Setting
students up to fail - behave!
I heard a statement, that
if we encourage students towards their aims or goals that we deem, or in other
words, judge to be unrealistic, then we are setting them up to fail. I disagree.
No matter how useless, hopeless, impossible or totally ridiculous a students
dream may appear to any one of us, we have no right to squash dreams, hopes and
aspirations for a future life that an individual aspires to have. You may laugh
at my view point and accuse me of being a dreamer and so believe that I am in
fact the one being unrealistic, and that is your opinion to have, but before
you decide read on.
We see and know a student
only in their school environment. They may not be academically talented. They
may possibly have behavioural, emotional, psychological and / or even learning
difficulties not to mention physical challenges, medical conditions, as well as
social and background factors that are not conducive to success, but, beyond
this, I say, that we cannot ever know who will and will not succeed. All that
teachers are doing if they say 'you are setting them up for failure' in
response to encouraging a dream or goal that a teacher or group of teachers
deem unreachable for that student is enforcing labels, stereotypes and negative
psychological beliefs for that child.
Now to be a little extreme
in example: a student with no legs and no academic ability at all may wish to
be an astronaut. Anyone looking in from the outside might scoff and say - 'no
way' - especially if he cannot read, write or even walk! Yet, what if he has
dexterity, skills or abilities that we do not recognize within the framework of
main stream schooling. What if we do not recognise or appreciate that it will
be the very skills we cannot see and do not recognize that are in his later
life exactly the skills and attributes needed for a specific task or role in
NASA! Laughing yet? An extreme example, I know, but the point is there are
millions of individuals in the world that were told they would amount to
nothing and yet have gone on to prove everyone wrong. We, YOU, do not know what
opportunity the world will offer this student in the future. I guess, the
‘realist’ in you would see that there is a 99.99999% probability that this
student will in fact never become an astronaut but there is always, and I
repeat, ALWAYS a chance that in some way the world will present an opportunity
for this student to achieve exactly what they wanted to attain, whether in 1
year, 5, 10, 20 or 50 years time from now. Your job is not to judge their life
outcomes for the future but to equip them with the knowledge, skills and belief
in themselves that they could if they wanted to, reach any dream they give
themselves.
Furthermore, what if there
is the lighting of a tiny spark inside a person sometime after leaving school.
We do not know what students will achieve in 5, 10, 15, 20 or more years after
leaving school. How their lives, attitudes, abilities might develop or the
opportunities that may present or how and when they may change their lives
around. We have no right to judge a students future based on here and now. I
agree that we need to equip students for what we might see as 'realistic'
expectations and positions whatever they may be from cleaners, shop assistants,
trades, etc but that does not mean that these same individuals will not far
excel these positions in the future, thus becoming leaders, millionaires,
philanthropists or inventors of amazing things later in life. Maybe they will be
our future nurses, police enforcers, politicians, motivators, teachers,
musicians, artists, actors or medical professionals. They may discover amazing
things in the world we never knew about before their discovery. There are
millions of examples of this in ‘real’ life – I challenge you to investigate.
My message is, no matter
how unreachable or unrealistic YOU think a students or any individuals dream or
aspiration(s) may appear now, do not judge them based on your perceptions or
the persons skills, abilities, life status or attributes here and now, but
rather encourage them to be the best that they could possibly be in the future.
Some may never, in fact, reach their goals, but many others will. Believing in
an individuals dream, aspiration or goal regardless of any personal judgment,
thought or so called professional opinion is not what matters. What matters is
the way we each approach each students dream. A dream they were brave enough to
voice and state. A dream which should not be met with ridicule, doubt or put
downs however diplomatic, but with thoughtfulness, belief and hope. The only
person who can set a person up for failure is the individual themself.
A Maori proverb says if you
aim for the moon you may land on a star. This is what we, as teachers, should
be encouraging. Life in general will squish hopes and knock the stuffing out of
dreams people have. What we should do as teachers is believe in the impossible
because then the impossible can become possible. This may not happen in a
traditional, logical or what we may determine to be a normal process/way but
individuals can be remarkable if only given the chance; an opportunity to
ASPIRE. I would say believe in even those that present the worst behavioural
problems, those that seemingly appear a hopeless case or a worthless cause - .
