Shroud of Shame
Sometimes it's interesting how all of my reading and research end up coming back to the same idea. This week the common thread seems to be shame. What exactly is shame? The dictionary defines shame as the following: A painful feeling of humiliation or distress caused by the consciousness of wrong or foolish behavior. Now, imagine being shrouded (covered or enveloped) in shame.
Today, as I continued to research the topic of shame, and how it relates to learning, I found myself listening to another TED Talk...
As a dyslexic learner himself, Dean Bragonier (TEDx Martha's Vineyard) shares what it’s like for a dyslexic individual as he learns to read…“We realized that what everyone else was doing effortlessly, we had an incredible time trying to do. And we actually not only failed on day 1, but we failed on day 2, and 3, and 4, and so on….The years started to compound where we were exposed to this level of failure…it became so common place that we started to wear this shroud of shame.”
Bragonier goes on to state, “Dyslexics, when they’re fully empowered, and they recognize that innate intelligence, represent 35% of all entrepreneurs. They represent 40% of all self-made millionaires…those rocket scientists down at NASA—1 out of 2 of them is dyslexic.”
Bragonier ends his talk with a sobering statement, ”Some of the most creative [and] innovative minds are at this moment atrophying behind bars.”
Thankfully, Bragonier doesn’t leave us hopeless.