Every child is special
- Updated on 12 Aug 2020
- Creativity
As an educator have you come across questions like, “Is this child the best in my class, or is the other one better than him/her?” The answer to that is “Every child is a genius, every day”
It is not just a healthy statement anymore but a major point of difference in itself. Every child is unique and every child is special in his or her own way. No parent or teacher should ever distinguish among them based on any moral or social grounds.
This should be a core belief for every facilitator when it comes to a child. When I say each child is a genius, I am inherently saying that I care deeply, about the growth of each & every child. It means that I understand, that each student is unique – that each child comes from a unique background and each child learns at their own pace.
It’s not only about me, but we all need to ensure that every child grows at their pace and we must care to cultivate the genius within each one of them.
When I repeatedly say that “Every child is a genius, I aim at each and every potential that a child might have within him or her. A child can be good at Math because he loves to work with numbers. That same child may not be good at English as that is not a native language at his place. It doesn’t mean that we as educators need to keep pressurizing him to keep learning English, all we need to do is give him some time to grasp the language. We believe that every child is special.
Similarly there can be a child who is not good at any of the subjects, but can be a fantastic dancer so be it, let him be the best of what he can be, encourage him, support and help him overcome his weakness by supporting his strength. No one knows that tomorrow he/she may launch his own dance academy or may start his own dance school.
As an educator there can be a time where you come across students who are very fussy about learning and are hyperactive about all other activities like dancing ,playing and making fun all the time ,what you need to do at this time is help them to channelize their energy in the right direction.
If the energy of every child is channelized in the right direction, each child will be enthusiastic, bring their enthusiasm and real-world experience into the classroom to benefit themselves.
Every student needs a mentor, be a mentor ,a guide , a friend and bring out the best in every child.
Be the inspiration, as nurturing a spark of genius begins with inspiration.
Imagine if “Sachin Tendulkar “ was forced to learn music as a child, would we have the best cricketer?
There are few parents who have been the best students and have persuaded their ambitions and expect the same from their children ,which leads to depression and loss of self development and self awareness in the children. So my message to the parents is ,”Don’t put the pressure of your ambitions on your child’s shoulder.
Students who aren’t encouraged to change their fundamental beliefs about their own abilities may never progress in subject areas that they don’t already feel inclined toward.
Often times, students are numbers defined not by their unique personalities and potential but by their current exam score. Our students/ children deserve to be seen for their own potential to each one of them can grow into the genius he/she is.
Last but not the least, I strongly believe on the saying that “Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.”
Author
These thoughts were shared by our teacher Ms Wahida Jamadar Ma’am from Orchids International School in Koparkhairne. Her passion is reading & making students feel that every child is special with the learning & the World around them.
