5 Thin Lines in Education

Thin lines can also be described as tightropes, and one step too far to either side can have devastating consequences. In the role of educator, there are many thin lines of which we must aware. In two of the previous blogs, I have touched on empathy and how important it is to avoid the storms of shame. However, I feel it important to clarify the difference (thin line) between empathy and sympathy. Brené Brown has a number of videos and books that speak about the difference between empathy and sympathy, but I’m going to include a fun video short (less than three minutes) that explains the difference in a very simplistic way, but I believe that sympathy creates a gap, no a chasm, that is so great it can effectively halt all forward progress in the learning process. Sympathy serves to break down the relationship between student and teacher. In a short Ted Talk entitled Every Kid Needs a Champion, the late Rita Pierson, educator and poverty expert, notably expressed, “Kids don’t learn from people they don’t like.” She went on to explain how important it is to connect with students on a personal level. I wholeheartedly agreed with this sentiment, but I also believe that there is another very thin line between being a champion or a mentor and trying to be their best friend. I have seen many teachers who seemed to be competing to be the favorite teacher; engaging in the popularity contest. It is important to maintain a professional relationship with the students; needing to be liked by the students can quickly be reduced to favoritism and gossip.

The other thin line that I have observed with respect to being a champion, is where we cross over from developing confidence and courage to arrogance. We often put so much emphasis on a student’s natural talent that we inadvertently foster an overinflated sense of self in students with seemingly higher aptitudes. Angela Duckworth devotes an entire chapter in her book, Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance, to the difference between talent and effort. She cites a study of the corporate culture of Enron about which journalist Malcolm Gladwell, argues that “demanding Enron employees prove that they were smarter than everyone else inadvertently contributed to a narcissistic culture, with an overrepresentation of employees who were both incredibly smug and driven by deep insecurity to keep showing off. It was a culture that encouraged short-term performance but discouraged long-term learning and growth.” I think it is important to keep our focus on the long-term effects of education on learning; in the last blog, VISION: Fostering Lifelong Learners, I suggested that there is a mindset associated with the concept of being a lifelong learner that was dependent on interest and grit. Here, I will add humility to that list; being able to recognize and admit that you still have more to learn is a position of vulnerability. When we are willing to seek out experts in our field of interest or study, we are destined to improve our own skills and abilities. Duckworth calls on the studies of James Flynn, a social scientist from New Zealand, in a later chapter of Grit, and explains his discovery, known as the Flynn Effect, which indicates that “there have been startling gains in IQ scores over the past century.” Flynn himself offers an explanation for these gains by way of a cycle he calls the “social multiplier effect.” In a nutshell, this philosophy suggests that when we are surrounded by people who are a little more skilled than we are, it “enriches the learning environment” and makes us better.

I have certainly seen this idea of a social multiplier in effect, but more importantly, I have been positively impacted by being surrounded by folks who were smarter, more athletic, and more talented than me. I could create a pretty healthy list of these instances, however, I can also make a list of times when I was negatively impacted by being around people who were smarter, more athletic, and more talented than me. What I’m saying is that there is a thin line between being encouraged and discouraged by being with those who are more skilled than us. I believe that the success of the social multiplier is dependent on the gap between the skill levels. In recent years tracking has become very controversial in education. There have been strong cases for inclusion in classrooms leading to the need for modified teaching approaches. Teachers have been required to engage in what is commonly known as differentiated instruction; tailoring instruction to meet individual needs through altering content, processes, and environment. I am certainly a proponent of finding a variety of ways to reach students and help them to engage in the learning process, but given the general state of overcrowded classrooms, meeting the needs of students with a significant range of abilities is a nearly impossible goal to reach, even for the best teachers. It puts us on the fast track to student frustration, teacher burnout, and mediocre outcomes for everyone. In order to meet students’ educational needs, they must be engaged in the process, but there is a thin line between engaging and entertaining the students. These two words are often incorrectly used interchangeably. Doug Johnson writes a brilliant article for Educationworld.com entitled “Engage or Entertain?” that not only defines both terms but addresses how they look in learning environments. I have provided the link to the article to read all of his thoughts, but allow me to share the differences as Doug lists them; they are points worth pondering:

Educators are not called to be entertainers, but they do often have to walk the tightropes that divide student success and failure. There is a lot of pressure to keep a healthy balance, and it is critical that they have the security of a safety net in their administration as well as the community-at-large.