Some classrooms will probably have one or two students who could become stars, but our teaching must not be toward them; rather, if should be toward reaching the average child. That does not mean that we ignore the need to enrich the education of the stars; they are an additional responsibility, not the primary target.
It is much easier and more enjoyable for the teacher to address needs and interests of the more advanced student whose level of understanding is nearer his or her own than to work patiently with the common, average, or slower students who make up the vast majority of the students in our classes. (Unlike Garrison Keillor’s imaginary town of Lake Wobegon, not all of our students are or can be “above average.”) The teacher is called to ensure that all students learn, not just the “stars.”
The ever-present tendency is to ignore or bypass the average and low students with callous disregard, to write them off as of no consequence. Remember, however, that history shows that it is not generally the “stars” whom God ends up using most in life but rather the average student, the plodder, the one who struggles and yet perseveres over time because a teacher cared enough to work with him or her.
[Teacher: Teaching and Being Taught, p. 210. Available at http://www.amazon.com.]
Copyright (c) 2017, Dennis L. Peterson