Learning on Ice

“More shocking news! More shocking news! Fresh out of Lake Placid, New York!”

“The United States beats the Soviet Union 4 to 3 in what will go down as one of the greatest upsets in sports history,” screamed the announcer in 1980.

They called this American team the ‘Miracle on Ice’ after it became the Olympic hockey champion against the mighty Soviet team that had been lined with stars. Was this ‘overmatched’ team simply lucky one cold winter’s night 37 years ago? It has been said more than once that we as a species are prone to creating legends. It seems that many of us are starved for heroes. So, perhaps it wasn’t such an upset. After all, 13 of the 20 American players would eventually play in the NHL (National Hockey League), which speaks to the quality of this squad’s personnel. The United States, too, was skating at home in front of a fierce partisan audience. With these facts in mind, I ask you, how much of a miracle was the final score?

We are often bogged down by details. As we become more and more absorbed in a subject, we comprehend its intricacies to the point that we consider ourselves to be experts, but myopic (shortsighted) thinking can pervade, deceiving us.

Let me give an example commonly found in some schools across the globe. Educators sometimes perceive students who do not put forth the most effort or who learn in different styles as ‘weak’ or even ‘untalented’. However, on some occasions, these students may be the ‘strongest’ students. Compounding matters further, it is possible that a student is labeled the same thing from year to year. So, if a student is ‘weak’ one year, the assumption inherited by the new teacher is that the student will not perform above the standard the following year.

Thus, it is essential for teachers to know students and not assume that a pupil can be defined in the long run by three or four characteristics. By doing so, the bias of the observer does not imprison a student. Teaching and learning should be fluid – both directed and focused on learning goals but also with plenty of areas for students to blossom and expand. A belief in the student is paramount. The great Greek philosopher, Plato, best summed the teacher’s role in this process, “Do not train a child to learn by force or harshness; but direct them to it by what amuses their minds so that you may be better able to discover with accuracy the peculiar bent of the genius of each.”

In summary, we as a school shall strive to provide our children with wide-open space by offering them a multitude of avenues to etch their names in the ice. These varied learning experiences should act as catalysts for the construction of the emotional, social and physical traits needed to flourish in this world. Our teachers have a very difficult path to cover but are up to the task in my opinion. They do not need a miracle; rather, they simply need to harness the qualities that students possess by creating nourishing environments. Parents, too, have a role in these matters, as they communicate with the school and facilitate learning both inside and outside the school environment. May every child be our ‘miracle’; it is in our sight.