"So, for example, if a child is labeled as having a learning disability, it has very concrete consequences for the kinds of services and potentially accommodations that child will get"
About this Quote
Labeling isn’t just description here; it’s a switch that reroutes a child through an institution. Sternberg, speaking as an educator and psychologist who’s long critiqued narrow measures of intelligence, aims straight at the bureaucratic reality: schools run on categories. The phrase “for example” signals he’s not making an abstract philosophical point about identity. He’s pointing to a practical mechanism - diagnosis as access key.
The intent is double-edged. On the surface, it’s a defense of why labels matter: without them, many kids don’t receive services, accommodations, or legal protections. Underneath, there’s a warning about how quickly a label hardens into a story adults tell about a child’s potential. “Very concrete consequences” is doing quiet work. It’s a reminder that classification is never neutral; it determines resources, expectations, and sometimes a student’s entire educational track.
The subtext: we’ve built systems where help often requires pathology. To get support, a child may need to be officially defined by a deficit. That can be lifesaving in a well-resourced district. It can also become a self-fulfilling ceiling in a district where “accommodations” mean lowered rigor or social stigma rather than tailored instruction.
Contextually, Sternberg’s career sits in the long fight over what counts as ability and how schools operationalize it - via testing, special education eligibility, and standardized notions of “normal.” His sentence is plain because the point is blunt: in education, language isn’t just language. It’s policy.
The intent is double-edged. On the surface, it’s a defense of why labels matter: without them, many kids don’t receive services, accommodations, or legal protections. Underneath, there’s a warning about how quickly a label hardens into a story adults tell about a child’s potential. “Very concrete consequences” is doing quiet work. It’s a reminder that classification is never neutral; it determines resources, expectations, and sometimes a student’s entire educational track.
The subtext: we’ve built systems where help often requires pathology. To get support, a child may need to be officially defined by a deficit. That can be lifesaving in a well-resourced district. It can also become a self-fulfilling ceiling in a district where “accommodations” mean lowered rigor or social stigma rather than tailored instruction.
Contextually, Sternberg’s career sits in the long fight over what counts as ability and how schools operationalize it - via testing, special education eligibility, and standardized notions of “normal.” His sentence is plain because the point is blunt: in education, language isn’t just language. It’s policy.
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| Topic | Student |
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