While watching the
march-past (perhaps these days more of a walk past) of the athletes at the
opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in London, the countries reminded me of
students in a classroom. Each country
has its specialty – Ethiopia in distance events, Ghana in boxing, Guam in
wrestling, the multi talented Australian team in many fields of sport. The look
of pride on the face of the flag bearers, the pinnacle alongside the gold
medal, says it all.
There are countries
that have yet to win a medal, marching along with countries that have won many. There are countries like Greece dealing
with financial challenges at home and countries like Egypt with recent
political upheaval. They all come
with that same sense of pride at representing their country.
There are many who
have overcome such difficulties in their personal lives to get to where they
are today.
Each child comes to
the classroom with a specialty.
Joseph for being a kind and gentle boy; Wendy is good at maths and
science; Jason specialises in manipulating and controlling others.
That sense of pride is evident in the
faces of these students as they begin to achieve something productive. Some are yet to achieve that ‘medal’. Perhaps that ‘medal’ is being able to
read well, or solve mathematical problems, or managing in difficult
situations. Perhaps it might be getting
along with others without resorting to power-over.
The preparation, the
support from home is not always there for some children. It is easy to blame parents for this,
but this does not mean that they cannot achieve the results of others at
schools. It doesn’t take a special
teacher to be able to reach and extend some children who do not learn in the
same way on the same day. That is
our job. Meeting the needs of students and taking them from where they are to
what they can become; successful, medal winning, vibrant learners
Just like champions in
the world of sport, we need to believe that every child is a champion and that
they can achieve, given the right opportunities. In a classroom that values and
teaches harmony, friendship, respect and fair play every student can succeed.
