> Some subjects are literally unlearnable for certain individuals and is not the teacher's fault.
This feels like a controversial starement to me. There are certainly some subjects that are currently beyond some individuals’ ability to learn, but that seems to reflect more on a lack of prior required learning than a fundamental inability to learn that subject.
It’s certainly much harder for some people, possibly to the point of economic infeasibility, but impossible seems a stretch.
I used literally, literally, because my wife is a special needs teacher. Many higher level subjects fall into unlearnable for students with severe needs where no amounts of time or care can get past the physical barrier.
It could be viewed as contrarian, but putting the blame/responsibility for a student not learning solely on a teacher's shoulders removes the human which the spirit of this post and thread embodies.
True, my objection was primarily to the idea that we should completely write-off any potential learner. A teacher’s job is not to do research, but to choose the best available known method for the situation. If that doesn’t produce results, it’s not the teacher’s fault; instead, it’s a call for researchers to search for new methods.
The focus on the social model of disability and how disabled people are first of all people and never assume someone can't do something just because they have a disability etc. has a lot of good things going for it, and it's compassionate and makes the world a better place.
It doesn't remove the fact that some people have disabilities that mean they will simply never be able to complete certain tasks, including ones of the learning kind.
This feels like a controversial starement to me. There are certainly some subjects that are currently beyond some individuals’ ability to learn, but that seems to reflect more on a lack of prior required learning than a fundamental inability to learn that subject.
It’s certainly much harder for some people, possibly to the point of economic infeasibility, but impossible seems a stretch.