Outliers The story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell is recommended by Georgetown educators for educators because…

“The book shows that sometimes a person becomes successful due to certain life benefits; birth year, where they live, heritage, and or opportunity. If educators notice students with an aptitude or interest in a specific area, they could help those students by providing an opportunity to explore that area.”

Linda Bruynell

There are many factors that contribute to an individual’s success. Gladwell explores how “…someone’s birth date or family they are born into or the opportunities they are confronted with or time allowed or given on the skill contribute towards success.  It is a gift given to some who have taken that gift and seized the opportunity with enough self-motivation to be the best.”

Susan Dubina

“Outliers addresses the question of heredity or environment by examining opportunities for success created through timing, family circumstances, intellect, and cultural environment. As educators, awareness of these factors can increase our understanding of the student’s perspective and improve the delivery of our instruction.”

Mary Lyon

“…the book gives great insight on the diversity that we all experience in the classroom (both socioeconomic and cultural), which plays a huge role in how we teach our students, and how our students learn. For instance, with respect to the socioeconomic background of our students – some may come from impoverished families in which parents may not have time or resources to help their children with school, while others come from parents who advocate for their kids (at times too much). Our job is to be able to understand where our students come from, and provide what is necessary in the classroom to help them succeed.

When it comes to our students’ cultural background, this is a tough one because it may invite stereotypes if/when we begin to take into account their ethnic traditions. I suppose it may help us as educators just to be aware of how culturally different everyone is, and as a result, we can provide a variety of learning experiences to benefit all.”

Sandra Schwarzkopf