Students who are in school beacuse of someone else
How do you deal with students that are only there because someone told them that they need to (i.e. their parents)?
In college today, you see a lot of students who attend simply because they can get their employer to pay for their education. These are the students who don’t care what grade they get out of the class, just that they get a grade.
Then there are the students who are there because the military pays for their education. They don’t care about their grade until it comes down to the very end and they realize they are not going to make the grade required by the military to pay for their classes. Then they set the plan in motion to bully the instructor into giving them the grade they want. I have heard so many reasons why I should just give them the grade. The best one yet is, “After all, I am protecting our nation, that alone deserves a good grade, right�
There is a distinct difference between the student who wants to be in college and the student who is their because their parents are making them or just because they got to stick someone else with the bill.
Their investment is different, their thought process is different, their ambitions are different, and it always is well demonstrated in the work they present in class.
I see this currently and it can be discouraging but I find you can also direct the student to do it for his/her self. Keep them going and work with them to help them progress on their own.
This seems to be a logical approach, however, Culinary students are almost always here for themselves.
Hi Rhonda,
There are many students that must learn how to develop a sense of independence. They need to understand that at some point they need to know how to function as a productive citizen.
Patricia
I find a lot of younger students are the ones who are in school because of someone else. I use ice breakers like "what I want to be when I grow up" or find a picture of someone or something I want to be and have the students present them to the class.
I allow them to see and understand the inportance of an education and the opportunity to gain some independence by doing something for themselves that will better their lives.
AS one who attended school "for my parents"; I can relate to the frustration and disinvolvement, however it is possible to paint the success story I have achieved without my parents.
Some things we do because we have to, others we do because we want to, are driven to, and desire.
Hi Alicia,
I treat them exactly how I treat all my students. I give them encouragement, I prepare them, I help them, and I grade them accordingly. I do not give up on them. I work with them until the end.
Patricia
I would think that if you act excited about a subject or make it fun for a student, it can be a lot easier to keep them engaged/ interested.
