USE WHAT YOU HAVE
14 For the kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods.
15 And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey.
16 Then he that had received the five talents went and traded with the same, and made them other five talents.
17 And likewise he that had received two, he also gained other two.
18 But he that had received one went and digged in the earth, and hid his lord's money.
19 After a long time the lord of those servants cometh, and reckoneth with them.
20 And so he that had received five talents came and brought other five talents, saying, Lord, thou deliverest unto me five talents:
behold, I have gained beside them five talents more.
21 His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.
22 He also that had received two talents came and said, Lord, thou deliverest unto me two talents: behold, I have gained two other talents beside them.
23 His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.
24 Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed:
25 And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine.
26 His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed:
27 Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury.
28 Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents.
29 For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.
I have been running this passage of Scripture in my head for the last couple days. I began to see some principles that are not necessarily hermeneutically correct, but not are not incorrect Biblical Principles.
For all of my professional education career, I have constantly run into the same issue. This issue remains the same, whether I am teaching elementary, intermediate, secondary, or collegiate. None of our students are the same. They all respond best to different learning methods. Some have keen memories. Others grasp concepts easily. Some are detailed oriented, others are not. Some are test pros, and others have test anxiety. Few are the same. Is it right and correct for us to expect our students to perform the same in a like environment?
God has given us all vaious different abilities, and different levels of those abilities. Do I know why? Not really. However, God is supreme and He had a reason for making all of us unique individuals.
Just as our personalities, looks, and voices are different, the way we learn, and what comes easily for us varies. I believe that we often forget this fact when we plan our educational goals and methods. It is so easy to lump everyone together in a massive class, teach everyone the same way, and expect them to respond in the same way.
We have students that are physical learners, auditory learners, and logical learners. Physical learners prefer using your body, hands and sense of touch. Auditory learners prefer using sound and music. Logical learners prefer using logic, reasoning and systems. Each of these thrive in their own abilities of learning and struggle in the others.
My son (second child) was born with an AV Canal Defect. The surgeon planned to correct this problem before his first birthday. Days before his surgery, he developed a high fever of 104, we could not get it down, and took him to the hospital. He suffered a heart arrest in my arms as we were taking him to the admitting room. They worked on him for a long time, finally revived him, and intubated him for 10 days to help his body recover. He woke up with evidence of neurological damage. His muscular system was all toned, his evers were glazed and lifeless. As we looked at him, he was nothing like the boy who was just learning to scoot himself along the furniture and say mom and dad two weeks before.
Three months and three surgeries later, he slowly began to recover. Life came back into his eyes and with therapy at the clinic and at home, he began to have life come back into him. The doctors wanted us to institutionalize him saying that he will never walk or talk. His mom and I refused to accept that. My wife went to work and I stayed home with him 24/7, and worked withhim for over a year. A year later he was talking, smiling, and slowly his skills increased. Now to date, he cannot read or write, not can he walk or even bathe himself, or even take care of his own toileting needs. BUT you get tired of him talking, and has a vocabulary as good as some high schoolers. He is capable of some high level thinking, He was one of those 1 talent people that you just want to hide in an institution (keep him out of the way).
What did the rich man tell the man with the one talent? In paraphrase, why didn't you at least put it in the bank, so i could earn some interest. I believe my son is who he is today because we took what he had at a given moment, encouraged it, and worked it. Step by step, moment by moment, progress was made. He did not stay that toned, glazed eyed, silent child He became an adult that is a social butterfly and does what he can for himself. He is always looking for things to do.
I spent the last four years working with secondary aged special needs teenagers. My goal was not to have them all sit their exams and get a high school diploma. My lesson plans, though they included academics were focused on character building, fostering a hunger to learn what they can, and to develop the talents that they did possess! My first graduating class of 6 students are out in the world and are known as hard workers. They have a work ethic. They are willing to do what they have to do. One is an assistant to a mechanic. A couple work with construction as helpers. One is a musician and runds his fathers businesses for him. Another is studying to be a pilot. They all had different learning disabilities. But all have become successful in their own right. Another one of my sons did poorly in elementary school.
While I was taking care of my hadicapped son, I home schooled my other child. In a quieter, controlled environment, he was able to focus better, and actually completed to academic years in one, and was able to entering high school with students his age! After completing a term in the Marines, he went to vocational college, got two associate degrees in computer engineering and fireman science, He has a home, a wife, and two jobs that he is successful in!
Another one of my sons has severe test anxiety. In school, he would ace all of his daily assignments, and flunk the unit and final exams. Despite these he was capable of organizing and getting things done. He is doing well, and plans on becoming a policeman once he gets out of the marines. To sum this chapter up, We need to do more than offer the traditional classroom with its group mentality. A greater focus on the talents and developing those need to become a greater part of our current educational system.