Why do students sometimes back away from learning?

Question

Why do students sometimes back away from learning?

Answer 1

I agree with what has already been said, but want to add another example. I've taught middle school for 16 years, my whole career. In 7th grade, we revisit the writing process, and I always became faced with students who were very reluctant to write. Why? A teacher once told them they were not good at writing, so why try. Those words may not be exactly what the teacher said, but that is what my students heard. Somewhere in their past, a teacher did not encourage them, and in writing, this is such a personal art form, conveying that message in any form is hurtful. So I spent much of my time reaffirming these poor kids showing them they could write! Many moved on to becoming extremely proficient. One even won a writing contest, to which they sent word back to that teacher who made them feel like a failure. Students are with us all day, or much of the day, so we have tremendous influence in their lives. It's not to be taken lightly.

Answer 2

Students back away from learning because they don't find it interesting or meaningful to their lives. If they want to know something, they will spend the time trying to understand it. For example, if a student likes video games and they have a book or an article that explains how to win more easily, they will probably do what it takes to understand that article. I think the mistake we make as teachers is giving students texts that are "boring" or "useless" from the students' perspective. We can teach vocabulary, text structure, text features, grammar, comprehension and fluency with any piece of text. A motivated learner is actually learning.

When it comes to core content that a student has to master and is not necessarily "interesting," we can create interest by asking the student to review it. Give us your opinion. How has the writer failed? How would you do it better? Create a blog post or an online review for the world to see.

We could also turn content into real world projects. Project based learning adds the relevancy element. We aren't just learning to add knowledge to our brains; we are learning to make a difference in the world. That's motivating.

Answer 3

Students can sometimes be discouraged by new concepts and information. It is natural for humans to want to be successful. When we are beginners, it seems as if we don't know anything about a topic or subject. The amount of information that is to still be learned can seem overwhelming. This can create fear in a student and cause them to back away from learning. Humans often fear what they don't know. As we gain more knowledge, we also gain more confidence in that topic and sometimes even ourselves. Its crucial to keep learning so that we can grow as humans.

Answer 4

Education can sometimes not be individualized enough to the person.

You have to go at the right pace. You have to temper harder activities with ones that are easier.

You have to find a way to connect hard subjects to subjects that the learner enjoys and feels safe with.

Read a book about their favorite place: maybe it is the beach. Read a book about a Disney movie like Frozen, or try to identify key details, characters, etc, with a fun movie rather than something dry. Connect a math activity to the same types of things. Find what makes them light up and then show them how that connects to the harder activities.

You also have to be empathetic and never make someone feel chastised for trying, even if they have a hard time or it takes multiple tries. Sometimes that means you need more repetition, and sometimes it means you need to incorporate a new fun way, or maybe both.

You have to be constantly willing to find new materials and ways to engage the student so that they can go out of their comfort zone and start learning new things previously uncomfortable or unknown to them. Those aha moments are moments that are winning for both the student and the instructor every time.