When I look at the beautiful, diverse, differently gifted students I have sitting in my classroom, I often hold in tension different definitions of success. We tend to celebrate and applaud and hold in high regard those students who stand out from the crowd in some way...whether this be academic, sporting, performing arts or service. This is encouraging to those students, it can be inspirational to others (although is sometimes a source of pain) and is very much part of life and part of our culture...but in my heart of hearts I really want to call some other kids "up on stage" too...or maybe I want to call up on stage the same students but for different reasons...
A definition of success I heard once was that "success is not so much what you achieve but what you overcome". What appears to be a normal and average life or a standard achievement may actually be an outstanding success if we put a different lens on. For the student suffering from depression, to arrive at school, dressed, fed, and on time, with some of the things they need for their day is an incredible success. What about the student who has younger siblings to take care of because they are from a single parent home where mum works long hours...for them to have their basic homework done is a huge success. What about the student who hates running but chooses to participate in cross country anyway- their success at coming in in an average time may be greater than the person who came first.
What about the celebration of a balanced life? Do we celebrate the perfect project handed in that took until 3am to complete with many tears and to the neglect of other important work? Or do we celebrate the self-discipline to end off in time with a good night's sleep so that we can still play our soccer match the next day and bake the cake we had promised Grandma? If we celebrate these "normal" successes, perhaps we will be nurturing the qualities we actually long to see more of in our adult lives....work-life balance, perseverance. time management, a healthy ability to say no. The lure of accolades is strong...
Are we setting kids up for failure when we say to them that they will be "world changers" and that they will "make a difference". I feel challenged to continue, of course, to celebrate the "stand out " successes but to open my eyes more and more to celebrating the hidden successes.
The normal life lived well is actually extraordinary. The normal life well lived is going to make a difference.
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