With better vision, we sacrifice for students for whom that sacrifice will most likely pay off. I'm sorry to say this, but there are times when even superhuman effort will not save a child from his environment or himself. It's not the job of the teacher to save a child's soul; it is the teachers' job to provide an opportunity for the child to save his own soul.
Interpretation
Teachers provide opportunities for students to grow, but ultimately, students must take responsibility for their own futures.
This quote highlights the essential role of educators in creating opportunities for their students, suggesting that while teachers can offer support and resources, the ultimate responsibility for personal success lies with the students themselves. It acknowledges the challenges that some students face in their environments and emphasizes that teachers cannot rescue every child but can equip them to navigate their own paths toward success.
In practice
During a keynote speech at a teacher's conference to inspire educators to motivate their students.
Never compare one student's test score to another's. Always measure a child's progress against her past performance. There will always be a better reader, mathematician, or baseball player. Our goal is to help each student become as special as she can be as an individual--not to be more special than the kid sitting next to her.
The First Book: Go ahead, it won't bite. Well... maybe a little. More a nip, like. A tingle. It's pleasurable, really. You see, it keeps on opening. You may fall in. Sure, it's hard to get started; remember learning to use knife and fork? Dig in: you'll never reach bottom. It's not like it's the end of the world -- just the world as you think you know it.
Whenever I start a book, I swear it's going to be a short one. But then it's, 'Who was his grandfather? And how did he get there in the first place? And what kind of animals is he chasing?'
Except for teachers, who are 'controlled' as far as his militancy is concerned, good jobs are rare for Negroes.
Islam tells us every girl and boy should be educated. I don't know why the Taliban have forgotten it.
Men have a respect for scholarship and learning greatly out of proportion to the use they commonly serve.
An educational foundation is only part of the equation. In order for creativity to flourish and imagination to take hold, we also need to expose our children to the arts from a very young age.
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