Becoming Well-Lopsided

On the path to an educated populace, our educational system is structured to produce well-rounded students. Most states require every high school student to complete 4 years of English, 4 years of Math, 3 years of History, and 3 years of Science, so that all students are well-rounded with a base knowledge. Being properly round is important in balls (imagine playing a basketball game with a lopsided ball), but is being lopsided bad for humans?  

Becoming lopsided means that at some point, a student focuses on one or two areas to become an expert ... leaving behind the pursuit of well-roundedness to become lopsided. This is a natural and important progression in education ... students eventually select a major in college, become an apprentice in a trade, or enroll in vocational training to become an expert at something. This is important because the world needs experts.

Beginning Well-Rounded

Just like a lopsided ball begins round, lopsided students must begin well-rounded. It is vital to have a curriculum that is "broad as life itself" (Comenius) to expose students to a variety of subjects, stretch their brains in under-developed areas, and achieve a common knowledge base for all students. Having a solid core curriculum that encourages well-rounded students must be in place before encouraging students to become "lopsided."

Specialty schools (e.g. STEM or Arts schools) have failed students because they are trying to become lopsided without beginning well-rounded. A STEM-dominated curriculum may produce knowledgeable scientists without the soft skills, creativity, and emotional intelligence developed in the humanities and fine arts classes. An arts-dominated curriculum may produce creative artisans without the critical thinking and problem solving skills honed in STEM classes. Students need to begin well-rounded in order to be effective teammates, co-workers, and leaders, even in a specialized industry.

The Well-Lopsided Body of Christ

However, it is still vital to become well-lopsided. We want our well-rounded students to begin (probably in high school) to push out in certain areas in which they have gifts, talents, and interests, making them more lopsided. This involves identifying their gifts and working on those gifts until they become strengths ... this does take work. In order to be an expert at something, you need to spend 10,000 hours working on that skill (Gladwell, 1993). So, once students identify their talents, they need to be developing (not burying) them to become an expert.

This aligns with the body of Christ imagery in the Bible (I Cor. 12:27ff). God has given each of us specific gifts and talents, intending us to use those gifts to benefit the body (and ultimately to bring glory to Christ, the head). We are each uniquely gifted (each a different part of the body), and the whole body suffers if we do not develop and use those gifts. We should not try to act like another part of the body; God has gifted another person to fulfill that role. God wants us to be lopsided, fully developing our part of the body.

A well-rounded person can be tempted towards complete independence, self-reliant to a fault. In contrast, the body of Christ is interdependent ... you need to depend on fully developed (lopsided) others, and others need to depend on a fully developed (lopsided) you.

Keep encouraging your well-rounded students to become well-lopsided.