Saturday, February 23, 2008
Is there progress pushing the unmotivated?
This question hangs over teacher's all over, when students in the classroom persist on the "I Don't WANT to do that and you cannot make me" mantra. During one of my fieldwork assigned classes I had the opportunity to observe some of the kids I worked with about four years ago. Much to my dismay some had the same "I can't do this so I ain't tryin" attitude. Very disheartening and discouraging to see that time and years in the educational system did not diminish this attitude. Once home it nagged at me, but I brushed it off as maybe they had a bad day. Much to my disappointment all my other fieldwork experiences with this group has been the same. What happens to the students that do not get positive experiences in the school system? What can be done as educators? If there is no support from anyone else what can one do? What will I do once I become a teacher if I cannot influence a child to at least attempt to understand a lesson?
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A very tough question, and one that so many teachers worry about. There are many possible reasons for students to lose interest in school--difficult home life, peer pressure, addictions, and even poor schooling. Often, it can be more than one of these factors that influence a child's attitude, making it even more difficult to figure out how to solve the problem.
One thing is certain--doing the same lesson over and over again and trying to convince the child that it's in his/her best interest to learn is a waste of time. This will only reinforce the notion on the child's part that he doesn't need to listen. This idea can become infectious and influence every student in a class. Very difficult to overcome.
Ultimately, I think there are three things that need to be done to give students every opportunity to learn:
1) Truly love and respect your students. This has to be proven and demonstrated many times over. It may take home visits, special class sessions, non-school activities, etc.
2) Change the lessons. Make them more interesting. Use technology that is engaging. Make movies, collect local data, do anything to engage the students in learning.
3) Have high expectations. Don't allow students to get by with inferior efforts. Point out what's good about their work and go from there.
I'd love to hear other ideas about this topic.
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