If education truly valued learning, no child would ever feel dumb. Challenged, yes. Dumb, never. And challenged would, of course, be followed by supported. Anything else isn’t learning.

Learning necessitates challenge. Learning necessitates support. Learning is the spot between the challenged student and the supporting teacher, that place where the learner’s needs give rise to the teacher’s purpose. I believe this is the essence of our existence in education, a shared struggle to learn and grow. And, more, I believe that though the struggle is there, it is never a place nor an existence where a learner would feel inadequate or dumb. But, if one asked most–maybe all–classrooms to raise their hands if they’ve ever been made to feel inadequate or dumb, a mountain of hands would rise. And that is not okay.

It is perhaps one of the greatest wrongs we perpetuate in education, where ranking and sorting seem to take center stage, unfolding a drama that inevitably marks, among a number of things, kids “dumb.” Of course we don’t actually say, “dumb,” but that is what kids come to believe when we sort them. And dumb becomes dangerous. There are signs of this damage throughout our culture. Kids develop fixed mindsets about subjects (sometimes as early as kindergarten). Kids don’t ask questions. Kids don’t take risks. Kids hate school. Kids cheat. Kids hide–in plain sight.

But, if, as I said above, we truly valued learning in education, this should never happen. Why would a kid in a learning environment in the care of a supportive teacher ever feel dumb? Maybe we don’t value learning as much as we profess or pretend. Maybe we need to re-center ourselves around the noble charge of helping kids grow rather than the dangerous practice of sorting students.

And though I am not entirely sure how we right this monumental, institutional wrong, I think we make strides when we acknowledge and begin to amend.

Today’s Trail

Along today’s trail we will experience…

…connecting through Smiles and Frowns.

…growing with grammar.

…completing a Learning Check on Tone Analysis.

…hearing a Sappy Sy Rhyme.

Happy Tuesday, all.

Do. Reflect. Do Better.