A finn here. I can offer you only anecdotes, but the statement is not completely off, although it's not entirely true.
It depends. My son (8) seems to have a class where they support the strong learners and slow learners at each of their own pace. Some people who I knew talked of eager teachers who gave the all the material they could consume.
Personally - 30:ish years ago I finished the second grade math book in a few weeks and the teacher berated me for consuming all the material she had ("What on earth are you going to work on now?") and I ended up bored and idle for the rest of the math class. Never again did I try to pace up...
So, it depends on the teachers - nowadays the situation seems to be much more supportive of strong learners. A couple of decades ago though this was a political thing - areas where social democrats were strong _prohibited_ people being taught at their own pace because it did not fit with social democrat ideology of complete equality.
So, historically, yes, this was a thing but I think it's better nowadays.
Right, but that doesn't sound like it's been a political issue for a long time now. What you experienced sounds similar to my own experience in NZ, which basically came down to teachers or schools being unable to adequately stimulate smart kids. Standardised education in most places is generally pretty bad at dealing with non-standard kids at both ends of the spectrum actually, but they tend to apply more resources to kids who are struggling than the clever ones.
Interpreting this behavior from couple of decades ago through "principle of charity", could the thinking have been that efforts spend on keeping up with the fast learners would have lower payoff (by whatever measure) than helping the slow learners?
It depends. My son (8) seems to have a class where they support the strong learners and slow learners at each of their own pace. Some people who I knew talked of eager teachers who gave the all the material they could consume.
Personally - 30:ish years ago I finished the second grade math book in a few weeks and the teacher berated me for consuming all the material she had ("What on earth are you going to work on now?") and I ended up bored and idle for the rest of the math class. Never again did I try to pace up...
So, it depends on the teachers - nowadays the situation seems to be much more supportive of strong learners. A couple of decades ago though this was a political thing - areas where social democrats were strong _prohibited_ people being taught at their own pace because it did not fit with social democrat ideology of complete equality.
So, historically, yes, this was a thing but I think it's better nowadays.