• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Advertising
  • Write for Us
  • Job Board
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact
    • Consulting
    • Advertising
  • Shop
    • Books
    • Shirts

The Educators Room logo

  • Start Here
    • Impact Statements: Teacher Expertise
    • Newsletter
  • Browse Topics
    • Content Strategies
      • Literacy
      • Mathematics
      • Social Studies
      • Educational Technology
      • ELL & ESOL
      • Fine Arts
      • Special Education
      • Popular Topics
        • Teacher Self-Care
        • Instructional Coach Files
        • Common Core
        • The Traveling Teacher
        • The Unemployed Teacher
        • The New Teacher Chronicles
        • Book Review
        • Grade Levels
          • Elementary (K-5)
          • Middle (6-8)
          • Adult
          • New Teacher Bootcamp
          • Hot Button Topics
            • Menu Item
              • Principals' Corner
              • Charter Schools
              • Confessions of a Teacher
              • Interviews
              • The State of Education
              • Stellar Educator of the Week
            • Menu
              • How to Fix Education
              • Featured
              • Ask a Teacher
              • Teacher Branding
              • Current Events
  • Podcasts
  • Courses
    • Practicing Self-Care to Avoid Teacher Burnout- An 8 Week Course
    • Becoming An Educational Consultant
    • Teacher Branding 101:Teachers are The Experts
    • The Learning Academy
    • Books
    • Shirts
  • Education in Atlanta
  • Teacher Self-Care
  • The Coach's Academy
menu icon
go to homepage
subscribe
search icon
Homepage link
  • Advertising
  • Write for Us
  • Job Board
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact
    • Consulting
    • Advertising
  • Shop
    • Books
    • Shirts
×

July 21, 2014 Book Review

The Advantage of Disadvantage, Part I - Book Review

  • About the Author
  • Latest Posts

About Mindy Thierolf

I teach English in Kansas.
  • Boundary Markers: An Alternative to Classroom Management - March 10, 2016
  • International Mother Language Day-February 21st - February 25, 2016
  • "Dear Future Me..."A Great Reflection Assignment for Students - February 1, 2016
  • Thank You In Advance: The Power of Expectation - January 15, 2016
  • Under the Guise of Inclusion - November 20, 2015
  • Therapy Dogs and Schools - October 15, 2015
  • SUPERPOWER Schools - October 13, 2015
  • When Life Happens While You Teach - September 22, 2015
  • "I'm Her Favorite Student!" - August 31, 2015
  • Good Writing vs. Great Writing: Leading the Way - April 27, 2015

David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits and the Art of Battling Giants, by Malcolm Gladwell
Publisher: Penguin Books, Ltd., Oct. 2013

[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent="yes" overflow="visible"][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type="1_1" background_position="left top" background_color="" border_size="" border_color="" border_style="solid" spacing="yes" background_image="" background_repeat="no-repeat" padding="" margin_top="0px" margin_bottom="0px" class="" id="" animation_type="" animation_speed="0.3" animation_direction="left" hide_on_mobile="no" center_content="no" min_height="none"]

David and Goliath, By Malcolm Gladwell

David and Goliath,
By Malcolm Gladwell

I remember years ago watching a piloted TV show that was based on a character that was much like that of the popular television personality Martha Stewart. In the show, the Martha character looked to her TV mother and said something like, "Thank you for withholding just enough love from me to make me into the overachieving success that I am today."  I remember it well, even though it was years ago, because it made me wonder what made people successful. Was it privilege or the withholding of privilege? Was it intelligence or persistence? Was it advantage or disadvantage? It wasn't until I recently read a book by Malcolm Gladwell called David and Goliath that highlights many stories of people that faced harsh disadvantages in life (yet used those disadvantages in their favor) that I thought of that quote from the TV show from long ago and wondered, what exactly makes people successful?  Gladwell's argument in the book is that people that face overwhelming odds produce greatness because the "underdogs" tend to create opportunities that make the impossible, possible.  Gladwell challenges the ideas that more is always better, stronger always wins and one way is always the right way. Perhaps you are the person that has always fallen into the norm, perhaps you are a teacher that always looks for the perfect looking/acting student to be the one that you know will succeed. Perhaps, you feel that there is always a perfect line or standard that produces success. Perhaps you feel that you can spot a future success a mile away, but, like Gladwell, you should or rather need to come to the conclusion that it's often the disadvantaged that just might surprise you in the world of success.

Freedom of  Disadvantage

According to Gladwell and his studies, he states that people frequently underestimate the freedom that exits in what most people would view as a disadvantage.  One example Gladwell makes is his theory of the "Little Pond." He makes quite an intriguing argument that being in a Little Pond can maximize your chances to do what you choose to do in life.  He gives the example of students that feel that they have mastered a subject at a good school can have the same feeling that they are falling farther and farther behind in a so called "really good" school. How you feel about your abilities matter. Your self-concept matters. According to his studies, many feel demoralized in overwhelmingly large settings and drop out.

