The Crooked Timbers of our Humanity

I have been in a whole range of activities this week, watching rehearsals, service events, seasonal choral recitals and volleyball matches. I have by chance come across a number of students, some of whom I know very well, in a number of contexts, and I have been struck how different these students can be in different situations. And indeed it’s a bit of cliche, that seeing students outside the classroom allows us to see ‘a different side of them’. 

I wonder, though, if actually the students remain largely the same; that in fact we do not change but the same qualities can be more or less valuable according to what we are doing. The boy who cannot work alone in class may be the linchpin of a dance group; the fidgety unsettled girl may be the star of the volleyball team. Henry James described this as the weaknesses of our strengths – meaning that most human qualities can manifest as virtue or vices. Philosopher John Armstrong describes it thus – …the intense devotion that allows us to do certain things well becomes incompetence in other areas of life. The person whose profound hatred of injustice makes them an admirable social reformer might also be tiresome as a friend and a nightmarish as a parent. 

I am sure this applies far more widely than schools. A cautious leader may seem wisely prudent, but end up being so risk-averse as to stifle innovation. Conversely, intense drive may be inspiring, but intensity can be difficult, if not oppressive to be around.  I can think of some diligent friends whose attention to detail can lead to a worrying perfectionism; and some wonderfully laid back friends (whose company I adore) might be terrible colleagues to rely on.

I am reminded to avoid placing students into seemingly static categories such as ‘weak’, ‘strong, ‘successful’ or ‘unsuccessful’, despite what we are pressured to do by academic grading systems and those who would seek to have us place more emphasis on formal, rigid rankings and assessments. We are more about providing an education that looks to help students find a place, a fit between individual capacities, preferences and applications. Not so different, really, to what we adults are seeking in our own lives.

For adults and children, it is, of course, always a work in progress, and there is no perfect fit; out of the crooked timber of humanity, no straight thing was ever made (Immanuel Kant).