#0107 | how apathy spreads!
Submitted by Sarah.
Here’s Sarah’s story:
“I work at a prep school for a very selective college. The students I “teach” are being given a second chance for an education most people would kill for… I put teach in quotation marks because, as one of my colleagues pointed out, teaching implies that learning has occurred. We are, on a daily basis, astounded at the apathy most of our students have in regard to their grades and general knowledge.
I personally “teach” English and we teachers have gotten to a point that we compare bad quiz answers with one another. These kids don’t even make educated guesses. They just write down words and hope they’ll magically fall into the right order. My friend in math was holding a finals review and asked if anyone had any questions — not a word. Then, when he said, “OK, I guess that’s all. Good luck,” the students were astounded that he wasn’t going to review with them.
They just all seem so entitled and we can’t figure out why they think we owe them anything. With very little exception, they don’t try. They don’t care. We (the instructors) have gotten to the point that we can’t bring ourselves to care very much, either. There are a few bright spots of effort, but they are far between and often crushed by their classmates.
Is there any hope?”
4 folks have left comments on this post
Teaching is no easy profession, but it’s the backbone of our society. Unfortunately, the trend of the past 20 years or so has been for parents to slough their child rearing responsibilities and lay them on the backs of our teachers. The result has been a decline in morals and ethics and an erosion of our most basic social construct. But somehow teachers have managed to hang in there. Kudos. Maybe the pendulum will swing back the other way.
If you want to read an interesting book, get a copy of Tom Brokaw’s Greatest Generation. It gives you an insight into a generation that took responsibility for its actions and didn’t expect a free ride from anyone. They weren’t perfect by any means, but it gives you an idea of what can be accomplished when a nation is filled with team players and self starters.
You should quit your job and start working as a tutor for home-schooled children. You won’t find their kind of hunger for learning in any other educational sub-group.
I pity the teachers who have to deal with the gigantic mess that is the American educational system.
Don’t lose hope for the country as a whole, more and more parents are realizing how counter-productive the system is, and taking responsibility for their child’s education.
Tutoring may not pay as much as a private school position, but at least you will be able to really teach.
You just need to find the things about the kids you teach that you like. I have taught inner city kids and now I have found what I call my “cushy suburban job.” I teach English to seniors and often have to deal with Senioritis- which is basically apathy made socially acceptable. You have to work hard to get them to care, but when they do (and it’s not every day) it is well worth it.
Obviously it doesnt always work, but part of the responsibility of being an effective teacher is encouraging the thirst for learning in ones pupils. Although i have very very little experience teacher, i have been taught for the past god knows how many years of my life. i know that i apply myself more to lessons i am enthralled by and i am 100% sure that my efforts and attentions are massively increased when my teachers fully apply themselves. saying this, i am a “mature” student, and i know this is my time to learn.
apathy is rife.