A couple of weeks ago, Adam Grant wrote an opinion piece, “What Most American Schools Do Wrong,” in the New York Times. The article speaks to our typical approach to education that does not leverage two critical tools teachers have in helping students excel. His discovery of the tools comes after examining why countries like Finland and Estonia consistently outperform other bigger and richer countries.
The tools: knowledge of students and relationships. Not testing, not longer school days, not increased homework.
Grant speaks of the power of “looping” – the practice of teachers moving up a grade level with students. The effect is teachers have a profound grasp of a student’s strengths and challenges and a nuanced understanding of each student. They can then take that understanding and build a meaningful relationship with the student while uncovering the hidden potential of each child.
What Grant is hitting on, though, is how big of an impact seeing each student as an individual can have on their educational journey. At Saklan, our small class sizes and focus on relationships allow us to take “uncut gems” and see “beyond the surface and recognize the brilliance beneath.”
There is no secret to helping students love learning and excelling academically. It starts with focusing on the person before you and building the relationship; from there, challenging them academically and helping them reach their full potential comes naturally. In other words, one can’t Bloom until you Maslow.
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