Too much learning is a dangerous thing

By chance, this morning, I came across the following FAQ-type posting on the web site of the Downs Syndrome Association. Whether the question is genuine or not and when it was posted, is not clear.

"What advice do you have for an infant school teacher, just about to accept their first pupil with Down's syndrome?

Most schools that are accepting a young person with Down’s syndrome will be doing so for the first time and those who may have had a child previously should not make the assumption that the child will have the same kind of personality. Being concerned and asking for information is a positive first step.

Too much information on the child’s disability can become a barrier to effective inclusion and can lead to a situation where both staff and children see the disability first and the individual second."

In what other area of human activity would a practitioner be told that "Too much information" is bad? That "too much information" is a "barrier" to doing the job properly? And what is 'doing the job properly'? Answer: "Effective inclusion".

Think of it: the supposed-infant-school-teacher is seeking advice on the professional  practice of being a teacher. There are many ways this question might have been answered (not including the obvious one as to why her/his initial training has failed to equip him/her properly,  or, lacking the training, she/he is being entrusted  with the education of a child for which she/he is not equipped). From all the possible answers to this question that might enable this poor teacher to be a better teacher, the answer given is about "inclusion", as if that is what matters most in the education of the child, the most important thing for the teacher to be told in preparing to receive a child with Downs Syndrome into her/his class.

Too much learning is evidently dangerous.