During my first quarter of teaching, I asked my students—all in the Criminal Justice learning community—why exactly were they in college. They were going around a circle, sharing responses; they were all giving statements like “To make more money,” and “my parents think I should,” and “To get a better job.” Not one of my eighteen students said anything remotely close to “I am here because I love to learn.”
At the time, I was so mad at them! So frustrated! Why were my students such shallow individuals? I remember repeating this little incident to friends, to mentors, to those willing to listening in 212.
Many months have passed. I've had time to look back and reflect. And here's the deal: a majority of those Criminal Justice students were what James Lee Hill refers to as “new students.” They have come to UC not out of love for academia, but because a degree is their “socioeconomic ticket” (94).
My frustration with them was a naive response. Hill helped to remind me what I think I already had started to figure out: that I need to remember to meet my students where they are...I need to remember they all have different backgrounds and passions...and maybe some of my students yearn to earn a bachelors in order to move out of the slums...maybe some of my students long to get that BA so they can be a manager at Ruby Tuesday...maybe some of my students aren't even sure why they are there--and maybe they won't even do anything with their degree at all.
But, each quarter, my students are there. They are there, and I have a responsibility to them--even if they don't long to hold a PhD someday.
I am sure that everyone reading this blog has felt frustration, from time to time, teaching students who do not share a passion for learning that we all have (or try to maintain, even when we’re not in the mood). Let’s try to keep that frustration in check. All we can do is model our own enthusiasm for learning, and try to do the best jobs as teachers that we can. And maybe, as happy biproduct, some of our students might catch on, might catch our craving for learning.
I'm with you on this, heather, only my first experience with this came during my first winter (aka quarter of my worst nightmares). especially when we are surrounded by each other (grad students, faculty), it can be difficult to remember that we are the anomaly and they (our students) are the "normal" ones. Bridwell-Bowles is on the same page in her 94 address (I am a bit ahead of the crowd here, due to the rigors of my summer syllabus). She writes, "This may be the one great contribution we have to make to our students, to model for them our self-reflexive analysis of our own discourse practices" (276). I think the issue you bring up here recurs fairly often through the years... something to look forward to.
ReplyDelete