Deep in the rainforest, some of the most beautiful creatures can also be among the most dangerous.
Consider the poison dart frog.
Its colors are breathtaking. Brilliant yellows, electric blues, vibrant reds. To an unsuspecting child, that tiny frog might look harmless. Fascinating. Maybe even irresistible to touch.
But imagine an elder nearby who knows better. The elder recognizes the warning…
What looks attractive on the surface can carry consequences underneath.
I believe there is a powerful lesson here for educators…
Empathy in education is necessary. But too much empathy, can be toxic.
Empathy is one of the most important qualities an educator can possess.
We should care about our students. We should understand their stories. We should understand that some of our students come to school carrying burdens they never asked to carry.
Poverty.
Instability at home.
Learning gaps.
Knowing those things should influence how we support our students. But they should never determine what we believe our students are capable of!
Sometimes, in the name of support, we start expecting less from students.
We call it compassion, but we expect less.
We call it flexibility, but we remove the productive struggle students need in order to grow.
We call it equity, but quietly begin deciding which students we believe can handle challenging work…and which ones cannot.
Let me be clear, empathy is not the enemy. Low expectations disguised as empathy, are!
Some Students Need Us to Believe Even Harder.
Our students don’t need us to make everything easy. They need us to believe they can do hard things.
Support them. Scaffold the work. Stand beside them when they struggle. And celebrate them when they break through!
Most often, the students who have endured the hardest roads don’t need us to remove the mountain. They need someone who believes they have what it takes to climb it.
Maurice Guest Jr. 