David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits and the Art of Battling Giants
In Malcolm Gladwell’s book David and Goliath, he discusses our misconception of what a “giant” is. Often, we tend to describe giants as things that are stronger, bigger, and more powerful than we are. We pale in comparison. However, Gladwell asserts that this is simply the wrong perspective.
He alludes to one of the most famous stories in the Bible, the conflict between David in Goliath. Put into a seemingly hopeless situation, the physically weak shepherd boy, David is given the daunting task of representing his people in a battle against Goliath, a giant artillery soldier. In the eyes of everyone watching that day, David did not have a chance at victory. However, David was able to see something that the rest of his audience did not have the vision for. It was his faith in the strength of his God and the hope that he had in His victory that guided him to volunteer for battle.
Gladwell points out that David refused to fight in the way that Saul desired him to. In this case, it was not possible to beat Goliath at his own game. David was simply not built that way, his physical stature was ill-equipped for face to face combat. However, he was skilled as a “slinger,” being able to use his aim in order to sling rocks to target Goliath's weak spots.
David was able to change his perspective about the giant that he was facing. He was able to see Goliath, not as an impenetrable enemy, but as one one with weaknesses and downfalls like everyone else. With that, David strategically decided to highlight those weaknesses as he capitalized on his personal strengths. This, in turn, ended with Goliath’s ultimate defeat.
The author of this text, compares this story to how we perceive our own giants. We just have the wrong perspective of them. So often, we see a giant and we try to outplay and outlast it. However, we need to use our own talents, skills, and critical thinking to find a loophole.
This is a story that I can connect to my own teaching. I am responsible for teaching a seemingly impossible class. I have 48 English Language Learners from 10 different countries. They are levels 1 - 3 meaning there are reading levels ranging from about Kindergarten to just below High School. Many of them have language processing disorders, making the task of learning English nearly impossible. Furthermore, many of them have little to no educational background, making my classroom their first true, educational experience. And to add insult to serious injury, there are only 11 girls, the rest are boys. Phew. It truly is exhausting if I think about it for too long.
In looking at this class on paper I would think to myself, “how in the world am I going to be able to effectively teach this class?” I kept thinking about all of the ways I was ill-equipped for the position. I had never taught an English Language Learner before, let alone 48 of them. I was familiar with different strategies, but had never truly implemented them before. To top it off, the amount of languages that I know other than English is at 0, so communicating with the students was going to be nearly impossible. However, instead of looking at this metaphorical giant of a class that was in front of me, I started to look at my own strengths. I did not have the professional background to teach this class, but what I was really good at was building relationships.
Establishing connections with students, no matter what the background, has been something that I always excelled in. Therefore, I used that to my advantage in getting students to trust me and respect me as their teacher. They needed to know that I was for them, that I was there to support them in whatever they needed to do to accomplish the task of learning English. I started by being intentional about making five personal connections a day with the students. Whether that manifested itself through compliments or asking about their weekends or talking endlessly about soccer, I was purposeful about making connections.
Slowly but surely, the class began to look less and less “giant-like.” It became more manageable and accessible to me as a teacher. In turn, the class and content became more accessible for the students. Eventually, I was able to develop those skills of teaching to EL students and the more seat time I was provided, the more comfortable I felt in my professional abilities to teach that class. However, it was the building of relationships that truly became the catalyst to this victory.
I truly loved Gladwells comparison to this story, and I look forward to see where he continues to take this book. It appears that, in teaching, there is always going to be some sort of metaphorical giant. It is important for me to know how to effectively equip myself in order to tackle those giants in a way that promotes both personal and professional growth.
In Malcolm Gladwell’s book David and Goliath, he discusses our misconception of what a “giant” is. Often, we tend to describe giants as things that are stronger, bigger, and more powerful than we are. We pale in comparison. However, Gladwell asserts that this is simply the wrong perspective.
He alludes to one of the most famous stories in the Bible, the conflict between David in Goliath. Put into a seemingly hopeless situation, the physically weak shepherd boy, David is given the daunting task of representing his people in a battle against Goliath, a giant artillery soldier. In the eyes of everyone watching that day, David did not have a chance at victory. However, David was able to see something that the rest of his audience did not have the vision for. It was his faith in the strength of his God and the hope that he had in His victory that guided him to volunteer for battle.
Gladwell points out that David refused to fight in the way that Saul desired him to. In this case, it was not possible to beat Goliath at his own game. David was simply not built that way, his physical stature was ill-equipped for face to face combat. However, he was skilled as a “slinger,” being able to use his aim in order to sling rocks to target Goliath's weak spots.
David was able to change his perspective about the giant that he was facing. He was able to see Goliath, not as an impenetrable enemy, but as one one with weaknesses and downfalls like everyone else. With that, David strategically decided to highlight those weaknesses as he capitalized on his personal strengths. This, in turn, ended with Goliath’s ultimate defeat.
The author of this text, compares this story to how we perceive our own giants. We just have the wrong perspective of them. So often, we see a giant and we try to outplay and outlast it. However, we need to use our own talents, skills, and critical thinking to find a loophole.
This is a story that I can connect to my own teaching. I am responsible for teaching a seemingly impossible class. I have 48 English Language Learners from 10 different countries. They are levels 1 - 3 meaning there are reading levels ranging from about Kindergarten to just below High School. Many of them have language processing disorders, making the task of learning English nearly impossible. Furthermore, many of them have little to no educational background, making my classroom their first true, educational experience. And to add insult to serious injury, there are only 11 girls, the rest are boys. Phew. It truly is exhausting if I think about it for too long.
In looking at this class on paper I would think to myself, “how in the world am I going to be able to effectively teach this class?” I kept thinking about all of the ways I was ill-equipped for the position. I had never taught an English Language Learner before, let alone 48 of them. I was familiar with different strategies, but had never truly implemented them before. To top it off, the amount of languages that I know other than English is at 0, so communicating with the students was going to be nearly impossible. However, instead of looking at this metaphorical giant of a class that was in front of me, I started to look at my own strengths. I did not have the professional background to teach this class, but what I was really good at was building relationships.
Establishing connections with students, no matter what the background, has been something that I always excelled in. Therefore, I used that to my advantage in getting students to trust me and respect me as their teacher. They needed to know that I was for them, that I was there to support them in whatever they needed to do to accomplish the task of learning English. I started by being intentional about making five personal connections a day with the students. Whether that manifested itself through compliments or asking about their weekends or talking endlessly about soccer, I was purposeful about making connections.
Slowly but surely, the class began to look less and less “giant-like.” It became more manageable and accessible to me as a teacher. In turn, the class and content became more accessible for the students. Eventually, I was able to develop those skills of teaching to EL students and the more seat time I was provided, the more comfortable I felt in my professional abilities to teach that class. However, it was the building of relationships that truly became the catalyst to this victory.
I truly loved Gladwells comparison to this story, and I look forward to see where he continues to take this book. It appears that, in teaching, there is always going to be some sort of metaphorical giant. It is important for me to know how to effectively equip myself in order to tackle those giants in a way that promotes both personal and professional growth.