What is ‘common sense’? Is it even important?

Common sense is the idea of actions, methods or approaches that were learned and are continued to be used without conscious thought. Kumashiro descries commonsense as a learned way of being or doing things. At some point, the actions or reactions were taught and learned and became common knowledge to a group of people living in a particular place. Some of these actions or reactions can be taken for granted when there are others from other places that are not aware of the common sense that has been created in an area. These actions that almost seem traditional often stem from cultural beliefs or even generational perspectives.

Commonsense is important to pay attention to as a teacher because the atmosphere of a classroom should be inclusive, accepting and adapting to the changes in the common sense that are learned. The assumption that was made when Kumashiro went to Nepal to teach the American education style was that the common sense that the Nepalese people had created and learned was less than that of the United States. Teachers need to be aware of differing commonsense in different areas for when there are students coming from different areas with different practices and beliefs. There could be situations where teachers could be oppressing other cultures beliefs unintentionally. Along with the need for awareness, there is also a need for teachers to be patient with students because the students could be unaware of common sense that the majority of people are aware of.