I've been thinking about why Adrienne seems to be able to take what works for her about high school and leave the rest behind. I really believe it is because school isn't compulsory for her. She knows that if it ever stops working for her, she can leave. She changed classes five times in the first week of school, because she wasn't willing to settle for classes that didn't work for her. She's learning French, because she wants to and would not be persuaded to study Spanish. She's learning woodworking because it's a skill she wanted to have. She's learning the drums because she's willing to wake up early and go to school for an hour before the other kids and study it.
She's there, literally, because she wants to be. I would be surprised if any of her peers at this school can say the same thing.
I have talked to a ton of students whose opinion of school is "I hate it, it sucks, it's a waste of my time." They're marking time until they graduate or are old enough to drop out. They aren't there because they want to be, they're there because they're parents say they have to be.
Maybe if the compulsory part of education were dropped, more kids would want to be there. If they knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that they could leave if school ever really did become useless, or too miserable of an experience to deal with, then maybe they'd be more open minded about learning.
My goal with all my kids is to raise learners. Not regurgitators of information that's been doctored to be essentially American propaganda. I want my kids to be questioners. I want them to be critical thinkers to whom the Triple A Approach (Ask questions, Assess the data, Assert an opinion) is second nature. I don't want them to take anyone's word for things, but to have a desire to form their own informed opinions.
I want them to say screw you to someone who tries to tell them they can't take a piss because they don't have the right piece of paper in their pocket.
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You described my students to a "T"...they hate school and are only here because it's law...however, these ED kids do graduate after a struggle (and at times we want it more than they do)...they always come back to thank us for pushing them to get the work in. Always.
And we never tell kids they can't use the bathroom...my school has a bathroom in every classroom. They aren't even required to ask. That's the benefit of working in an alternative school.
I wonder if there isn't away for these kids to be grateful WHILE they are learning, instead of after. Four years of doing something you hate is a really long time.
Also, what exactly are they grateful for? Because they were able to get jobs after graduation? Go on to college?
If I'm going to teach, I want to have my students be grateful that I taught them to think for themselves.
I see your point.
Most of them are grateful that they had a group of people who believed in them. A number of my kids not only would like to drop out of school, but would like to run away from home, drink all night, be drugged out...they are forced to go to school sometimes for their own safety...I work in a really different school. It's such a tiny population of students under the special education umbrella.
What kind of school do you work at Alanna?
What I keep thinking about is what happens between elementary school when kids love to learn and love to be there, and high school when they want to do anything to escape--including drinking and doing drugs. Kids spend a huge percentage of their life in school, the schools have to have some responsibility for what's happening.
I work at a school for emotionally disturbed kids.
13% of all pulic school children are special ed...of that 13% only 1% is emotionally disturbed. Of that 1%, 8.3 are disturbed enough to be put in a special program...that's my school for my county and the one north of us. If my kids can't make it here, many are hospitalized or gp to residential...I work with a very special population.
There is something that happens between elementary school and high school...it has something, I think, to do with harmones, rebellion, and wanting to return to the lack of academimc responsibility that we have in elementary school. I don't know what the cure is, but you might find it Shaunta! You are so smart and optimistic about this!
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