Banish the negative and embrace the positive and you will, if even once in a 50
year professional career, witness a real miracle. Have faith in everyone - they
may disappoint and fail but if just one person shows belief in them, if you
show belief in them, then maybe, just maybe that will be all that is needed for
them to amaze not only you, but themselves.
Statements like 'the Idiot
of the Week', 'a lost cause', 'he/she is heading for a life in prison' or 'they
are heading for a life on the dole' or statements like 'your goals are
unrealistic', and 'maybe you should focus on something more realistic', and
especially 'don't set your students up for failure' and 'maybe you should lower
your expectations' are nothing more than cop outs for those who have lost faith
in others. Possibly, we may deem these negative comments as justified if viewed
from the view of the teachers who are making the predications having being
proven correct over decades working with students who have in fact let them
down or failed, but labelling, stereotyping and predicting outcomes only fuel a
students negative view of themselves, the world, the school environment and
elicits comments from students like 'that teacher doesn't give a fuck about me'
thus leading on to even more behavioural issues, societal discourse and
disconnection from all they dared hope and wish for. It fuels their thoughts of
worthlessness, what’s the point and I may as well give up now.
I am not so foolish to
believe that all those with serious issues will exceed all expectations or that
some students will not end up in prison, on drugs or not be a drain on society
but I firmly believe that even if this is proven a reality it is not a teachers
place to voice this other than in a genuine concern rather than as a label, stereotype,
as fact or an inevitable end situation. To get personal for a moment and to
give a real example: my social worker at school told me I was destined for
drugs and other things I would rather not repeat - even my biological father
stated this many times in a drunken stupor. The truth is that I never did
drugs or even smoked a cigarette and I would have died rather than do the other
things he and the social worker said I would end up doing. Needless to say they
planted seeds that made me feel I was worthless, would never achieve anything
at all and I had no real right to be born at all! I left school with no real
qualifications and it wasn't until I was 26 years old I attained any small
academic success. Even then I couldn't believe it. My secondary school teachers
believed I was a lost cause based on always being in tatty, or tissue covered
uniforms, having greasy hair and rarely having toothpaste at home so brushing
my teeth with salt. I was quiet, uninterested, silently concerned for my older
brother who stopped learning due to being beaten or yelled awake every other
night by a drunken father and when reduced to tears by him was yelled at even
more 'those are just crocodile tears' before being left to get some sleep and
then having to get up for school the next day. Money left for bus fares would
be taken to be spent on booze and our biological father used to replace it when
he got back but it was never enough to actually catch the bus to school so we had
to walk it. Not a great imposition but unnecessary for already tired, yelled
at, poked, put down and broken kids who felt worthless and doomed. Kids afraid
to say anything in case you got what he did to your mother - a good punch in
the stomach and a yell of 'you deserved that' to try and justify his actions or
being smacked across the face and even having a leg broken as happened to me.
As teachers we cannot fix these problems but you can nurture hopes and dreams
however crazy you may consider them.
The point is - YOU, whether
a teacher, social worker, or some kind of professional DO NOT KNOW how a
persons life might change when finally getting away from a situation like this.
You DO NOT KNOW. These kids have issues whether psychological, emotional, physical
or otherwise that you, unless you have experienced their lives, cannot even
start to comprehend. Even if you are an expert in your field you cannot truly
know who, what or where they are in life. You especially cannot know where they
will end up. I was told I would never be a marine biologist. My social worker
even stopped me from choosing science as an option as school. Yet, 11 years later I started my
university career and 20 years later I qualified as a marine biologist. My
brother on the other hand turned to drugs and still could not read and write in
his 40s. Teachers ridiculing him contributed to that outcome.