I work at a school that would be for all intense purposes called a Little Pond. The population of our town is a mere 4,485, according to the 2012 census, yet  in 2014  we were proudly ranked #8 by US News and World Report as one of the best high schools for college prep in Kansas.  We were surprised, yet we weren't. If Gladwell were to look at the statistics and compare his Little Pond theory and put it into action, it would definitely apply to our high school. Why? Simply because bigger is not always better.  Sometimes greatness can come from the underdog. Sometimes greatness can come from the Little Pond.

Desirable Difficulty

Another interesting theory that Gladwell puts out there is that people that are seemingly disadvantaged, find other unconventional ways of coping with their disability, or lack of talent, and create new, innovative ways of solving a problem. He gave the example of David and Goliath from the Bible (hence the title of his book). In the biblical account, David, a lowly shepherd boy was tired of the Philistine's threatening the Israelites and stepped into taking on the particular threat of a giant of a man called Goliath. David was not a warrior, he was a shepherd, so he took the tools that he was used to using, instead of warrior armor that was offered to him, and quickly slew the wicked giant.  Gladwell goes on to state that many people will use what they know in unconventional ways to solves conventional problems.

When I was asked to take over a summer theater program in our local town, I was taking over a program that the theater was no longer interested in keeping around. It had become too expensive to run, and ended up costing them more time, money and energy than they were interested in taking on. They told me that I could still have the musical at their facility, but we had to rehearse in another building, and they wanted very little to do with what we did other than retain the money from our ticket sales. I told them that I would direct it, and take it over, but only if I could run it on my terms. They agreed. At that time I had never directed a show in my life. I had no idea what I was doing. All I had ever done before was help in some small way. I just sat down and thought to myself, I don't care how other people have done it, I'm going to run it my way, because no one really seems to care anyway. Seven years later and I'm still directing summer theater. I have watched it grow into an extremely successful project. Suddenly the theater enjoyed having us around, wanted us back and even managed to bring in small profits to the struggling theater. This year we had to add another session to the program because we nearly doubled the applicants for the academy.  Why the success? Because I didn't know HOW to direct, I took what I thought made sense and did it. It worked. I automatically tell my cast & crew members, that I don't do things the way everyone else does, but what I do works. Why? Because I do what makes sense to me, I don't necessarily follow the norm. I'm not conventional, but I'll put on a great show that the audience will like. I, like David, used my disadvantage to create an advantage.

Battling Giants as a Misfit

Gladwell argues that it is often the variance from the norm that creates success, and that success often comes from the inability to follow the norm. When people can't read, they become great listeners. When people don't fit in, they carve niches.  When the disadvantaged come by way of the unconventional, success will often follow. It's a radical concept, yet one that needs to be considered. When our job as teachers is to bring about the success of others, the study of success and all it's pathways, just may be the number one thing that we as teachers should be mastering.

 

 

Disclaimer: This book was the possession of the reviewer.  Neither The Educator's Room nor the reviewer received any compensation for this review.  The opinions contained in this review are those of the reviewer alone and were written free of any obligation or agreement with the publisher.  If you have any questions regarding book reviews, see our full disclaimer or contact The Educator's Room Book Review Editor.

 [/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Related posts:

The Advantage of Disadvantage - Part II - A Book Review Default Thumbnail"A Walk in the Woods" - A Great Choice for High School Non-Fiction Book Review: Vocabulary StrategiesThat Work: Do This - Not That! Default ThumbnailThe Queasy Mix on Social Media
« The Traveling Teacher: NEA's Rep. Assembly in Denver
Integration: Bringing it Together For Kids »

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

The Educator's Room was launched in 2012 to amplify the voice of educators. To date, we have over 45+ writers from around the world and boast over twelve million page views. Through articles, events, and social media we will advocate for honest dialogue with teachers about how to improve public education. This mission is especially important when reporting on education in our community; therefore, we commit our readers to integrity, accuracy, and independence in education reporting. To join our mailing list, click here.

What we do

At The Educator's Room, we focus on amplifying and honoring the voice of educators as experts in education. To date, we have over 40 staff writers/teachers from around the world.

Popular Posts

  • "Let's Make This Happen": Following Student Interests to Interest-Based Mentorships
  • Want to Keep Special Education Teachers? Try Mentorship
  • An Idaho teen who won his school board election has a message for educators
  • Moving Beyond Diversity to Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging: Lessons from a Sunday Sermon

Featured On

Buy Our Books/Courses

How to Leave Your Job in Education

Practicing Self-Care to Avoid Teacher Burnout

Using Your Teacher Expertise to Become an Educational Consultant

Check out our books on teaching and learning!

The Learning Academy

Footer

↑ back to top

About

  • Privacy Policy
  • Disclaimer
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Accessibility Policy

Newsletter

  • Sign Up! for emails and updates

Contact

  • Contact
  • Services
  • Media Kit
  • FAQ

 

Copyright © 2021 The Educator's Room.