This afternoon I came across a two-year-old article on "Perfect, Freaky Olympic Bodies."
One thing that most so-called education experts continue to ignore when they talk about how 'every child is a genius,' or 'every child can succeed (in a simplistic, standardized curriculum)' is that every child is different.
Trying to force them all to utilize their unique differences for the exact same outcomes (academic success in simplistic, standardized curriculum) would be like judging all athletes by their outcomes in the same sport.
Can you imagine making Michael Phelps be a jockey, or making Nadia Comaneci play volleyball, or making Michal Jordan play baseball (!), or making Serena Williams play golf? We'd miss out on their individual greatness. And the potential outcomes for us as we live our lives are infinitely greater than the limited number of sports that are available to us as athletes.
Each of us is born with natural advantages and disadvantages relative to the wider population. And each of us is able to develop cultivated advantages based on our interests and our environments. It is time for adults to stop treating children as if they are all cast in the same mold, or to try to mold them into the same product. It is not only a disservice to the children and society to put them through standardized schooling, it is inhumane to do so. Be part of a real revolution in education. Remove young people from all standards based educational environments.
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Illustration credit: Renee Lightner and Jessia Ma of @WSJGraphics