For today's article, I wanted to resurrect a letter that I wrote almost five years ago. To set the stage, I had just graduated with my doctors degree and I was teaching at Bucknell University. I was always in contact with several of my teachers from High School and I noticed that my old principal was still at the school, so I sent an email detailing my academic accomplishments.
He remembered that I was not specifically a problem student, but rather, that I was not a very good student. I started high school in learning labs for students with low academic success, and I went through low grades for my first year and a half. He sent me an email asking me what the change was. I sent the following letter, which I still think is excellent advice for our day today. The letter only retracts the names of the specific teachers, everything else is unedited.
I had to take some time to reflect on your question about what drove me to success in academics. I think it must be a question of either philosophy or spirituality. From my perspective now, Christ is the reason for this change, but because I never turned to any religious ways until way after I was proved academically successful, I must point to something else, but no matter how I slice it, it is a principle that is found in the Judeo-Christian proverb found at Proverbs 29:18. There are many translations of this curious verse, but the literal translation is this: “Where there is no vision, the people are unrestrained.” I think that this basically sums up the mental philosophy of students these days. Students tend to have no real direction or plan in life, and without it, they “cast off restraint” meaning that they do not discipline themselves to learn because, in their mind, there is no need for it. Why suffer through the yoke of education when pleasure is so common and easy to get?
To understand this mindset, let me take a brief tour of our culture and mindset and how it has changed over the years. I would recommend that you would read a few books. The first two are from the 1980’s by Neil Postman. In his closely related books “The Disappearance of Childhood” and “Amusing Ourselves to Death”, the author examines the shift in epistemology over the years. He traces how we are in danger of shifting from a print-based culture able to hold attention into a culture constantly requiring stimulation and amusement. Sadly, we have arrived to that latter state. In the recent book “Rejuvenile” by Christopher Noxon, the author clarifies this mindset with the final line in the first chapter, “Play, to the modern rejuvenile, is indeed the whole point of life.” This book is a must read to understand where we are, but it is scary because of the things that adults are doing across the developed world to cast off responsibility as earlier generations would define it in order to play and be mused. While I agree that the ‘rejuvenile’ movement has certainly brought to question legitimate points, the answers of that culture are off base and contribute more problem to the society than it solves. Another book I would recommend is from the field of psychology titled “Emotional Intelligence” by Daniel Goleman. In this book, the author traces in one chapter how the academic programming in America is stronger than most other countries, but if a student has a life of turmoil, he does not care about solving math problems or other school work, because he has far more pressing matters on his mind. I believe these cultural shifts in mindset all boil the problem of education down to a core question: How do you deal with the lack of care in careless society?
I believe that this careless is the root to the current education block in America, but the students can break out. Those that do will hold the world in their hands. They will be the leaders, the business owners, the scholars, the elite. And the others will be serving French fries from a drive through window. This difference in expression is detailed well by the story in the book “Einstein's Dreams” where the author considers the ‘Nows’ and the ‘Laters’ in a world where time and life goes on forever. The difference here has little to do with formal education, but rather, care in the careless world. In my personal case, I did not care because life was too hard for me. And while I was still statistically on the rarity in that time, the life I lived has become far more common today, that is why I think that education has more to do with the heart than the mind. I grew up without a father, I was in trouble with the law by 7th grade, I saw drugs in 8th grade, I knew of no direction or guidance by 9th grade. Life was just hard, and that was that. In short, I gave up on caring. Because I had no care, I also did not have direction, a goal, or a mission. This is where high school was able to step in for me, not officially, but through the teachers, that amazing, dedicated, and often underpaid workforce. It is interesting that we, as young men and women, do not appreciate the things that we have at the moment. If you will give me a moment to reminisce, it was [my guidance counselor] who first gave me the hope. I can not tell you what the conversation was, but she was the first person who told me that I could succeed in life. I think that was the primary turning point for my change. It was the vision that I needed, a goal to shoot for, and that single-handedly caused me to examine how I was living. She was not alone, however, I can remember [my 10th grade English teacher] in conversations about herbs as I was exploring the plants in the world around me. I still have some of the encouraging remarks she made on class assignments. [My 12th grade English teacher] and I traded garden plants often thus showing interest in and supporting my hobbies. [My chemistry teacher] was impressed by my level of skill in math without a calculator and always asked me to keep in touch so she knows what I am doing. [My environmental science teacher] was certainly instrumental as a friend during field trips in Environmental Biology II. This was the teacher that passed me in 7th grade science with a D-, had me again in 9th grade, and then was completely impressed by my turnaround as evidenced by my knowledge of plants by 12th grade. I remember [my government teacher] listening to some of my early poetry and commenting on how continuing to write would help me in my life. Indeed this is true since poetry has been an important form of expression for me over life. [My precalculus teacher] encouraging me in the use of the TI calculators and was a great, fun teacher, and I can not say enough about how [my biology teacher] has help me over the years. I view him, my 10th grade biology teacher, as a mentor, a role model, a friend, and at times, even a father figure. What do all those have to do with education? Simple: nothing…and everything. Knowing that someone did express real care for me in my life was a turning point for me. While I did not learn a whole lot of scholarly things from most of my teachers at that time, I believe that they set me up to have a vision for my life.
To apply this material and directly answer your questions: The first thing to do for the students to somehow let them know how much they are cared for, especially if they do not get that care at home. Note here that it is often the hardest to love student who needs the most love. The bullying, outbursts, and tough front are a mask for the great pain behind their lives. Showing interests in hobbies, music, or even having teachers share their hobbies and interests with students is a great way to begin this course of friendship. Next, instill in them a vision. Frankly, it is better that they have a vision to be the best garbage person they could be than to wander through the halls of higher education aimless. College costs too much to have no direction. Vision here could be academic success, but it does not have to be, but a person armed with a dream is far more effective at impacting the world than a person armed with facts. Trust in this: instill in the students a vision, and they will have a passion to pursue education. Next, provide ways for the students to explore and learn in a safe setting. Sadly, adolescents will experiment. To date, I have worked with over 100 children and youth through summer camps, mentoring programs, teaching, etc. I have seen a lot of experimenting going on. What I have found works well here is giving them their experiments; otherwise, they will seek out their own experiments, often to their detriment. An approach to giving them their experiments can consist of giving them clever questions that will inspire them to seek out the answer, or by giving them a project that contains elements one step beyond what the student can do. In short, give the students love, a vision, and an opportunity, and then let them figure out the rest on their own.
I hope this helps you in your struggles with your students. It is not a problem localized to your school district, but rather, it is a large scale epidemic. I see the same trends in my students here at the university level as well.
This is still timely advice for today inside of schools as well as outside of schools. Peace in Christ, Tom
