*Please note that when on my website I have the proper spacing but in the blog hub, all my paragraphs and indentation disappear.
When I first sat down to write this week’s blog, I found myself stumped. I sat around playing with ideas in my head, but unable to put them into words. To help start the writing process, I decided to turn to my friends. I read them the following writing prompt that I was provided with in class:
What does it mean to be a "good" student according to the commonsense? Which students are privileged by this definition of the good student? What is made impossible to see/understand/believe because of these commonsense ideas?
My friends described what they thought a good student was. They said that a good student is someone who actively participates in class, someone who asks questions and is willing/capable to discuss whatever subject is being taught, someone who actively participates in class. A good student is also a free thinker who is able to form their own ideas, opinions and values, and express such thoughts as well; whether that’s through a spoken presentation or in writing.
While I couldn’t argue that those traits were what I’d want my students to have, I was still troubled in writing that down. Forming opinions, developing their own insights and asking questions all sounds like traits that are valued in school so, I will use those to describe what common sense says a good student is.
Unfortunately, what our common sense of what a good student is contradicts what we enforce and place value on in school. Instead of encouraging critical thinking, classes are tailored so that students come up with the answer the teacher or the curriculum (provincial government) wants. To further explain I will use the example of “M” and her teacher’s conversation in Kumashiro’s Against Common Sense.
“Why didn’t you just tell us the answer in the beginning? Did we have to have this whole discussion?”
“I didn’t want to just tell you the answer. You don’t learn when you’re just told an answer. You learn when you figure things out and come to your own answers.”
“But you already had the answer. Weren’t we just trying to find your answer?” (Kumashiro p.22)
In this example “M” is upset that they didn’t really have the freedom to come up with their own answer. This situation also shows that we value some answers or interpretations more than others. We value the interpretation that has already been formed while disregarding the new ideas.
The next trait that we decided belonged to a good student, is that a good student participates in class and asks questions. I have never had an experience where I’ve been told not to ask questions in school. However, often students don’t have the opportunity to freely express themselves and speak out during class. Generally speaking, students have to raise their hand, and then wait to be called on before speaking. Sometimes, by the time they’ve been called on, their question or comment is no longer relevant to the topic, or in other situations their hand is completely ignored. Although it is thought that a ‘good student’ asks questions and participates, there isn’t always the opportunity to do so.
Students who are privileged to come from a home that actively participates in their learning fall into what we believe a good student is. Students who have learning disabilities or have difficulties sitting down for long periods of time or often struggle to understand the materials taught and are often unfairly labeled as ‘bad.’ All students are good, some simply need a different environment and learning conditions to thrive.
In short, I believe that what we as a society deem a ‘good student’ to be is different than that we enforce in schools. In schools we value obedience, high marks and the ability to sit quietly and listen to a teacher while as a society we value free thinkers, communication skills and the ability to ask questions and participate. There are many students who don’t do well because of the unjust expectations on them. As teachers, we need to be able to make learning a conversation between us and all of our students.