Notes From Camp 2014: A Response to Good Enough

This is the 2nd post in a series connecting incidents from a recent "camp" experience with English teachers to daily relevance. The initial post can be found here.

In one session at English Camp, many of us were lamenting the fact that we have many students who write mechanically for a grade, rather than from the heart in order to communicate something real through their own voice. As we discussed ways to move them from half-hearted prose seeking their currency of increased GPA to actual writers, a wise question arose: What moved you?

And we stopped and considered - what had changed the game for many of us who knew how to play school well, get our beloved grades, and "meet assignment requirements"? What caused us to change into people who clearly cared about writing, attempted to do it for fun every once in a while, and knew the distinct difference between their own written voice and robotic, lifeless declarations?

What I noticed was that more than one person referenced an English teacher, usually when they were a senior, who simply told them they weren't good. Some were more polite than others; but essentially, the message was the same: good enough isn't good. And what you're attempting is good enough.

I can only imagine what my English teacher thought of me by the time I reached senior year. I had a high GPA, and I confused that with actual knowledge and skills. As I've said many times off the record about some of my own students, I had great confidence in skills I didn't possess. And I had no idea. She changed that. In biting, sometimes sarcastic, always supportive and intolerant comments, she pointed forward to where I could and should be, not where I was.

A consensus did not result in the session that these ideas were discussed. Some, like me, saw this approach as instrumental to their development. Others viewed it as dangerous. The object of this post is not to establish perfect English teaching practices.

What I am trying to say, though, is that somewhere in each of our lives, there's a need for a person who will challenge us. That's especially true in areas we have the most confidence in ourselves. The experience of realizing you're less than awesome at something is not fun, and I suspect that is why the common response to teachers, pastors, parents, co-workers, spouses, and friends who tell us that good enough is not good is anger. But we've got to push past that anger if we're going to move forward with whatever it is that we live to be good at in our lives.

I remembered the first time my English teacher knocked me on my proverbial butt, and I remember being on the offensive all year long in an attempt to get back up. By the end of the year when I finally was able to, where and how I stood had changed considerably. 

You can't face criticism all day about all things. But if you never face it, you better start wondering just how much you might be missing.