Right now, across the country, there are elephants on the rampage. What do I mean? I am talking about an analogy created by Professor Jonathan Haidt, a social psychologist, who described our emotional gut responses to big political issues as being like an elephant, and our rational minds as being like a rider on its back. The rider thinks that they are steering the elephant in the right direction, but all the evidence shows that the elephant charges off, leaving the rider to retrospectively offer up reasons to justify why the elephant went that way.
On the issue of Palestine-Israel, this is what’s currently happening to many of our politicians, to our communities, and in our schools and colleges – in corridors and at lunch, if not in classrooms. When something so emotive and politically important is happening in the world, it is understandable – and even necessary – for students to talk about it, and our role as educators is to facilitate that constructively.
You might find that this is a topic that comes up naturally during tutorials, citizenship/PSHE classes, or extracurricular activities focused on volunteering or political action, but we shouldn’t shy away from approaching it during classes too. The conflict has clear relevance to the study of law, sociology, history, geography, and religious studies, to name only a few examples. In whatever context we discuss the conflict, we urgently need to find ways to help our riders take back control of their elephants.
