This commentary from the Chronicle of Higher Ed could have been written by one of us. (For what it's worth, the last paragraph is particularly poignant.) The commentary basically claims we do our students no favors by cultivating their "self of steam" rather than showing them their realistic potential and abilities by setting high standards and sticking to them.The author writes: "We need to give our students the opportunity to develop to their true potential. We need to teach them how to actually succeed. And this means setting reasonable yet high standards, training them to meet those standards, and holding them accountable for doing so, and throughout their student careers supplying them with honest evaluations of their performance."
While this is a call to action for those of us in higher ed to stop pandering to students who simply want to FEEL good, I am curious whether it is too late, once they reach college, to help them set the boundaries that should have started long before we ever see them. They have 18 (at least) years of everyone else telling them they are wonderful, loved, and special and that the shit they just turned in is worthy of being published. And then they go to college and encounter... well, more people who tell them they're special and that the A they got really was an A, and not a C disguised as an A because the proffie was too chicken shit to assign the grade that they earned. Is there actually hope for this generation, or are we starting just another season of "more of the same, version 2.0 with flashier graphics in our smart classrooms?"
And even more relevantly: I'd like to reduce my defeatist attitude before it spirals out of control by feeling that we actually DO make a difference (and I don't mean only in the lives of the one student who, ten years from now, writes to say, "Hey, you made a difference," although I'll take what I can get).
How many of you feel YOUR self esteem is negatively affected by having to deal with students who have an overinflated belief in their 'self of steam'?
Do you feel you CAN make a difference? If so, how? Do you have any positive stories/anecdotes/encounters/experiences/lies to show that, in fact, we DO make a difference, when we set and stick to higher standards?
How many of you feel YOUR self esteem is negatively affected by having to deal with students who have an overinflated belief in their 'self of steam'?
ReplyDeleteMy own personal self-esteem isn't affected one iota. If I allowed the whims and emotions of students to affect my self-esteem, I would have shot myself a long time ago.
Do you feel you CAN make a difference? If so, how?
I don't think about "making a difference". I think about doing my job, which is to make them learn, and work, and figure out that there are some places their bullshit won't fly. That's a good lesson for an eighteen-year-old. As to whether or not it makes a difference, that's not really up to me.
Do you have any positive stories/anecdotes/encounters/experiences/lies to show that, in fact, we DO make a difference, when we set and stick to higher standards?
Well, I have a bunch of letters from old students voicing their appreciation, written to me from out of the blue. I think when you challenge someone and they succeed, that's more of a self-esteem builder than any candy-ass lecture about how valued and special they are. Achievements that come easily are often not appreciated. The harder a student works to succeed, the more it means to them.
If anything, my self-esteem is bolstered by the satisfaction of knowing their self-esteem is overinflated. This, in turn, bolsters the self-esteem of my higher-ups, who have the satisfaction of knowing that my self-esteem is overinflated. Wait.
ReplyDeleteLike Stella, I value the notes from students even if I can't remember them, along the theme of "I hated your class at the time, but when I got to [Ivy U], I realized that having survived your standards, I could face any class."
In one of the "Hitch-hiker's Guide to the Galaxy" books, Slartibartfast says something to the effect of "I'd rather be happy than right."
ReplyDeleteI remember it came as a mild shock to me well into adulthood when I realized that I'd rather be right than happy. A lot of things suddenly made more sense when I realized that.
Pretty much what Stella said.
ReplyDeleteI once had an Honors (that is, qualified for the honors sequence) pull the "I've always gotten As, why am I getting a C?" on me. Her writing was gawdawful, and she repeatedly demonstrated a limited ability to tell me what she was supposed to know. I told her I don't give As or Cs, they are earned.
Sometimes I give out the C and then, when I get the teary-eyed student in my office, I say, "I'm sorry -- I apologize on behalf of every instructor you've had who was too lazy to let you know that this is not college-level work and to help you improve."
ReplyDeleteI did a POW. I did a POW! I'm so excited. This has to mean I'm special and, therefore, my self esteem will increase for a reason! :o)
ReplyDeleteI'd like to think that I set out to simply teach students and that the sum of my job is to make sure they learn. But I'm not sure they CAN learn without it being meaningful to them (which I equate to 'making a difference'). I want my students to value what they're learning (or trying very hard not to learn) rather than it being something they simply do to earn a grade. Is that even possible when all they have been told for 18 years is that the grade earned is what matters?
Thanks to everyone for their responses. I especially like the apology on behalf of all prior teachers. :o) I might just use that this year when I have the requisite "I don't get Bs" student in my office.
I'm sorry -- I apologize on behalf of every instructor you've had who was too lazy to let you know that this is not college-level work and to help you improve.
ReplyDeleteFroad, I wrote something similar to that on a student essay once. This was particularly egregious: a senior at a SLAC who was writing at what I estimate was a C-minus middle-school level.
Although it should be noted that "not college-level work" should not be getting a C. So make that a D.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was working as a writing tutor, I once helped a first-year student (not originally from this country, with almost no experience writing essays) craft a reasonable (B-ish level) paper for an introductory history course.
ReplyDeleteWe somehow got to talking about academics and publishing, and I explained some of the features that could potentially make one of my own academic papers publishable -- things like an extensive knowledge of the literature, engagement with contemporary scholarship, an innovative intellectual contribution, etc.
The student then looked down at her little history paper (which regurgitated what a few randomly chosen books had to say about the Protestant Reformation), and asked, quizzically, "So, I couldn't publish this?"
@CouldBeBetter: classic!
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