"Much education today is monumentally ineffective. All too often we are giving young people cut flowers when we should be teaching them to grow their own plants." -- John Gardner

My interpretation is that as an educator we must always keep in mind what our goal is for our students. Why do want the learner to take away from my instruction. Would this lesson be of some value to his life? Learning would be much more effective when a learner is given the opportunity to investigate and research independently and to find their own answers rather than the information given to the learner and the teacher expects the same information to be just given back. I also believe that not all learners learn the same and not all learners come to a solution the same way. So as an educator, I have to keep in mind- differentiated learning. It may be a difficult task but we don't pick and choose who comes to our classroom doorway. If I try, I may have a classroom of young gardners with a variety of flora...not a withering pot of plants.