Wait…
I actually have to do work in order to pass this class?
Apathy in education is not a new phenomena, rather it has been discussed at length for the past several decades. I’m sure this blog-post has nothing new to add to the conversation, aside from the sharing of my own personal anecdotes which in and of themselves are nothing unique.
For those who are unaware, my name is Brad Reeves, and I am currently an Alternative Education teacher in Central California. I am new to this position this year, and I have faced several challenges not only returning to the classroom (having taught primarily online throughout the pandemic) but in adjusting to the beast known as Alt. Ed.
My program consists of 43 students in total: 21 juniors and 22 seniors. They spend 5 hours a day on campus (including a 15 min brunch, 30 minute lunch, and 4 - 5 min passing periods). In short, they receive 192 minutes (4 periods) of instructional time per-day.
The students grumble that their school day is too long yet they have it good. They only attend school 3 days a week.
If we are being honest, the schedule is not fair - not to students and certainly not to the teachers. How are students expected to learn and master 180 days worth of material when they are only present for 108 days out of the year? You can cut a lot of material, but time is needed (like compound interest) to develop and master skillsets.
But I digress, time is not the issue being discussed in this week’s post. Apathy is.
I get that “this is just a really emotional time for students” and “its been a difficult few years” but we need to stop making excuses for ourselves as educators and for our students.
Recently, I asked my students to describe or recount the work they completed over the past two-years (during the pandemic) to which my students responded that they did not do anything meaningful. They only had simple, pointless assignments, which made it impossible for them to fail the class. For English, they did not read a novel or even a short story. They did not write an essay or anything longer than 1 paragraph. Their writing conventions were not corrected, they simply received credit based upon completion.
“It was the easiest year ever Mr. Reeves”
“I didn’t even have to try!”
“I just BSed the work and was given points for turning it in”
These types of comments break my heart. What type of teacher fails to challenge their students?
In my belief, it is a teacher who truly doesn’t care. A teacher who does not want to see their students grow and achieve great things.
Unfortunately, this type of lazy, pathetic excuse for a teacher is becoming all too common these days.
The apathy of the teacher inspires apathy in students that is virtually impossible to overcome.
Trust me, I have tried.
I have spent countless hours designing unique, creative, innovative lessons that cater to my students’ needs and interests only to have them not care. I add elements of student choice but they fail to choose because they are plagued by indecision. Apparently, making simple decisions is now considered “too-much” work.
I assign them a topic to write on, they hate the topic. I allow them to free-write or choose their own topic and now they have “too much freedom” and they can’t decide what to write.
The needs/wants of these students cannot be satiated.
Well, thats not entirely true.
The truth is that students are no different than other humans, and humans don’t want to work. People all across the country want the benefits (particularly $$$) of work, but without the effort. Perhaps students are just mirroring what they see at home: disgruntled parents who are dissatisfied with the current paradigm (work, eat, sleep, repeat).
How are students supposed to be successful, driven, and task-oriented without anyone modeling it for them? especially at home.
History has demonstrated that we beget ourselves. Apathetic parents equate to apathetic children.
So are students the one to blame? or are they just the bi-product of a flawed system?