Malcolm Gladwell has written a profile of the famous distance runner Alberto Salazar in this week’s New Yorker magazine (unfortunately, most of it is behind a paywall).

Here’s a passage that struck me (I hope you can see it in an RSS Reader):


Though I suppose one can connect this some way to school reform issues, I’m more concerned in this post to relating it to the classroom.

It seems to me that, though our students can’t really physically exit our classrooms, if we don’t provide genuine opportunities for voice, then they can certainly “check-out” mentally.

It’s an interesting framework.

What are your thoughts?