While reading an essay by Herbert Kohl entitled, “A Love Supreme,” in which he discusses the issue of standards based teaching, I was struck by a particular line that reads, “The idea that all children can learn has been replaced by the idea that all children must learn in one way.” As I began to unpack this pithy line, I started to realize the gigantic implications latent within the powerful idea that all children can learn, and it doesn’t have to be in just one way, but it can be in any number of ways.
The more and more time I spend at Pathfinders, the more and more I begin to see just how necessary it is for our education system to embrace the powerful idea that all children can learn, and in ways unique to them. Before the chorus of backlash resounds stating that there is no way to give each and every kid the necessary one on one time in order to see how they uniquely learn, I suppose I should say that that is not the point. At our staff meeting Wednesday night, Brenda left us with the charge to to look at each kid with fresh eyes each time we meet with them. And, I think that this is the point. To expect every kid to learn everything we expect them to learn in the exact same manner seems just as unrealistic to me as expecting every student to get one on one attention in their classrooms. However, I really do believe that if we begin to look at our students with fresh eyes, and believe that they can learn, we will begin to see powerful, effective, and creative teaching and learning.
Joey