Ideal Students Ideal students don't need heads – just attractive bodies that are easily led Ideal students don't need to speak - just repeat as requested and deferentially heed Ideal students avoid independent thought – mouthing desired rhetoric fearing deviancy will be caught Ideal students make excellent soldiers, factory workers, civil servants & faithful spouses There's simply one problem: behind their well-polished glasses & cleanly-scrubbed ears part of them is rambunctious inquisitive & determined to learn here

Hear the author read this poem.
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Satoru:	Aren't we talking about fearful or apathetic students rather than ideal ones?
Tim:	I dunno. I just wrote the poem – that doesn't mean I understand it.
Melissa:	If we invert this poem, the message is clear. Ideal students are inquisitive non-conformists, right?
Liao:	Why do we need this notion of "ideal"? Is that concept even necessary? Too often our thinking gets in the way of perceiving. Why not look at others without even considering whether or not the fit some ideal standard?
Melissa:	Hmm. That's one way of viewing the world. However, I'm almost always measuring 'n calculating.