Be Selfish?

Tovani made an interesting statement in one of her chapters, and although the statement had little to do with the subject she was discussing, it stuck with me. She was giving a presentation to a group of high school students and she prefaced her talk by telling them, "I hope by the end of the semester you will become extremely selfish." Be selfish? That seems like strange advice. I was surprised, and as I continued to read I tried to understand what she meant by being selfish in the context of literacy.

Tovani's argument is this: before you read a text, ask what is in it for you. What will you be getting out of it? She says to keep yourself and your needs in mind at all times. I can understand her thinking, because a person should want education for himself or herself. Likewise, as we have again been saying, each person needs to shape their own literacy. But does this require selfishness? I think of selfishness as having no regard for anyone's opinion other than your own. And maybe even pushing someone aside or bringing someone else down in order to push yourself up. Is this how literacy and education should be? Putting yourself above others always?

I'm not sure how I feel about this because I think the interaction with others in the classroom is just as important as learning things for yourself. Discussions with peers can be a wonderful learning experience. Also, it often takes someone else to word something in a different way before we can understand. And I don't know how many times I didn't want to read a book because I thought I wouldn't get anything out of it, but at a friend's insistence I did read it and ended up loving it. If you are selfish when it comes to literacy, you are potentially missing out on all these opportunities.

I think being selfish is not the answer. Rather, I think we should be determined and self-confident. I agree that to get the most out of school one needs to be self-motivated and focus on your own needs. You need to set goals for yourself and do everything you can to achieve those goals. Yes, sometimes that means you go against the wishes of others, or forge your own path away from your peers, but that is something very different from being selfish. To be selfish is to disregard others and to think only of yourself. I really don't think this is conducive to a functional classroom.

Also, if a student is selfish in their thinking, why would they listen to their teacher? If they know themselves and what they like to read and learn, and the teacher asks them to do something different, why would they? Why would they put their needs aside and trust their teacher? Teaching selfishness is not the answer. Rather, we should teach confidence and self-sufficiency, with a reminder to not shy away from working with and sometimes yielding to others.