Taming the Fox

Take a look at the following books:

The first book, I read when I was in High School.

The second, I just started today.

Before beginning my differentiation textbook, I never would have guessed that it had something in common with The Little Prince. Then again, it shouldn't surprise me that it does. The Little Prince is jam-packed with over-my-head metaphors that sometimes I can make sense of. But usually someone just has to tell me what that tiny little book and that tiny little prince are talking about.

Thankfully, my differentiation textbook did just that.

Right around page 6, Tomlinson begins to explain that metaphors help people extend their thinking. To further explain this notion, she informs the reader that there is a metaphor in The Little Prince that can help  extend their thinking about differentiation in the classroom. The metaphor she is talking about is called: Taming the Fox. 

"The Little Prince, a young boy who is in many ways representative of all of us, goes on a pilgrimage to make sense of life. In particular, he needs to understand what love means in the scope of his existence. Along the way, he meets and learns from a varied lot of folks-both wise and foolish. Near the end of his journey, he encounters a fox and asks the fox to play with him. The fox responds that he cannot pay with the Little Prince because he-the fox-is not tamed. The Little Prince is puzzled and asked what it means to be tamed. The fox responds that it means to establish ties-an act too often neglected, he observes:

To me, you are still nothing more

than a little boy who is just like a

hundred thousand other little boys. 

And I have no need of you. And you, 

on your part, have no need of me. To 

you, I am nothing more than a fox like 

a thousand other foxes. but if you tame

me, then we shall need each other. To

me, you will be unique in all the world...

My life is very monotonous...

And, in consequence, I am a little bored.

But if you tame me, it will be as if the sun 

came to shine on my life. I shall know the 

sound of a step that will be different from

all the others. Other steps send my hurrying 

back underneath the ground. Yours will call

me, like music, out of my burrow.

(p. 80,83)

But the Little Prince is skeptical. He is very busy, he explains. He has so many things to do-so many things to understand. The fox gives a simple reply: "One only understands the things one tames" (p. 83). The Little Prince agrees to tame the fox. 

The fox explains that taming takes time, patience, and listening. Words, he notes, are often the source of misunderstanding. In time, the Little Prince tames the fox, who shares with his new friend two important truths:

1. "What is essential is invisible to the eye," (p. 87) and

2. "You become responsible forever for what you have tamed." (p. 88)

In the end, the fox and Little Prince must part ways, of course. There is great sadness in the parting, but there is happiness born of fulfillment as well. The two will be joined forever by the small memories they made together-the times they shared."

Tomlinson continues to explain that teachers are like the Little Prince who say, "Come play with me" and "Come do what I ask you to do." Each child, in their own unique way will say, "I can't do that until you have tamed me." Tomlinson states, "In 30 different ways, students in a class of 30 say to the teacher, like the fox, 'Tame me, please.' They want to feel a personal connection to those who share the classroom with them. They want to be affirmed there."

Obtaining a differentiated classroom means taming each child that comes my way. It takes time, patience, and listening. It takes getting to know each child's strengths and weaknesses. It means continually adjusting how I teacher according to their needs. And then once it's summer, I will have to part ways with them. It will be hard, but if I have done my job correctly, then there will also be rejoicing because of the things we have learned and the memories we have made. 

Wow, what a great metaphor. 

When Tomlinson said it would extend my thinking on differentiation in the classroom,

she was right!