Thanks, Captain Obvious!
According to a new report from Indiana University, 75 percent of high school students are bored with their classes and 22 percent have considered dropping out. Half the students surveyed admit that they have skipped school. Most say that they don’t find the material “interesting”. Evidently that is the result of a survey conducted by the university’s Center for Evaluation Policy. The study surveyed 81,000 students at 110 public and private schools.
The Center goes on to make the following recommendations; that teachers be more “interactive” and that they assign more group work, discussions and projects rather than lecture. The Center also recommends that the schools find out why students are skipping classes rather than punish them with suspensions or detentions.
OK, ever since the days of the Athenian Academy there have been students who have a thirst and desire for knowledge and there are those who don’t. I am sure that Aristotle and Socrates did not worry why students didn’t show up. Making the curriculum more interesting isn’t the answer. Right now, I have a plethora of technology at my hands to make my lessons “interesting”. Guess what? No matter what I do, there are students who pay attention and get good grades and those who don’t. The bottom line is that students whose parents or guardians value education do well and those who come from households where there is little value placed on education and little discipline do poorly.
The problem lies not with the curriculum nor with most of the teachers but instead lies at home with the parents. Parents who have control of their children and value education will have children that do well in school. Those that don’t, won’t. No amount of school intervention can fix that. I didn’t need a survey of 81,000 students to come to that conclusion.