I recently heard a quote by author Dan Sullivan that says, “If you spend your life strengthening your weaknesses, you’re going to end up with a lot of very strong weaknesses.” What a great way of saying the obvious. And what a poignant comment on our education system that: 1) seeks to create students who are "well-rounded" (i.e. disregard their strengths in favor of doing and knowing many things moderately well), and 2) does so by helping them identify their weaknesses and fix them.
So every day, we teach millions of students that it is somehow wise and noble to suck it up and spend a third of their life in a place that they hate and that completely disrespects their passions, gifts and their inner voices that are screaming "something is out of whack here!" After all, this is preparation for the "real world," right? Everything can't go your way. Life just isn't like that!
And we end up with millions of students and, ultimately, millions of citizens, who have no idea what their strengths are but are good at using their very strong weaknesses. Well, I just want to say…
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Comments on this entry
Hi Chris,
While I agree with the premise of this week’s blog, I must say I did bristle a bit. When general statements are put out there such as the one you used about our education system, it lumps all of us educators together. It feels like it blindly disregards all the amazingly good things that ARE happening in schools - that there are teachers who are passionate about teaching in a way that helps young people discover, value, and build upon whatever their strengths happen to be.
Your message is important, for sure, but don’t forget that some of us do ‘get it’… “)
Thanks,
Sarah Carlson
While I generally agree with your assessment, I’d like to challenge the tone of surrender. The education system is ours, not someone else’s. People are quick to complain, while their PTA begs for money and volunteers. City budgets and academics are decided in public meetings where often no member of the public shows up. We should all take a page out of President Obama’s playbook and show true courage by wading into the mire and trying to clean it up, not leaving the job for others.
Jim and Sarah, you are right on the button. My frustration took the tone of generalizing and surrender. We can and must make a difference and there are legions of folks out there doing just that. Thanks for calling me on it!