Equipping Ourselves to Help Students Succeed

“Make good choices!” “Be good today!” “We’re not getting a pet until you can be responsible for it.” “You chose _____, so now you have to face the consequences.”

If you’re like me, you read the above statements with a slight shudder, remembering moments from childhood when our parents or other caretakers called on us to be better versions of ourselves, to act with maturity, to be more responsible. Perhaps you were the kid who strived to meet or exceed every expectation. Or maybe you heaved a sigh and, with a roll of the eyes, wished the grown-ups would lighten up and be a little more fun.

You might run into this very issue in the classroom. You instruct your students to complete certain assignments, within certain parameters, by a certain date. You give rules for classroom etiquette – no chit-chat after the bell rings, cell phones away, no loud snacks. You are trying to create boundaries for a safe environment that is conducive to learning. You are trying to meet the academic expectations of your school and its accreditation requirements. You are just trying to be a good teacher – and yet, every year, you’ve got the bell curve of student engagement, with a small portion going above and beyond, a small group of students who seem on a quest to fail, and a sizeable group floating somewhere in between.

Let’s start to tackle this situation with a quick look at our vocabulary. What do we mean when we say students are (being) “good” or “bad”? Are we making a moral statement about someone’s character? No, of course not. We believe our students are precious image bearers of God. God proclaimed at creation that we are very good. We can mess up big time but we are still His precious, valued creation. So, let’s eradicate this talk of “good” and “bad” from our vocabularies when we talk about our students. Oftentimes, when we search for synonyms, we realize that, when we describe a student as being good, what we really mean is that they are efficient, punctual, respectful, studious, and, frankly, they don’t make our lives harder as educators.

What do we make of our students who cannot be described by those adjectives? Do a quick search of your heart – even if you don’t say it aloud, do you think of certain students as being bad? Let’s push ourselves to drop that kind of language from our vocabularies. It may be more accurate to say we are frustrated with their lack of initiative, their irresponsibility or disrespect, etc., and that we don’t see in them a desire to change. Let’s use that recognition to pray (even more) for their transformation through the Holy Spirit.

Now, let’s think about our students who are not keeping deadlines, staying organized, following classroom rules, or meeting expectations. Oftentimes, with a bit of sleuth work, we can make some sense of these situations.

The first thing we look for are barriers. Barriers can be obvious or invisible. They might include an inability to see the writing on the whiteboard, difficulty with the language, a learning disability, or hunger. A colleague once told me about a first-grade student who was particularly squirrelly one day, until my colleague realized that the student had outgrown his shoes. He hadn’t even realized they were too small until she checked. I had a high school student who was very inattentive in her classes one day; numerous teachers pointed it out, reprimanding her for “daydreaming” and falling asleep in class. This student later disclosed that she was sexually assaulted over the weekend; she coped by dissociating and was in critical need of help and understanding from school staff. Trauma can be a significant barrier to learning. Some students experience emotional barriers to academics; for example, struggling with a subject is equated to “being bad” at the subject (there’s that language again!), which equals failure and disappointment. This feels intolerable and needs to be avoided. What would be infinitely better would be to instill in our students the idea that school is a place where learning happens before mastery is achieved. The lesson here is to give students the benefit of the doubt; let’s keep an open mind until we figure out whether something specific is going on.

The second thing to look for is motivation. What motivates this student? It might not be quadratic equations, true, but let’s find out what their “currency” is. Many students from all grade levels are motivated by recognition, praise, positive regard, and getting a few laughs (even in the middle of class). Students might be taking certain classes to please their parents or to get into a prestigious university. They might feel very unmotivated by academics but are highly motivated to keep up their grades to stay on the soccer team. This can all be harnessed, and it can be done in a way that allows the student to keep their dignity. Have curious and open conversations with your older students about this. Keep the conversations free from judgment; don’t joke about their lack of academic prowess. Explain, “Not every student loves this subject, and that’s okay. Let’s figure out why you are taking this class and what you need to get out of it.” For many students, human connection will always be a motivator to stay engaged. I once observed a grade 4 teacher who created a hand signal that students could use whenever they connected with something he said. They’d make a fist and point their thumb at themselves and their pinky at the teacher, moving their hand back and forth, physically signaling that they were making a connection with something the teacher was saying. Students could use the signal anytime as a way to communicate engagement wordlessly, so that learning was not disrupted.

Finally, let’s remember our students’ development. Erikson[1] describes 5-12 year olds as seeking a sense of competency in every sense of the word, wanting to feel capable of having friends and being a student (very likely in that order). This is a prime time for educators to instill in students the virtue of learning as opposed to mastery. And Piaget[2] would want us to remember that these younger students are naturally very egocentric and concrete. They will need you to walk them through positive self-talk about topics such as failure, learning, and self-worth.

From 12-18, Erikson tells us that our students are mainly concerned with their sense of identity and belonging. They want to know who they are and where they belong, and I don’t have to tell you that this can be more complex for our third culture kids to navigate. Students can go to great lengths to experiment and assert who they are. If a student is distracting others in class, it can help to take a deep breath and remind yourself, “This isn’t personal; it’s developmental.” You can still have classroom expectations, but this reminder can help us calm down before we give a redirection.

In all things, we seek to uphold values and dignity. We utilize classroom boundaries and schedules as tools to keep us moving through material in an orderly fashion. We value a safe and nurturing learning environment. We do this while investigating each student’s barriers, harnessing their motivations, and remembering their developmental stage. We strive to teach and remind our students of their worth as being separate from their accomplishments and their goodness as separate from their skillset or behavior. And, oftentimes, we would do well to remind ourselves of these truths even as we teach them to our students. 

Sarah Fine
Sarah is a licensed clinical social worker and previously served with TeachBeyond as a school counselor. Her husband, Keane, is TeachBeyond’s Director of Communications. Sarah has been a guest on TeachBeyond’s podcast, Transformed & Transformational, where she shared about processing loss. You can listen to that podcast here.