I was staying back one day to help a student with homework. The student was ten and half way through the student looked up and asked, "Teacher, I'm stupid, am I?"
I was taken aback and responded by asking, why would you say that? The student began to narrate how she was new to the school and had moved over from a previously different education system. Due to the new environment and her lack of familiarity to the subjects, her grades began to drop.
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Due to the poor grades, her parents started pointing out her flaws, blaming her lack of good grades to her not being 'intelligent' enough. I sat down beside the student and pointed out three things about her that I valued.
Working hard
As a teacher, I value effort. You can be smart due to a genetic fluke or upbringing, but not everyone has the same opportunity. Also, being good at something doesn't mean that you will be good at it forever. However, being hardworking is a habit and will continue to stay with your through school and through the rest of one's life.
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I told her that she was the most hardworking person I've seen. Her relentless pursuit towards perfecting her work and she spending countless hours completing extra homework is commendable and should be emulated by the whole class.
She smiled.
I was not done yet. I told her the second thing of why I thought she was not stupid, but in fact a great student.
Questioning everything
I told her that I loved her endless questioning on a particular topic or lesson. Coming from an Asian culture, we are taught not to question in certain schools. Sit down, listen and do you work. However, because of her questioning I think she has learnt more in her new school and her new curriculum than others who have been there a long time.
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I told her I valued that and anyone who questions shall not be labelled as stupid. She replied by asking if I was annoyed with her questions, and I said I did not mind at all.
It is pretty lonely standing in front of a class of 40 students, or awkward. As such, I welcomed questions.
We are all unique
I continued by telling her that we all have very different sets of strengths and weaknesses. I told her that I for one am absolutely horrible with Maths but I was good with history and languages. Being bad at a particular subject is by no means a measure of your weakness but a measure of what you need to do to be better.
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I continued by joking that I would miss having her in class if she scored too well. This was because with those results, she would be in secondary school.
She looked at me confused and I made a mental note that I need better jokes.
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We ended that day with her going home feeling a little happier than when she started the lesson. But it got me thinking of how we as a society measure success. It got me thinking of my life as an educator and how I was measured as a student growing up (more on that in part 2 of this post).
However, I'm thankful that I was given an opportunity to speak into the life of that girl. Hopefully I get to see her grow into a confident and intelligent individual. But even if I do not get that opportunity, I'd like to think that I've planted a seed in her heart that will one day grow into something awesome!