Recently I’ve been posting about the way small changes can make a dramatic difference over time. I really think this concept needs to be applied to education as well. Progressions in difficulty need to be defined, and students need to be put in positions where they can succeed. They must be allowed to succeed, to allow that dose of dopamine, to get their behavioral conditioning going and to build a sustainable habit of fun and learning. So much of human potential remains untapped because we don’t realize the subtle conditions required to bring out that potential. Sometimes working hard is the wrong thing to do, and working easy is the way to go.
Students are frequently misplaced in school. The student that received a C in mathematics because his family life was not stable and hence he could not concentrate not only pays the penalty of that year, but also pays compounding interest in the following years. A C in a prerequisite subject leads to more bad grades because topics are clearly more difficult when you do not even know the prerequisites. For a young student this obstacle requires a Herculean effort to overcome, and I would say nine times out of 10 (or worse), these conditions lead to a downward spiral. Strangely enough, this would imply that a teacher would be doing what’s best for a child by failing them rather than allowing them to pass without having adequately demonstrated ability. Failing a child and allowing them to leave school to focus on resolving family stability issues would be more productive rather than attempting to force a student through the material in my opinion.
In sports, where performance is king, this kind of method has always been obvious. Teachers could learn a lot about how to bring out human potential from coaches. I think this is part of why I’ve always loved basketball.
