Are We Doing Our Students a Disservice?

ByDr. Berney

Are We Doing Our Students a Disservice?

Classroom
Author: Malate269

In previous blog posts, I have mentioned some of my concerns regarding our youth today. While I believe that they are generally smarter and more experienced than previous generations, I can’t help but wonder if some of the things we, as adults, are doing will actually make life more difficult for them.

Unlike previous generations, the overall perspective today is that most youth will go to college. High schools are set up for this expectation, identifying themselves as college-preparatory institutions. And, yes, I am referring to “regular” public schools.

Because college is, in essence, expected, students are pressured to compete for acceptance at “preferred” colleges, as a sense of accomplishment and success. It is one thing to get accepted into your local state or community college, it is something else to be accepted into one of the big universities.

In addition to the social and family pressures that guide students down this path, our current trends in education – including high stakes testing – certainly reinforce the perspective that high schools are a precursor to college. Students must not only take and pass challenging courses, such as algebra and biology, they must also pass state mandated End of Course exams in these classes if they hope to graduate with a regular high school diploma.

Now, if your goal is to have a landscaping business, why do you need biology? Sure it expands you knowledge base, and sure it helps formulate your understanding of the world you live in, but is that the goal of high school? Do we really feel that it is OK for these students to fail to receive a standard diploma when they have no interest in college and cannot pass the courses that are designed, primarily, to prepare students for college?

What Is Average?

Where the pressure on students is really seen is in the expectations for grades. Again, this expectation is held by parents and teachers, alike. And as a result, it is often held by the students, as well.

When you look at the grading scale, it is broken down like this:

A – Excellent
B – Above Average
C – Average
D – Below Average
F – Failed

If a C is average, why is it that parents, teachers, and students expect As? Sure, there are many students who are capable of earning all As, but most aren’t. Well, I guess the right way to say it is that if an A truly means Excellent (i.e., well above average), most shouldn’t be able to earn all As. Instead, these exceptional grades should be reserved for the two or three percent of the class that performs at the highest level.

But that is not how things work today. Instead, As – and sometimes Bs, but only if the class is really hard – is the expectation. They are seen as the only acceptable grade. This perspective has a multitude of unexpected consequences that we – as the parents – and our children must endure now and into the future.

What Are the Consequences?

There seems to be five primary consequences to the elevated expectations our students are held to today.

1. The first major consequence to this world view is one that I have mentioned in previous posts. That is, we are creating in our students a sense of entitlement. Many students believe that they should receive an A in the course, simply because they were there, because they came to class. Parents reinforce this by calling or emailing teachers to complain when their child receives a poor mark on a test. Many students do not have enough insight to appreciate how their actions (or non-actions, such as not studying) result in particular consequences. These are important life lessons, because we do not always succeed. Sometimes we fail, and that is OK, as long as we know how to get back up and try again.
2. The next consequence is that our current system fails to teach students how to think critically. Students today, from elementary school through graduate school, want teachers to just tell them the right answer. They do not want to have to think about it themselves. They do not want to have to figure out how to solve the problem. They want someone to tell them the answer. That way, they will just memorize the correct response, and subsequently, pass the test. Again, the grade – not the information or learning process – is the ultimate goal.
3. Another interesting, and sad, consequence is that students are loosing the ability to learn. As I mentioned earlier, students are taking challenging classes in high school and must pass the FSA test and a variety of EOCs. The state champions its “rigorous standards” for high school students and the expectations for graduation. Yet, a significant portion of college freshmen fail freshmen English. Colleges today are in a position where they must offer additional course sections in freshmen English to accommodate incoming students, as well as the large percentage of students who have to retake the course. If the FSA – and other tests taken in high school – really do identify students prepared for college, why is it that so many struggle? Perhaps it is because we are not teaching our students how to learn. Instead, we are teaching them how to take particular tests and how to memorize the right answer. Instead, we need to be teaching them how to learn and think.
4. This perspective also affects the goals our students set for themselves. When they only value high grades and college, they tend to marginalize and resist opportunities for other career paths. When a student feels that they must go to college, they tend to look past vocational and technical certifications that could lead to highly needed and important career opportunities. Parents tend to neglect these career options, failing to ensure that their student knows all of the potential choices that he/she actually has.
5. Finally, for many students, college is – quite literally – the road to nowhere. In fact, critics often complain about the fact that many students graduate from college with a degree in a field they will never work in. While some criticize colleges for offering these degrees, the real issue is that when we create a culture that only values college degrees, a lot of students are going to major in areas that are not needed. The reality is that while many politicians will say that we do not need any more anthropology majors, we also don’t need more attorneys. There are more engineers than there are jobs. Again, the issue is not the major, it is the fact that we are pushing so many people to college, that we end up with more college degrees in majors than we have need in our communities.

Change The View In Your Home

While none of us are in a position to change this systemic view, we can make changes in our homes. If you have a student, make sure you appreciate his/her unique strengths and weaknesses. Should he/she really be a college bound student, or does his/her interests lie in an area that does not require a college degree? Make sure he/she knows all of his/her options. Trade schools and vocational opportunities can be invaluable for many students, offering them options that they would have otherwise never known existed, or were valued.

We all want a good plumber when we have a leak in the house. Yet, we do not encourage our kids to understand that such trades are options for them. Expand your child’s awareness. Help him/her understand that hard work is the key, not the final grade. And encourage them to pursue their passion, as opposed to a prescribed path that could lead them nowhere.