Image: @jasonramasami
As the new school year springs – or lumbers! – into life, I have been thinking about the beliefs I have about my students. Like all dedicated teachers, I would vehemently argue that I have the highest expectations for each and every student I teach. How dare you suggest otherwise!
But do I really? And more to the point: is it possible for any teacher to have genuinely high expectations of every student?
Psychologist Daniel Kahneman, in Thinking Fast and Slow, shares the following experiment. Participants were given this question:
An individual has been described by a neighbour as follows: “Steve is very shy and withdrawn, invariably helpful but with little interest in people or in the world of reality. A meek and tidy soul, he has a need for order and structure, and a passion for detail.” Is Steve more likely to be a librarian or a…
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