Masses of American high school students at-large, have a problem doing homework. This, I assert, is the primary reason why American public schools are at-risk. This, I assert, is the primary reason why American students do not measure up in international comparisons of academic achievement. And this alone is the primary reason so many students at our school do not achieve their great potential. They all know how--it is no secret how to study--but they don't know why. They know they can, but know not why they should. They do some, but not all. What they do, they do with an air of reluctant, mediocre superficiality. Put succinctly, the vast majority have no academic "fire in the belly." They simply do not care enough. And worse, we teachers enable them by "dumbing down" or "differentiating" our expectations in cynical resignation to a seemingly impossible task: to get students to do their job.There are countless "how" rules out there that are of great value I am sure, but they are of no value whatsoever if the "why" rules below are not followed. If they are followed, it does not matter how you go about it. In my life as a teacher, that spans four decades, these principles are the defining traits of my best students. Think about it: if a student has no reason to study, he will be disinclined to do it well, if at all. What we have, therefore, is not a crisis of methods, but a crisis of values.
- Good students care. That is to say, they value learning above all other secondary activities. They have a highly developed sense of academic honor, without which there can be no academic progress. They are emotionally and intellectually committed to learning for its own sake. They apply Aristotle's dictum, "All men by their nature desire to know" and they train their minds to take control of impulse. They discipline themselves to honoring the commitment they are obliged to make to themselves, their teachers, their parents, their community, and their country. They see themselves too, as inheritors of a historical legacy of learning, and recognize that the life of the mind is the key to their progress as individuals and citizens. They look forward to the time that they will develop the intellectual and personal qualities that their own children will honor.
- Good students do their homework all of the time, and they do it with excellence. They do not do it part of the time, or some of the time, or when it is convenient. They do it right. They set homework (aka curricular activity) as the top priority in their school experience. It takes priority over all extra-curricular activities. It takes priority over everything that is non-essential to their academic experience. They do their homework all the time because it sets up a responsible, disciplined habit of mind that applies to every aspect of life. They recognize that mental discipline is a guarantor of success. They are not confused about priorities.
- Begin reading Plato's Apology and Republic, the Analects of Confucius. They are medicine, and will teach you why to care, and why you should do your homework.
- Leave the Ipod and cellphone at home. They are drugs, and the more you take them, the more you need them.
- Limit your part-time job hours to fifteen. You don't need a lot of money. You don't need to move about so much.
- Have the courage to cut back on your extracurriculars. It is a myth that colleges care about this. They care about your grades, period.
- If you have a car, learn how to say "No" to your friends. You are not a chauffeur. Your ego should be wrapped in mental power, not horsepower.
The problem, in my opinion, is this: how many students will read this article and think, “Gee, I’m not were I should be academically.” I think that most students, after reading this article, including myself, will see themselves as the ideal student described under bullets one and two. Many will think, “Yes, I value learning above extra-curricular activities and I always do my homework,” and I will roll my eyes at some of them thinking, “You don’t even know what homework is!” Of course, I will also think that I value learning and hard work, and yet, some other student will roll his eyes at me thinking, “You also carry a light academic workload.”
ReplyDeleteIt seems to me that there is no standard that everyone strives to live up to (is that where MCAS comes in?). Instead, everyone just finds a comfort zone of excellence that they can live with without doing too much “unnecessary” work. To some this means passing all their classes (because everyone knows that passing a class is a huge accomplishment deserving praise, and passing seven, well, that’s like close to impossible!); to others it means taking the easiest classes offered, and getting all A’s in those classes; to others still it means taking AP classes, college classes, and online classes, and getting all A’s in those classes; and to a select few it means taking AP classes, college classes, etc., getting perfect scores on all exams ever administered, inventing something before graduating from high school, graduating from college in under two years at age 16, and accomplishing many other “impossible” things. And yet, all of these students would argue that they care about school, and that they do their homework.
We already have caring students who do their homework (sort of), what we need is academic competition to make them care, and do their homework at a higher level of excellence. We are told from day one of school (in America) that we are not in competition with each other, that we set our own standards, that we should go at a pace that is comfortable for us. Now why is that? Outside of school, when will we be in an environment where our excellence is measured by our will, potential, effort, advantages and disadvantages, or preferences? Outside of school, our excellence will be a measure of our excellence and will always be compared to the excellence of others. Therefore, instead of allowing students to find what they believe to be their comfort zone of excellence, we should encourage them to compete with each other (academically). A great example of this is Mr. Bernard’s annual Punkin’ Chunkin’. Every team receives points that are independent of other teams (e.g. for machine design), but some points are dependent on the team’s performance in comparison with the performance of the other teams, namely points awarded for the furthest distance achieved by each team’s machine. Needless to say, every year there is a myriad of complaints from students about the “unfairness” of the grading policy.
I do not mean to say that school should be a place of pain and misery where every student is pushed beyond his breaking point. I think that students will always find their comfort zone of excellence, but ideally, the definition of excellence in school will be narrowed and raised. I believe that this can be achieved if academic competition is encouraged.