When is a Learning Challenge a Gift?

According to Dr Loretta Giorcelli (2019), diverse learning needs should be considered from several perspectives. Some include cultural diversity and familial values; others relate to gifts and talents; disabilities; and interpersonal and social domains. These perspectives may converge or intersect; however, they all need to be considered if we are to ensure equity for students to access the curriculum. Apart from the academic support schools are required to deliver, they also must include what Wagner (2018) refers to as “survival skills”.

The future school graduate will be required to problem solve, collaborate across networks, be effective communicators, show initiative, be agile and flexible, and employ curiosity and imagination in their respective workplaces. These skills will require honing before our St Catherine’s girls depart the Heyington Gates for the last time. Some students will be challenged by developing these skills; however, St Catherine’s is focused on supporting students to achieve in these areas and prepare them for life beyond the Heyington Gates.

However, there are additional “survival skills” required. These, according to Slavin (2017), include dispositions that require “zero talent”. They require a degree of flexible thinking, vital to future success but not always discernible in the curriculum.

I often quote Professor Patrick Griffin’s mantras “skills not grades” and “effort equals achievement”. In my view, his words are poignant for students whose learning challenges may impact upon their learning and confidence levels when setting out to achieve success.

If we include a focus on attitudes to learning, then perhaps, as Slavin (2017) maintains, students with diverse learning needs have much to share with students who are not challenged in the same way.

Diverse learners’ gifts often include a positive work ethic, a passion to succeed, a ‘go the extra mile’ attitude, and a degree of persistence and resilience. For students who face learning challenges, they know from early on that learning is rigorous and face this every school day. If they stay the distance, they will ultimately taste success in the future.

St Catherine’s School Head of Learning Plus, Mrs Elka Gaensler, believes students with diverse learning needs have much to share with students who are not challenged in the same way.

Nevertheless, there are many pitfalls for diverse learners along the way. Circumventing the cloud of doubt that often descends on their thinking has the potential to rob them of valuing their abilities and ignoring the importance of learning the powerful impact their dispositions can have, both positive and negative.

That is why watching the life of Victor Fantauzzo on Australian Story recently was so inspiring. Victor left school early and was heading for a life of crime when fate intervened. He describes his dyslexia as a gift, allowing him to see the world from a unique perspective. This compelling documentary traces Victor’s school experiences in the days when schools failed to identify the diverse learning needs of students with disabilities.

Victor’s educational journey through to his incredible successes today included the attributes of tenacity, persistence and resilience. Asher Keddie, his wife, attributes Victor’s success to having “a brain that works differently”, and as a result, his learning challenges have ultimately, in his case, revealed a depth of empathic creativity in his portraits.

When watching Victor’s journey, educators, parents and students should take solace in the fact that the schools of today, and in particular St Catherine’s School, apportions Learning Plus time to identify students who require intervention and support them with strategies, remediation and, above all, a space for them to learn to recognise their learning challenges are gifts there to enable and allow them to flourish in their unique way.

Mrs Elka Gaensler, Head of Learning Plus / Education Support and Extension