I
still remember the day like yesterday when my son Hans felt so frustrated at
the news that his 8th grade English teacher (i.e., final year in the
middle school) had not recommended him for an honor’s English class in high
school. FYI, Hans’s grade in English subject had been A+ throughout the four
years of middle school. His
participation in class activities and extra credit projects had always been
praised by his teachers. Since we were not able to find a clue behind the
teacher’s decision, Hans and I talked with her over the matter. What she said
about the reason why she did not recommend Hans for the honors English course
left us all dumbfounded. She said as follows: "Hans is a great student who always goes all
out in preparing for class, class participation, writing assignments, quizzes
and tests, and always gains perfectly wonderful grades in them all. However, I believe that honor’s English course in high school is for students who are
inherently talented and still doing a great job without putting many hours of
efforts." Wait.....whaaaaaaaaat?!!!!!!! Hans and I doubted our own ears when she made
that absurd and illogical comment about what she believed. So…..I asked her if
she seriously believes that hard-working students who always try to do their
best in school work would not deserve to belong to honor’s class???!!! She kept
silent with a stuck-up look. Hmmmm….. no offense, but that moment, Hans and I
were on the same page inside. ‘She must be a racist.’ Hans was not the only
student who was flabbergasted by her
addle-headed, clueless explanation about why they were not eligible candidates
for honor’s English class in high school. Most of those sadly surprised students
from previous years were all super smart and hard-working Asian Americans. Very
uncomfortable guess, but we couldn’t think of any other reasons behind this
teacher’s own weird consuetude of
victimizing smart students for no reason at all in class. If we were wrong
interpreting her intention, she must have had an extremely dangerous mindset as
an educator.
In
the field of Sports Psychology, there is the belief called "growth-oriented mindset" which says“talents and abilities
can be developed, and it harnesses the
power of “not yet” thinking.” In other words, they are constantly self-checking
to develop their current skills to improve them by thinking “not good enough
yet”. It refers to a powerful concept that the key to success is in how the
students/ athletes view learning: Students who believe talent is innate may
tend to underachieve when they experience setbacks,
while students who believe they can develop skills and knowledge over time
often perform better” (page 24, Runner’s World, September, 2017). I believe it
is the fundamental idea and attitude that all educators and students need to
become successful and gain confidence in whatever they do. As an English
educator and a mother, I have a firm belief that every learner has potential
deep down inside, which can be honed and grown to the next level. Educators’
role is to find the students’ skills and abilities and help them to focus on
promoting what they’ve gotten, NOT discourage or deter them from stepping
forward.
“Dear the 8th grade English
teacher (who has retired this year) that I mentioned above,
Those hard-working, not inherently
smart (in YOUR LIMITED OPINION) students (including Hans) whom you had dropped
from the list of eligible candidates for the honors English course in high
school all successfully finished not only the honors English class but also
even the AP English courses as well. Thank goodness you have retired from the
education forefront, ma’am.
From Jean Lee, the mother who feels so
proud to have a hard-working son instead of the so-called inherently smart kids that always easily achieve things as if they were all low hanging fruits”
Expressions
flabbergasted: utterly
amazed/ astonished/ surprised
consuetude: an
established custom, especially one having legal force
to harness:
apply, employ, exercise, exploit, use, operate, utilize
setbacks:
a problem that makes progress more difficult or success less likely
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