“All children can learn” does not mean “all children are the same.” Furthermore, diversity is not merely about external characteristics. If we're really going to take this seriously, that means we start looking at diversity on the inside as well as diversity on the outside. Making this principle both a moral and intellectual part of the curriculum will require . . . a diversity of approaches, diversity of techniques, and diversity of teaching strategies (Reeves, 2002).

A fox-taming teacher—one who wants to create ties with students—certainly understands that individual learners bring individual needs, dreams, and potentials to the classroom. Further, such a teacher understands that classroom environment—including large and small acts of the teacher—will reach out to the individual learner or push the learner away. Such a teacher functions always with the student in mind.