English teachers have it rough. Socially, I
mean. There’s rarely a week that goes by that I don’t meet someone who, after discovering I am an English teacher,
tells me about how much he hated English in school, all the assigned books he
didn’t read, how he doesn’t know anything about grammar or spelling, and/or
that he’s a terrible writer.
Math teachers have it worse, perhaps. The whole
world is proud to announce how much they hated math in school. They brag about
how inept they are at computation and join in with others in the Great
Mathematics Hate-athon.
I’m sure there are factions of science haters,
social studies detesters, and even PE loathers out there. We’ve done a
fantastic job in education of making students despise what we are trying to
sell them and of making them feel incompetent at doing what we ask them to do.
I’m convinced that teachers should have two main
goals for whatever they teach: to make their students enjoy the subject and to
develop confidence in their abilities in that area. Teachers should strive to
help students form positive dispositions about what they are learning and about
themselves as learners.
In order to accomplish this lofty set of goals,
we have to undo damage inflicted upon them by educators past and by societal
norms about education. We have to erase the scars of bad grades, scathing
comments, harsh criticisms, and failed attempts. We have to empower our
students by helping them experience success. Setting each student up for
excellence is key, and providing the type of feedback that ignites hope rather
than quenching dreams is crucial.
We have to show our students that, though the
world wants to convince them it’s not cool to read, write, solve math problems,
or engage in other scholarly pursuits, there’s value and enjoyment in learning
how to do these things. Reading can unlock worlds of experiences and can thrill
you more than any movie or video game. Writing well can give you power over
others, help you get your way in the world, provide an outlet for self-expression,
and allow you to understand your own life more clearly. Math is everywhere, and
being computationally helpless leaves you vulnerable to others who will take
advantage of that weakness. Learning to think like a mathematician is important
whether you’re hoping to make money, run a household, launch a business, invest
wisely, shop ‘til you drop, or create something in the kitchen, the craft room,
the workshop, the laboratory, or on the computer. Science is just cool. Every
branch of science contains something that will blow your mind if you give it a
chance. Social studies helps us make sense of the world we live in and gives us
perspective beyond the here and the now. There is something life-changing
lurking within the curriculum of every subject in the school day. We have to
find those bits of awesome and introduce our students to them.
Dispositions are difficult to change, but I
think we can make some progress if we follow several simple suggestions:
- Stop taking ourselves so
seriously. It’s school, not brain surgery.
- On a similar note, don’t be
afraid to have fun. No one should spend eight hours a day doing something
that is miserable.
- Celebrate successes—even tiny
ones—and be gracious about failure.
- Unleash curiosity. It’s okay to
wonder and explore instead of always seeking the right answer.
- Remember that no matter what
the world says, the test is not as important as the learning leading up to
it. Passing the test but hating the subject is still a failure in the long
run.
- Think like our students. Get to
know what they like and how to reach them.
- Let learning be its own reward.
Ditch the extrinsic motivators. Trained seals work for treats, but they
won’t keep working when the treat supply dries up.
- Sell your subject. Use comedy,
mystery, or drama but not horror. Fear is a bad motivator if we want more
than compliance.
- Play! Explore! Tinker! Laugh!
- Build bridges of trust with
students. Let them know we want to see them succeed and that we’ve got
their backs.
- Take moments to step away from
the curriculum to share something interesting about the subject we are
teaching: something we’ve read, a brain teaser, a brilliant quotation, a
surprising bit of trivia, an anecdote, or other fascinating nugget.
- Connect. Connect ideas. Connect
with the students. Connect students with one another and maybe with
students somewhere else. Let them make connections to their lives, to other
things they are learning, and to the world they inhabit, the things they
care about.
We have to remember that our most reluctant
students don’t see relevance in what they are learning, don’t believe in their
own capabilities, and cannot foresee a future where it’s important that they
know and do what we are asking of them. Even many of our high-achieving
students choose to live in the world of compliance rather than of intellectual
excitement.
If we teach every day as if our subjects matter
and do all we can to ignite the excitement of learning in our students, we can
make a difference in some kids’ lives. We can change the dispositions of many.
We can open their eyes to possibilities that will impact their decisions to go
to college, to pursue careers they never considered, to add to the body of
knowledge in the world, or simply to continue curiously and courageously
learning throughout their lives without apology.
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