You probably remember the inspirational story from your childhood, The Little Engine that Could.

Yes, I understand, that story is supposed to be inspirational…but I’ve always considered it pernicious.

Pernicious. How can that be?

Well, I was reminded of that little engine this morning when I read an essay by the great Lev Raphael. He observes that my erstwhile classmate Ellen Winner of BC’s Psychology Department has written that

Our American culture seems happy to dismiss talent and inborn capacity. It’s permeated with the populist view that “hard work is all that is required for genius or even expert level performance….with sufficient energy and dedication on the parents’ part, it is possible that it may not be all that difficult to produce a child prodigy.”

Before I retired from teaching, I was reminded of this issue several times a year, whenever a disappointed student (especially a disappointed honors student) complained about getting a B (or even an A minus!) after “working so hard.” Unfortunately (I would explain) your grade is based on the quality of your work, not on how hard you worked. Please do continue to work hard; you may not get an A, but you’ll get a higher grade than you’ll get if you don’t work hard. (If, on the other hand, you end up getting a well-deserved C after working as hard as you can, then maybe you’re just in the wrong class. Maybe the little engine should just accept that it’s not going to get up that hill. Maybe it should try towing fewer railroad cars.)

Categories: Life, Teaching & Learning