Grit and worry

"Perhaps a teacher should be like the grit that gets into the shell of an oyster, How does it fell for the oyster? An irritation? A pain? Whatever effect, the result may be a pearl, beautiful or misshapen, but a precious object nevertheless. A learner has to worry at the thing. Many teachers provide the pearls ready-made. Students are asked to value them highly for what they are, to store them in their bags. But they are borrowed, put into a bank. It is the pearls the students make themselves that they really value, that matter tor them, and that will have a significant effect on their thinking, behaviour and self-esteem." David Minton in Teaching Skills in Further and Adult Education, 2005 (p 46)