Seeing More

I have recently become acquainted with the work of Alison Gopnik – albeit on a minimal level. After reading a quote from one of her books, I copied and pasted it into a word document that I keep on my desktop so I can refer to it often. I have also found myself pulling it up to read to others – especially to parents who are dealing with children who “learn differently.”

          “…in the psychological case even more than the physical one, what counts as a problem depends on the context. When           nobody read, dyslexia wasn’t a problem. When most people had to hunt, a minor genetic variation in your ability to focus attention was hardly a problem, and may even have been an advantage. When most people have to make it through high school, the same variation can become a genuinely life-altering disease. To say this doesn’t imply, as [author and New York Times blogger Judith] Warner seems to think, that these are made-up problems, rather than real neurological ones. But it does suggest that changing the social context in which children grow up can be as important as directly changing their brain chemistry.”

(Gopnik, 2010)

A-ha! This is it for me! I have long believed that school is operating in an archaic and industrial – one size fits all – round hole, square peg model – but this quote really captures the entire picture for me.

It is the context and structure of most American Schools that is problem – not the child or children. When I think of all of the heartache, tears, and money spent by parents because their child does not fit the mold of our education system it breaks my heart. Every child has gifts, talents, strengths AND weaknesses. Unfortunately, our system of education has created a belief that only certain gifts are valuable and needed – like sit still and be quiet.

Last year I attended a workshop at Harvard on Learning Disabilities.  One of the speakers discussed “the gift of ADHD” and how many parents leave his office devastated instead of realizing the many positive things that come with an ADHD diagnosis.  I love this theory – let’s celebrate all aspects of every child – not just those that manifest themselves well into our one size fits all education system.

Gopnik uses a diagram of the infant brain compared to the adult brain in her book “The Philosophical Baby” with the statement: As we know more we see less.  This week, I am hoping to see more from my windowless office.