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How can you make students want to go to school. My thought is a low income district where high school students do not want to go to school. How can educators encourage them to go to school and how can we as educators help these children succeed?
Educators can't. There job is to teach those who want to learn. If they don't realize that education is opportunity by the time they get to you then they will likely end up where so many now are. Basic labor for the 20th century in the 21st century. Its more or less the same as quitting smoking ;drug etc;the individual has to be self motivated. Its even worse in poor areas where the parents aren't a example and often the drug dealers are the models of better off.
Last edited by toobusytoday; 03-18-2014 at 06:10 AM..
Reason: corrected several typos for clarity
How can you make students want to go to school. My thought is a low income district where high school students do not want to go to school. How can educators encourage them to go to school and how can we as educators help these children succeed?
Pay for grades (obviously, the teacher's can't do this but, perhaps, the state could).
Seriously, kids need to see an, immedicate, need for doing something. In low income districts, kids aren't living in 10 years from now land. They're not thinking about how the decisions they make today will impact the rest of their lives. They're thinking about how they impact today.
I don't think this would work in wealthier districts, because the pay rate would have to be too high for the kids to even blink, but if we paid kids to go to school and tied the amount they were paid to grades, I think you could make an impact on low income schools.
Educaqtors can't. There job is to teach those who want to learn. If they don't realise that ecucatio is opportunity by the time they get to you then they will likely endup where so mnay now are. Basic labor fot eh 20th century i the 21st century. Its more or less the same as quitting smoking ;drug etc;the indivdual has to be self motivated. Its even worse in poor areas where the parents aren't a examle and odten the drug dealers are the models of better off.
Unfortunately, you are right. We are powerless to make them want to go to school or learn. We can try different angles, and hope one of them clicks, but we can't make them learn and more than you can make the poverbial horse led to water drink.
Love of and valueing education are things that are taught at home. Kids need to see the value of education demonstrated in their every day lives. It's pie in the sky talk if they only time they hear that education has value is in my classroom. They need to hear it from mom and dad and grandma, etc, etc, etc...I'm just a teacher. I'm paid to say education is important.
Of course, I'm prepared for the flaming I will get, but...
What do we do to get high school students to want to go to school? Nothing. We teach the kids who show up and want to learn. We remove the golden safety net that is currently available for the kids (who eventually become adults) who don't have an education or skills to get a decent job. Certain kids don't feel the need to show up and learn because they see adults who don't have to get up and go to work- they have food stamps, housing vouchers, free meals, free health care. Why bother? Once we remove those 'safety nets' and the choice is work or starve, then we'll see the kids show up to school ready to bust their a$$, just like they did a few generations ago.
Of course, I'm prepared for the flaming I will get, but...
What do we do to get high school students to want to go to school? Nothing. We teach the kids who show up and want to learn. We remove the golden safety net that is currently available for the kids (who eventually become adults) who don't have an education or skills to get a decent job. Certain kids don't feel the need to show up and learn because they see adults who don't have to get up and go to work- they have food stamps, housing vouchers, free meals, free health care. Why bother? Once we remove those 'safety nets' and the choice is work or starve, then we'll see the kids show up to school ready to bust their a$$, just like they did a few generations ago.
Maybe we need to give them jobs picking up trash until they want to go to school.
I don't, totally, disagree with you. I cannot teach a child who doesn't want to be taught. I have one right now that I just wring my hands over. When he shows up to class and I can keep him awake, he gets the material but he won't put in one ounce (I'd go metric here but I can't decide if ounce should be changed to millilter or gram???) of effort. This kid could get, at least, a B in my class if he'd show up, stay awake and actually turn in some work. It's too bad we don't have some kind of work release program from school. Something gross like cleaning out gutters or scraping gum off of the undersides of tables and side walks.
Of course, I'm prepared for the flaming I will get, but...
What do we do to get high school students to want to go to school? Nothing. We teach the kids who show up and want to learn. We remove the golden safety net that is currently available for the kids (who eventually become adults) who don't have an education or skills to get a decent job. Certain kids don't feel the need to show up and learn because they see adults who don't have to get up and go to work- they have food stamps, housing vouchers, free meals, free health care. Why bother? Once we remove those 'safety nets' and the choice is work or starve, then we'll see the kids show up to school ready to bust their a$$, just like they did a few generations ago.
Works for me, kids and adults today get too many safety nets .
Of course, I'm prepared for the flaming I will get, but...
What do we do to get high school students to want to go to school? Nothing. We teach the kids who show up and want to learn. We remove the golden safety net that is currently available for the kids (who eventually become adults) who don't have an education or skills to get a decent job. Certain kids don't feel the need to show up and learn because they see adults who don't have to get up and go to work- they have food stamps, housing vouchers, free meals, free health care. Why bother? Once we remove those 'safety nets' and the choice is work or starve, then we'll see the kids show up to school ready to bust their a$$, just like they did a few generations ago.
Interesting and no flaming, but what does our society get in return? That scares me. Because reality is we will not let them sink or swim even though that sounds like a good option.
Pay for grades (obviously, the teacher's can't do this but, perhaps, the state could).
Seriously, kids need to see an, immedicate, need for doing something. In low income districts, kids aren't living in 10 years from now land. They're not thinking about how the decisions they make today will impact the rest of their lives. They're thinking about how they impact today.
I don't think this would work in wealthier districts, because the pay rate would have to be too high for the kids to even blink, but if we paid kids to go to school and tied the amount they were paid to grades, I think you could make an impact on low income schools.
That would be awesome but how in reality do we get funding to pay the students?
Pay for grades (obviously, the teacher's can't do this but, perhaps, the state could).
Seriously, kids need to see an, immedicate, need for doing something. In low income districts, kids aren't living in 10 years from now land. They're not thinking about how the decisions they make today will impact the rest of their lives. They're thinking about how they impact today.
I don't think this would work in wealthier districts, because the pay rate would have to be too high for the kids to even blink, but if we paid kids to go to school and tied the amount they were paid to grades, I think you could make an impact on low income schools.
And what does the research say? Although these specific programs are too new to be evaluated, research on rewarding children for good grades shows that despite short-term gains, it may be detrimental in the long-term by decreasing their motivation, especially when the incentive is removed.
Also, it appears that paying for grades and test scores is not a good idea
Researchers at Harvard University recently completed a two-year study in which they paid $6.3-million to 38,000 students in 261 schools across four cities to see if monetary incentives had any impact on performance.
What they found was intriguing. When students were rewarded for better attendance, behaviour and for reading more books — elements characterized as educational “inputs” by the researchers — academic performance improved. But when a $50 incentive was offered simply for better exam or test scores — educational “outputs” *— students did not perform better.
Last edited by toobusytoday; 03-18-2014 at 06:12 AM..
Reason: copyright. Link and THREE sentences please
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