Read Gladwell’s latest? I wonder if current k-12 system is #bigpond? In HS focus on marks squashes growth+chgs lives? Validates the chgs?
— Dawn Kilmer (@dellenanne) October 20, 2013
After reading this article related to Gladwell's latest book, it made me think deeper in regards to his concept of the benefits of "being a big fish in a little pond."
Now, Gladwell's techniques certainly have their critics. However, I do like how this categorization for big pond/little pond can be considered in an education context.
In reply to the tweet above, I sent the following:
@dellenanne it seems transitions from elem to HS can be #bigpond particularly if elem school is in a community that is not asset rich
— Garett Mathiason (@GFMathiason) October 20, 2013
Specifically, my reference here to the little fish in the big pond is for students who attend schools in communities of low socio-economic status, where transiency tends to be higher.
I used to work as a Dream Broker for the first four years of the program at two different inner-city schools. Often, when high-achieving students who completed grade eight came to visit once they had entered high school, these students would struggle with this transition; grades would drop, as it seems the transition from elementary to high school was excessive. While the transition from elementary/middle school to high school can be difficult for many students across socio-economic lines, I think this transition is stereotypically more difficult for students who attend inner-city schools in impoverished neighbourhoods. Charter schools seem to be a notable exception.
A critique I have against this article is that, how does one know in the world of education if they will or will not be more successful as a little fish in a big pond? Acceptance of being a big fish in a little pond (e.g., highly intelligent/motivated student attending a post-secondary institution without a strong academic reputation), could be limiting for that student in areas of networking/connecting to others within their field. I think this point is true in both specific fields (e.g., an Engineering student at MIT), and for students that are undeclared (e.g., acceptance and attending an Ivy League school).
I suppose, to reference another Gladwell book, if a student is an "Outlier", it may be worth the risk to be a small fish in a big pond. In "Outliers: The Story of Success", Gladwell references how not just talent alone, but connections to others, along with luck, has a lot to do with one's success.
What do you think of Gladwell's big fish in a small pond vs. little fish in a big pond analogy in reference to education?
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