When Faith is Lost

I’ve analyzed Anne Frank’s quote, “A person who’s happy will make others happy; a person who has courage and faith will never die in misery.” Now, I’d like to test this, specifically to see what happens when kids lose faith in themselves and when the system as a whole is lost. 

Student Growth

There are internal and external forces at work here. The external forces preventing growth are either system failure or a troubling home life scenario. We’ll discuss the system failure later. The internal matter is a student’s loss of drive. This can happen at several stages, and the most difficult is at the onset. I give directions, and students immediately complain or declare ruin.

When students stop before starting, it must fall under a few categories: they don’t care, the task is indeed difficult, the value is not clearly stated, or they feel overwhelmed. There may be alternatives as well. In my experience, it generally comes down to value. I recently listened to a group of upperclassmen discussing schoolwork. From the sounds of it, they didn’t understand the purpose. As teachers, we must clearly explain the value of each assignment. Something as simple as, “this assignment is designed to improve your note-taking abilities and active listening skills.”

Not caring sometimes stems from not understanding why they need to do the work. There’s a lot of pushback. I can appreciate not wanting to do busy work. However, a lot of kids simply don’t care; they have apathy for learning. 

The one that frustrates me the most is not trying. Learned helplessness is a clear and present danger to society. Students are barely putting in a minute of dedicated work before declaring surrender. I really hope we can resolve this before they move to adulthood. Without a backbone of self-faith, these kids are screwed. 

“I can’t do this.” “I need help.” “Can you come over here and do this?” All statements made nearly before the directions are finished. They show avoidance, dependence, and surrender. It shows a loss of belief in themselves.

For some of these, students have lost faith in the function of education. They see no reason to carry on. This is disheartening as it usually distracts others and isn’t a form of asking for help. “I can’t do this” is less helpful than “I’m struggling with x. Can you help me, please?”

When Faith Fails

Yielding before trying is a failure of faith. It signifies a lack of belief in success. A loss of drive at later points ties into a drop in courage. This is where student determination pushes them through several challenges. Eventually, they may get stuck, but their ask for help is clear…usually. A drop in courage is easier to resolve than a complete lack of faith.

I try to move through a few solutions. Does this relate to the system, the value, the directions, or something else? Once I have a cause, it’s easier to solve.

To have faith in those who have no faith is the most challenging situation. One thing I noticed last week is that I’m beginning to forget what it was like to be a high school kid. My sympathy is lower. I think that comes from the learned helplessness primarily. I don’t understand their lack of trying. It’s not that I won’t help them, of course, but they need to show some effort.

I’m curious from other educators if you ever lose that sense, a feeling of being a teen. 

System Failure

An educational system failure is just one of the many external factors. I should clarify that all I know is the American system. I’ve heard about others, but I’ve only worked in the United States. System failure can be seen at different levels, from national right on down to the classroom. We all run our rooms differently, and sometimes I wonder if mine is poorly operated. I think we all struggle with that. I’m simply unable to serve every student perfectly. From learning styles, capabilities, and expectations, there’s a lot to manage.

The system of education was once formed to create workers. Even still, this sentiment is aired by supervisors. I heard in a meeting, “Our job is to create productive workers.” This befuddled me! My belief is that we should instill children with the faith and courage to learn. Learning should be self-motivated. Learning should be engaging, and if that’s not happening, much of the issue starts from the top with 100-year old ideas slowing us down.

Unfortunately, I feel powerless as an individual. My role is not administration. My classroom is my domain. Making learning engaging is what I try to do every day, but that doesn’t change any part of the system. It seems to me that those who hold this idea that education is simply to create workers should consider early retirement. Now, students should certainly become productive members of society, but that just means being respectful and kind. Maybe they start a business instead of becoming an employee.

Grades, Grades, Grades

One thing I continue to notice is kids asking, “do we need to know this?” The easy answer is yes, but what’s behind it? Students are learning to check boxes and get good grades. They aren’t learning to learn. The education system seems to be failing them in that regard. Their lack of faith in the system might be warranted. How many countless times has a discussion been interrupted by “hey! So and so just posted their grades!” I’m not sure how to solve this problem besides removing every screen from the class. Still, it is their faith in themselves that must strengthen. 

Teachers, parents, students, and administrators are all responsible for education, but the students should begin to shoulder their own weight. As teachers, we need to model resilience and self-faith. Even so, that’s difficult when we’re tired and impatient.