58 EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP / SEPTEMBER 2015
always. Sometimes I dress up. I do have
a life outside of school.
JAMIE: I wonder what it’s like in places
where everybody has to wear the same
clothes. My father says everyone in
North Korea dresses the same. Do you
think that means they all have the same
personality?
This conversation goes from idle
chatter to a rich avenue of exploration
that touches on cultural differences,
the relationship between clothing and
personality, and assumptions about
North Korea. The context for Jamie’s
probing question is the teacher’s
seemingly idle chat about his hats.
It took eight turns to get there. The
teacher shows a genuine interest in
Jamie, as well as a genuine interest in
continuing the conversation. What
TEACHER: Gee, really? Maybe your dad
is right. I’m not sure, though. We could
look it up. Maybe you can find some
pictures of people in North Korea. But
that wouldn’t tell us about their person-
alities I guess, would it? I wonder how
we’d find that out?
