On Heroes and Education

Recently, I was involved in a discussion about heroes. What follows is my attempt to put into writing what I have had running around my head for quite some time. It comes across as somewhat jaded or, at the very least, skeptical. For the purpose of understanding some of my made-up terms below, here are the definitions I have in mind when I use them:

• Macro-hero: A person or group that is known to most of society and is held up as a model for behavior.
• Micro-hero: A person or group that is known to only a few people or possibly only a single person. Their behavior that went above and beyond the normal expectations/duties of their job had a profound impact on the person or people impacted by the behavior.
• A note on my take on heroes- After writing this post, I realized that I have a very, very high bar for using the term hero which is most likely informed by my insatiable consumption of fantasy, science fiction, and mythology literature and film where most heroes are larger-than-life and do things that are unimaginable for most other people.

I'm of the perspective that the term "hero," in the macro sense,  has been so overused today that it has become devoid of it's one-time ability to inspire awe and lead to the formulation of new goals and aspirations. I also think that it has been overused to the point where, in many cases, Bolman and Deal's (2008) definition ("living logos, human icons, whose words and deeds exemplified and reinforced important core values") doesn't even apply (p. 257). Generally, I think hero is misused in most situations today when it is used to apply to large groups or entire career fields; being a firefighter, police officer, doctor, teacher, or member of the armed forces does not automatically make you a hero. In a macro sense, most people in these occupations are, like in every other field, pretty average and not remotely heroic.

However, as bitter and jaded as that perspective might seem, I do understand that what constitutes a hero is based entirely on perspective and culture. Bolman and Deal (2008) present five symbolic assumptions and at the top of their list is: "What is most important is not what happens but what it means" (p. 253). A teacher's action of giving a kid a granola bar in the morning might be viewed by one kid as a nice treat while another child looks to the teacher as a hero because the child hasn't eaten since lunch the day before. In that moment, in that situation, to that child, the teacher could be a hero. In this micro view of heroism, heroes are commonplace but I think that this too diminishes the meaning of the term "hero." The role of culture and organizational norms cannot be overlooked as well. If that granola bar distributing teacher was in a school where every teacher distributed granola bars to kids whenever a kid was even only a bit peckish, the hero status is no longer applicable. As for the honoring of heroes in education, I think that it doesn't happen too often because as far as our society is concerned, the bar for hero-status is only attainable for teachers in the most extreme circumstances.

Somewhat related to perspective and culture is a phrase I have heard from many different sources, with many variations over the years but basically goes like this: One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter. When Osama bin Laden was killed, I had a student state that "no one would be upset with it because everyone agrees that he was the worst person in the world." I pointed out that his extremes-loaded statement was not true and that there were a great number of people who saw bin Laden as a hero (making sure to clarify I was not one of this crowd). This, I guess, is just one example of why I am extremely hesitant to utilize the supremely subjective term "hero" in my day-to-day parlance.

During this conversation about heroes, I was asked if I had any heroes in my district. I would have to say that I have none. There are many teachers, school leaders, and members of the community who inspire me and who I look up to and aspire to be more like professionally and in some cases personally, but I would not call any of them my hero.

What about you? How does your use and understanding of the term "hero" compare?