The Country of the Blind

H.G. Wells’ The Country of the Blind gives intriguing insight into some very important topics faced in the public school system. How to handle cultural diversity in a learning environment is one of the most controversial issues facing public education. Differences in dress, habits, language, and social behavior are all aspects of cultural diversity, and students are encountering these differences much more frequently in schools. Cultural differences often times changes how a teacher interacts with his/her students, as well as how students interact with each other. I remember when a Russian student came to my junior high school when I was in 6^th grade. He spoke English, but he spoke with a very thick Russian accent. He also said some very strange things from time to time as slang. Much of our class saw him as entertainment, rather than someone that we could learn from. We saw him as having a strange accent, and saying strange things; he even looked strange to us. We did not see his cultural identity as being better, let alone, equal to ours. We saw it as funny, something to laugh about.

Nunez in The Country of the Blind shows a similar attitude. He sees the people’s blindness as some thing that they lacked, even though they saw it as perfectly normal. The perceptions of this by both parties dictated how they treated each other. Rather than appreciate the characteristics that the other had, each saw the other as threatening. This is so often the case in early to late adolescents in school. Identity is being found and re-found, and those who do not share in a particular identity can sometimes be seen as threatening – not to a person physically or emotionally most of the time, but threatening to their social comfort level. In the classroom, this might be seen when a teacher, who always has the class do assignments in groups and has created a classroom culture around tight-knit community, creates a poor learning environment for a student who works better individually. Another example, this time socially, is when a person who is very outgoing and “touchy-feely” might be seen as smothering to someone who is much more quiet and reserved.

             These differences in culture and language, for many people, are very difficult to adapt to. Like in The Country of the Blind, two individuals or groups may refuse to accept the other’s differences. In a learning environment, this can be incredibly detrimental to the potential learning that could happen. Cultural acceptance and a desire for understanding is crucial to the fostering of quality learning. I say a desire because I believe that it is utterly impossible, apart from being the person, to fully understand the culture and language of that individual. Willingness is key, and if people willingly strive to understand people’s differences, then the cracked door of learning will be gradually opened wider for future generations. A large part of this willingness should begin in the hearts and minds of the teachers in our schools, who are then able to create a culture based on this philosophy within their own classrooms.