Page 59 - Education Supplement February 2026

EDITORIAL

Some children reason narratively They learn that being fast matters
rather than sequentially. They don’t more than being thoughtful.
memorise; they connect. They That fluency matters more than
follow threads, build meaning, understanding. That if learning feels
and understand systems as living hard, the problem must be them.
structures rather than lists of
facts. This is not inefficiency. It is a By adolescence, many neurodivergent
different form of intelligence. learners are not short on ability. They
are short on confidence. They no
Others show systems empathy. longer trust their own thinking. They
They instinctively track how are unsure whether the world has
people affect one another, how room for how their mind works.
environments shape behaviour,
how small changes ripple outward. This is not an argument against
This is the early wiring of ethics, assessment. It is a call for honesty and
leadership, and care. It is rarely balance.
assessed.
If we want children who can think,
We also fail to measure effort adapt, and contribute meaningfully
honestly. Two children may beyond school, we need to value
produce the same output, but the depth alongside speed, regulation
internal cost can be vastly different. alongside behaviour, and
One may arrive there with ease. The understanding alongside performance.
other may arrive exhausted. The
system records them as equal or Some minds bloom quietly.
worse, rewards neither insight nor
resilience, and moves on. Some bloom later.

What concerns me most is what All of them deserve to be seen before
children internalise from this. they are graded.

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