Academics vs. Talent

stringfollies
Tue, 06 May 2008 23:34:07 +0000

I know that the schools appear not to care about hs grades, etc., but it is notable that every teacher my son has taken sample lessons with has asked about his grades - “what kind of student are you in school?”. I’m sure they see this as a barometer of what kind of student you will be for them too - hard worker, determined, etc. Perhaps this counts for more than they say. As violadad’s example shows, a remarkable gift will trump everything because they love to see great gift, but they actually might end up finding that gifted student hard to teach. So, if you are just an ordinary talent (is there such a thing?), they want to be sure it’s not going to be a pain to teach you. Will you practise? Will you learn quickly and easily?