Who are you?

You can look at students in terms of how to fashion a curriculum to fit their interests and needs; 

Or you can look to students for the curriculum.

That's what I mean when I say the student and the standard can't occupy the highest priority slot at the same time.

It will come down to a matter of how you look at students. They have either strengths or weaknesses. You look at a student and think, "How can you learn this?" or you look at a student and think, "Who are you?"