I have a ‘bee in my bonnet’, a ‘bone-to-pick’ … something to ‘get off my chest’.
It’s all to do with a phrase, one tiny little phrase that is widely used..but in my opinion; widely mis-used.
The phrase in question?
“Reach our/their potential”
Educationalists across the world use this phrase, and in my opinion, do so with wanten thought-lessness.
Is “potential” a fixed state?
Do we ever reach or fulfil it?
Who judges/determines if we have reached the nirvana of ‘potential’ – and how do they know?
Latin origins of the word ‘potential’ (potent, potentia, potentialis) define it as ‘being able’, ‘power’, ‘potent’. Never once does it state there is an end-point, that you have ‘reached‘ your potential.
Too often I am hearing the term connected with ‘growth mindset’ phrases, and in my opinion this is an oxymoron, a contradiction… counter-productive.
So I would like to propose alternative phrases you might consider using:
Unlock their potential
OR
Grow their potential
Because after all, isn’t this what we are in the business of doing as educators?
