I was really interested in the assertion that Isocrates makes early in "Against the Sophists," something to the effect of, "The Sophists don't care about their students, even though they profess to teach them the highest principles."
This struck me in two ways:
1) It made me feel bad- I have those days when I can't give two figs about my students. Sometimes I'm fully confident in my pedagogy, but I protect myself from too much frustration by divorcing myself from the personal lives of my students. I think that's safe, but it does kill any possibility of the type of personal, apprentice-like relationship that Kennedy said Isocrates had in his school. On the other hand, I guess some of my students are really All-Stars, so I probably have that with them, and likewise the ones who are really trying their little hearts out.
2) Within the issue of caring about students is Isocrates's idea that natural talent has to be within students before we even teach them. We have to be building on abilities, not creating them. I don't know how I feel about this. I think sometimes, when the semester begins, the picture of my students can look pretty bleak (this is when I protect myself from disappointment by mentally deciding all bets may be off). When we do a diagnostic essay, are we looking for some natural ability there, or just the progression of learned ability? I think it's learned, and I want to think that the whole of education is learned. I don't know.