Journal: Awakening Genius in the Classroom, p. 21
Thomas Armstrong, author of Awakening
Genius in the Classroom, believes every student is a genius.
I tend to agree:
Every student is a genius, I would agree, but I would also
agree that the word “genius” itself must be redefined. Many people connote genius with high IQ
or high-power job status or even social class standing. If every student's potential for genius
is to be recognized, then the word itself must be re-evaluated. For example, I work in a building where
colleagues of mine tell students that they are the “future pot-hole fillers of
America” and where a student reading two grades below grade level is disparaged
and disabused of the notion of being a psychologist. The teacher in that situation seemed to think the student in
question could become a pot-hole filler, but that she had no prayer of being a
psychologist, and the sooner she realized her own shortcomings, the
better. This is no way to run a
school, a classroom, or even deal with students. In the move toward standards-based education, every student
is supposed to be held to the same standard. They may need different tools and strategies in order to be
able to achieve that standard, but there is no real reason to think that
students aren't capable. Every
student has the potential to be a genius, but like a garden, they must be
nourished, given sunlight, and allowed to grow. Schools also need to learn to value other forms of “genius” instead of focusing almost exclusively on verbal-linguistic or mathematic strengths. What of the student who is a genius at dealing with others
with compassion? What of the
student who exhibits genius with regard to humor and wit? These students must also be valued and
nurtured. They are geniuses, too.
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