Why are American kids learning "nothing?"

This semester, I have been volunteering at a tutoring program at one of the middle schools here in Columbia.  As part of their tutoring, the kids are required to keep a learning log, where they record all the key points of what they learn in class each day.  I think I have lost count of many students write, “I didn’t really learn anything today,” in their logs.  It’s my job to tell these kids that they must write down at least one thing that they learned, but it still makes me wonder, do they really think that they aren’t learning a single thing in class?  The video I chose asks the similar question, “Why are American kids learning nothing?”  More importantly, if these young people really think they aren’t learning anything, then what their teachers teaching them?        

One of the teachers interviewed in the video expresses her concern about students not spending enough time in the classroom.  She placed a significant emphasis on students missing her class for exploratory classes like band, dance, and athletics.  Howard Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences contradicts this teacher’s complaint, but suggesting that there are at least eight different intelligences:  linguistic, logical-mathematical, spatial, musical, bodily-kinesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal, and naturalist (Ormond, 2006).  Gardner’s ideas challenges our system of education that thinks all children can learn and be tested in the same, uniform manner (Lane).  Exploratory classes are not meant to distract from learning, but rather to help students find their individual talents and intelligences to foster learning.

Another teacher in the video insisted that we force students to succeed.  Last time I was around middle school and high school students, I remember fairly distinctly that you can’t force them to do much of anything.  I think a better way to push for success is through motivation.  As impossible as it may seem, our job as educators is to motivate students to learn.  The hardest part of motivating students is trying to reach every corner of the diverse population of young people in the classroom.  Like one of the interviewed teachers mentioned in the video, “We don’t teach to each individual student; we teach to a standard.”

Many teachers blame the school curriculums for this problem, but I think teachers are partially responsible as well.  In the video, multiple teachers mentioned that our student population is incredibly diverse, so there is no one size fits all curriculum to educate them all.  To fully embrace the diversity of our students, we need to find ways to bring the diversity of the world into our classroom as well.  This means encouraging students to actively participate in learning, through projects and class discussion.  For students to get motivated, teachers have to find relevance in the material and present it in a way that interests them.  This idea is supported by the Expectancy-Value Theory, which states that a learner’s motivation is determined by how much they value the material and whether they expect to succeed.  If students do not see the value or relevance of learning, it is doubtful they will be motivated to participate in the learning process.

I think this video was intended to bash government regulated school curriculums because they do make teachers jobs more challenging.  When you have students with different goals and interests, a universal education plan to help them all get to where they think they should be going does not exist.  The point these teachers in the video missed is that you cannot place the sole blame on the curriculum for students we find to be “unsuccessful.”  When given a diverse classroom, educators should embrace the challenge and find a way to reach every single one of their students.  We need to show students how the material they are learning now will be applicable later on in life.  When given a real-world perspective, students will hopefully gain motivation to continue learning throughout the rest of their youth and adult life.

Sources: 

Ormond, J. E. (2006). Educational Psychology: Developing Learners. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc. 

Lane, C. Multiple Intelligences. Web site: http://www.tecweb.org/styles/gardner.html

The Expectancy-value Theory of Motivation. Web site: http://www.teacherstoolbox.co.uk/T_Expectancy-value.html