On average, many students hate school. Well, at least it seems that way. Disclaimer: This post is not based on scientific data, it is just based on my experience in the classroom. Students, on average, simply don’t want to be in the classroom. Is it the classroom? Is it the teacher? Is it just a bad attitude? There is no right answer for every single student in the world, but there may be a couple reasons that attribute to the overall dislike for school.
Students’ Attitude
For many teachers, students bring their own attitude into your classroom. Sometimes it is positive and other times not so much. This could be due to a variety of reasons.
Sometimes it has to do with their experiences with past teachers. They may of had a bad experience with a teacher, and they are carrying that over to you. That isn’t your fault. Nevertheless, the student continues to give you a negative attitude.
This also applies to if you are teaching a specific content class, then they may have dislike for your class simply because of what you teach. For instance, if you are an English Language Arts teacher, maybe students come into your classroom with a bad attitude simply because they hate reading. Again, this is not your fault, but it still impacts the students and your experience in the classroom.
My advice here is don’t hold that against them. Yes, they may bring a negative attitude to your classroom, but that doesn’t mean you need to reflect it back to them. That will just create a very, very negative environment that isn’t great for you or your students.
No Voice, No Choice
Students of any age want to have control of their endeavors. There are still many classrooms in the world where students have absolutely no control of their educational endeavors—they are just passengers and not drivers in their learning. Students being passive learners was a significant practice in the last century, but it has been getting better in this century. Teachers seem to be making a diligent effort to give students a voice and choice in their learning. However, there are still instances where students are passive in their learning. Admittedly, this is difficult to get away from with ALL content being taught. Sometimes you have to give it in a lecture format, and that is okay, but it is important that students still get a chance to interact with the content in an activity.
While giving students “voice and choice” in the classroom is an excellent way to change their perspectives and attitudes in your classroom, it is still important to create structure in the classroom. Believe it or not, students thrive on structure. It gives them guidance in their academic endeavors and also guides their behaviors as well.
Additionally, students want to feel heard. In some cases, sometimes in education and sometimes out of education, people look down on kids and their ideas because of their age. Thus, students may develop a jaded perspective of adults. Even if a student comes into your classroom with this jaded perspective, always hear them out. While not all ideas that students have are perfect, it often comes from an authentic place. So, you can help them refine their idea to be suitable for whatever goal they have in mind.
Real-Life Applications
A common question that you may hear in the classroom is: “When will I ever use this?” Even if you give students an answer, the answer isn’t usually good enough for them because it isn’t specific enough to their lives.
While they may have a point, they need a chance to make the connections for themselves. Sometimes that includes challenging them to reflect on their own learning or contemplate how they may use that skill/knowledge in the future. Depending on what you teach, sometimes it is important for you to make those connections for them or offer up time and prompts that challenge them to reflect on real-life applications.
Conclusion
There may be a variety of reasons that students come into your classroom with a particular attitude. The reasons listed above is just scratching the surface. Don’t let the bad weigh you down. While students may have a negative attitude, sometimes they can surprise; especially if you give them a chance to do just that. Students are people like you and me, so give them a chance to experience your classroom from a fresh perspective. Consider how you might feel in their shoes, and how you may want to be treated in that situation. Teaching is a tough job, but it can bring with it many rewards—give it a chance to.