It is imperative that if a
person comes to you with an "unbelievable aim" that you do your best
to give them the skills and abilities to get them through life. Give them
skills to work in a shop, with people, in the trades, with manual work or
anything at all but do not believe for one moment they will never achieve what
you see as impossible. Make clear what they will need to do to reach their
goals - plant the seed of 'how will I achieve this if I want to' rather than
outright throw away their dreams. They may not achieve it by the end of their
school days, but maybe in 20 years, 30 years or even longer or possibly over a
remarkably shorter amount of time they will remember their dream and goal and
the person, (YOU), that once believed they could attain it. It is this, maybe
even long after you are dead, that may well spur them on and give them the fuel
they need to change their life. This happens all the time to those in prison,
those who reach the very bottom of their own existence and those who get to a
point in their own lives where they can look back and then see the future in a
different way.
Plant the seed - believe -
if you are wrong it doesn't matter. What is worst, is not believing and
contributing to the death of what might have otherwise become a reality, if
only you had placed a tiny but of faith, even if a bemused, smirking or amused
faith, in someone. Let your students look back with a light of reflection
instead of a view of negativeness. Thats all it takes.
Now, if you judge me as a
dreamer, do so, but no matter how far away, impossible or ridiculous a dream or
goal may seem to me, no matter the student, I plan to encourage, support and
make clear the pathway for students to achieve their goals. If then a student
fails, I still did my job and in the process assisted them to gain skills that
are transferrable to many professions and hopefully also helped in raising
self-esteem and a view of the world that is not so bleak, painful or
dismissing: a world where anyone can do anything, if they wish to do so. The
road may not be easy but it is possible if one believes it and commits to it.
Those I once lived on the street with prove that. It is not my story that is
amazing or unique, but the story of others who had it far worst than I who now
live exceptional lives. My personal story is not unique, it is one of millions
of experiences and compared to many, I have not yet achieved anything. I am
asking that you believe and don’t give up. That you encourage and support
however useless you think it is. It might just be you that makes that tiny
miniscule bit of difference that results in a person, one day, making a good
choice rather than any number of bad ones on offer.
I'm only asking that you
help their next story begin and end yours with 'I did my best - it is now up to
you.' Encourage your students to rise to their dreams. If not in a position to
do so now, then plant the seed of belief for the far away future whilst giving
them the skills they need in the immediate future. Each one of us can make a
difference. We might never know it, but we can rest assured we did our best.
Who dropped
out of school and became famous?
Successful individuals who dropped out of school
Here is a list of individuals who apparently dropped
out of school and managed to build a successful and very lucrative career in
many different areas. I haven't verified the content of this webpage and take
no responsibility for any errors. The point is just to show that academia is
not for everyone but that does not mean these people cannot achieve great
things. Anyone can still excel in their chosen career and reach goals that some
of us with an excess of qualifications may only dream about. That is not to say
I do not value my education, I loved it, but academia is not a one glove fits
all item. Many individuals have brought and given to the world much more than I
probably ever will even with my wall full of academic awards. Here are just a
few of the amazing people who have given so much of themselves for the benefit,
enjoyment and entertainment of others. Artists, scientists and others.
•
Christina Applegate, American actress; dropped out of Excelsior High
School in Los Angeles at age seventeen to pursue her acting career.
•
Bo Derek
•
Jude Law
ARTISTS
AUTHORS,
POETS, AND PLAYWRIGHTS
BUSINESS
LEADERS AND ENTREPRENEURS
•
Ray Kroc
COMEDIANS
FILM
DIRECTORS
•
John Woo
MUSICIANS,
SINGERS, AND COMPOSERS
•
Beck
•
Bo Bice
•
Cher
•
Eminem
•
Jay-Z
•
Kid Rock
•
Don Omar
•
Nelly
•
Prince
•
Axl Rose
•
Ja Rule
•
Scarface
•
Seal
NEWS
ANCHORS, JOURNALISTS, AND REPORTERS
POLITICIANS,
SOCIALITES, AND ROYALTY
SCIENTISTS
AND INVENTORS
SPORTS
PLAYERS
UNCATEGORIZED
•
Twiggy
•
Mae West
