What is it about?
Savaal cannot wait for sixth grade to begin. "Classrooms Without Borders" has just announced that it will take student input into consideration when developing a curriculum. As a Pakistani-American pre-teen girl, she’s glad for the unique learning opportunity. But mostly, she just wants to fit in. However, when her new friends Eliana and Hassan clash with each other over differing cultures and viewpoints, she’ll be put to the test. But what will Savaal do when others’ beliefs and upbringings conflict with her own? Follow Savaal as she learns to find her voice, bridge differences, and start questioning the world around her and how she fits into it.
What inspired me to write it?
“Savaal” means “question” in Urdu.
I committed to the world of education because I wanted the opportunity to engage in meaningful dialogue on a regular basis. To be a change agent by showing children how to engage in meaningful conversations and how to pursue the questions cooking in their minds.
I have since learned that that philosophy is only encouraged if your narrative matches that of those in power. Diversity matters, as long it does not really diverge from what those in power deem as acceptable…or comfortable. Diversity in thought is not always practiced as much as it is preached. Still, I believed that real change takes commitment to a vision, so I stayed the course.
After enough experience, you start to see teaching for what it is and not what you were sold on. You learn that teachers are limited by curriculum, which is created and monitored by administrators and supervisors who are limited by the board and the board that is limited by the state laws and the laws that are limited by politicians, and on and on.
I started to question what fraction of the knowledge I was imparting were topics I found to be of real value to the students and how much was just me highlighting what had been scripted for me; Scripted by decisions often made by those disconnected from the experiences of the students in front of me. But who was I? A writing teacher who encourages children to write with authenticity and to take risks, but…what had I ever written?
I was letting the idea of what I thought creating change looked like stop me from making actual change. There is an idea out there that many of us are sold on: That creating change has prerequisites. A particular degree. A job title. Money. A certain personality. Specifically, if you want to be seen as a woman with a strong voice (Because you are one), you will have to be loud, combative, sassy…a spitfire. Someone who hits you with witty banter and humbly schools you in a verbal sparring match.
However, strength, or intelligence, is not always in the immediate response, in the volume of your voice, in the sassiness of your tone, in the speed of your wit, or in the sharpness of your anger. Strength is often what surfaces after one’s reflections in solitude, and often only after you have allowed yourself to feel vulnerable and weak. Change starts the minute we accept that we are worthy of creating that change. And you are.
Once I learned that, I decided that if I felt questions were not being asked that I believed were valuable ones to be posed, and narratives were missing from the table, I would have to write the narrative myself. I would ask the questions I wanted to ask …myself. So, I decided to practice what I was preaching. Quietly. Through the words in a book.
Never let anyone tell you what is or is not acceptable for you to speak on. Or what narrative is THE narrative. If your intentions are pure and for the betterment of those who lack a voice, anything can be discussed, it is just how you discuss it.
Trust yourself and your audience will find you.
I look forward to your #Savaal 🤎
Where can you purchase it?