Retired Idea

The Decline of an Educational Belief

A very common misconception that many people hold is that students are unwilling to learn. Throughout its life, this idea has led many frustrated teachers astray, encouraging them to give up on really trying to motivate their students and to resign themselves to a school year filled with uncertainty about whether their students are actually learning the content while these teachers wonder how they can possibly do their jobs when their students do not seem to be wanting to cooperate or participate.

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The truth is that students typically do actually want to learn, and the teacher is responsible for incorporating motivations for students into their lessons. Teachers should not live in a state of resignation that teaching is a thankless and potentially pointless career, especially when often such a situation is the result of a lack of communication between the teacher, who is unsure how to properly create motivation for the students, and the students, who want to learn but are not being properly engaged or given the encouragement and resources necessary for them to be able to succeed academically. Mutual communication and mutual respect is absolutely key in the classroom, and both students and teachers should be able to discuss their concerns with each other in order to allow students the opportunities they need to succeed and to allow teachers to best provide the students with the resources and support they need to stay motivated and to truly do their best work.