This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Teachers and parents, if you form a crystal-clear, mental image of identity as the first priority of education and maintain that image at the front of your mind, your brain will invent strategies for accomplishing this priority even while you sleep.

Marilyn King, a 1980 Olympic contender, discovered this process while she lay in a hospital bed for several weeks after a serious accident. Unable to continue training for pentathlon events, Marilyn imagined, over and over, how she would perform each event when she got out of the hospital.

She later considered it a miracle that she took second place in the tryouts while being unable to train and being only slightly above average in physical skills. Marilyn attributed her accomplishment more to her mental and emotional processes than to her physical ability and training. (See "Ordinary Olympians.")

So, what does it mean to help a child develop identity? Can we "maintain" this vision at the front of our minds? A strong, positive sense of self-worth that comes from developing one's unique talents and natural aptitudes. Confidence, competence and a desire to be a contributor to society. Knowing who you are and why you exist. Sensing your amazing, unlimited potential.

This vision of self is just the opposite of what the world teaches — that it is wrong to be different from everyone else. It may be one reason why there is so much bullying in schools. The different kid is usually the one who is picked on.

Our culture has an obsession with trying to make students common in knowledge and skills. It is the reason why virtually every state has an almost identical curriculum and the same graduation requirements. Our failure to recognize student differences has cheated millions of children from developing their full potential.

What would happen if everyone in a school were to value, prize and hold in high esteem the ones who appear to be different? What would happen if everyone started to value all those who are different? Do you see what this means? Everyone would begin to see everyone else as incredibly valuable and important because everyone is different from everyone else! Bullying stops when every person in the school and community values positive differences.

It is widely known that the best teachers are the ones who can see the good, the potential in every student, and draw it out. "Educe," the root word of educate, means to "draw forth or elicit." Another word for this ability is "love." The best teachers are the ones who love those they teach, especially the ones who need it the most.

How would school be different if everyone maintained identity as a vision at the front of their minds? What would schools do if teachers, parents and administrators really concentrated on helping every child discover who s/he is? Is it possible?

Marilyn King has again told us what to do: "The first step to any achievement is to dare to imagine you can do it."

Can you imagine a school that values diversity and nurtures positive student differences as its first priority? Can you imagine a school where every student is made to feel important and where there is joy, interest and excitement for learning – where there is no assigned home work, but where there is lots of self-chosen home study?

An elementary school in northern Utah started to value differences when teachers formed partnerships with parents to help students grow in "identity, inquiry and interaction." Because they kept these goals foremost in their minds, students, teachers and parents invented strategies for accomplishing them — weekly talent shows to develop identity, "great brain" research to develop inquiry and a school post office to develop interaction.

Unfortunately, the movement toward educating for human greatness was smashed when the federal government started to take over public education in 1983. Now, with some changes in the law, there is new hope for this vision to rise from the ashes. People are finally starting to realize the damage of standardization and accept the concept that human beings were created to be different from one another. There is new hope for "identity" to become the first priority of education.

Lynn Stoddard had 36 years of experience as a Utah teacher and elementary principal before retiring to speak and write four books and many articles about transforming public education. His latest book, "Educating for Human Greatness," provides a framework for this change.