which compromise the students intelligence, dignity, or integrity, is creative maladjustment.
Won't learn vs. Can't learn
You may have encountered a student who would not learn. You may be confident that the this student would succeed in your classroom if they would just ‘tune in’. Why won’t they? The student themselves may not be able or willing to articulate the reasons why they refuse to learn, but a student using creative maladjustment does so because they believe on some level that doing so would compromise their intelligence, dignity, or integrity. In simpler terms, the student is unwilling to conform to the curriculum, pedagogy, or classroom management plan for moral reasons.
Failure vs. Not learning
Failure and not learning are two separate processes, although to an outsider they are assumed to be one of the same. A failure takes place when a student wants to learn, but does not meet their goal. The result of failure is often frustration, loss of self-confidence, and feelings of inferiority. ‘Not learning’ through creative maladjustment requires self reflection, and comes about when a student is placed in a situation which conforming or finding a middle ground with would compromise their morals.
What 'not learning' looks like
I understand that this can all a seem a little abstract. Creative Maladjustment can take many forms in a classroom. One form is the student who won’t learn math, and engages with numbers as if they were doodles. The student is an artist, who sees learning math as a waste of time. Another is the language student who refuses to participate in second language conversations with peers. The student feels the conversation topics are belittling to their L1 intellectual abilities. Yet another is the young student who enters nonsense into online assignment forms. The student attempts to thwart the impersonal nature of online assignments.
Why won't they learn?
How do these young people, highly capable of learning math, language, and online assignments fail our curriculum? This happens when a student engages in creative maladjustment. It can be unnerving to have a student in your class who is ‘not learning.’ Shouldn’t the student be afraid of failure? To these students, they are not a ‘failure’ because as we discussed earlier there is a difference between failing and not learning.
Why does this frighten teachers? Because for too long teachers have relied on (as a last resort) a students fear ‘failure’ as a motivation. How can we reach these students and provide the best education that we can?
How to deal with Creative Maladjustment
What can we do? Start by recognizing that the students creative maladjustment is not the issue leading the student to ‘not learn’ in your classroom. The creative maladjustment is a response to a situation that endangers a students sense of intelligence, dignity, or integrity. For this reason, attempting to engage the student with threats of failure may only make the student dig further into their creative maladjustment.
Identifying the problem
So, we must consider the root of the problem. What are the potential reasons that your student won’t ‘tune in’? Student’s won’t always be helpful in your goal of understanding their predicament, but try to piece together what you think you know and what you don’t know about the student. Try not to let your own bias and life experience overtake what you actually know about the student. One way to get to know your student better is by teaching social emotional learning. Consider incorporating social emotional learning into your curriculum using a program like Sanford Harmony.
Odds are that you’ve already tried to find middle grounds to address the non-learning behavior of your students, but have not found that they are open to this. By considering the root of the problem, as opposed to focusing on attacking the behaviors of the student you have a better shot of mediating the situation and finding potential solutions.
After you have considered the root of the problem, determine whether the situation is at least partly within your control. You may find success in providing these students the best education that you can through modifications to you curriculum to include project based learning, by altering your classroom management plan, or by advocating on behalf of the students interests.
Using Creative Maladjustment
Did you think that only students use creative maladjustment when confronted with a situation which goes against their moral sensibilities? Teachers have been known to utilize creative maladjustment to advocate for their students and create more equitable classrooms. Herbert Kohl admits his use of creative maladjustment in his essay “Creative Maladjustment.” He recognized unjust systems within his school and refused to conform and normalize these practices. One example is his finding ways to allow his students access to art materials previously reserved for ‘more intelligent’ students.
The importance of planning
Kohl wasn’t always so planned however, there as a time when this practice got him into trouble. As a student teacher he took charge unthinkingly and put his certification at risk. This would have prevented him from implementing further change as a certified teacher. His advice; plan your creative maladjustment and maximize results for your students in unjust situations. I suggest practicing reflective journaling to organize your thoughts and plans on identifying and addressing inequality in your classroom.
Learn more about Creative Maladjustment
The majority of my knowledge on the topic of creative maladjustment comes from Herbert Kohls’ “‘I Won’t Learn From You’ and other thoughts on creative maladjustment.” This book, can be found on Amazon or at your local library. It is a collection of 5 essays covering a range of creative maladjustment topics, scenarios, and outlooks. Reading this book opened up a dialogue on the topic between myself and my peers. From these conversations I have gained a better understanding of previously puzzling student behaviors.
If you have a student in your class who ‘won’t learn’ I recommend taking a stroll through this book. You may also find value in listening (1:20 Youtube) to Reverend Dr. Martin Luther Kings own words on Creative Maladjustment.
