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What Do Students Mean When They Say School is “Boring”?
What Do Students Mean When They Say School is “Boring”?
In this sidebar in a Kappan article, Colorado educators Lois Brown Easton and Michael Soguero say that educators’ response to students who say they’re bored is often, “We’re not here to entertain you. We’re here to teach you what you need to know.” But the most recent results from the High School Survey of Student Engagement (HSSSE) show that there are many meanings behind the word “boring”:
- I’m not engaged.
- I’m not learning.
- I already know this.
- This has nothing to do with me.
- It’s too hard.
- It’s too easy.
- It’s not real world.
- I don’t like working alone.
- I don’t like working with this group.
- My problems are occupying my mind much more than this topic.
- I’m worried about ---.
- No one really cares.
- No one knows me and how I learn.
According to HSSSE, nearly half of students say they are bored every day, and 17 percent say they are bored in every class.
“Challenging Assumptions: Helping Struggling Students Succeed” by Lois Brown Easton and Michael Soguero in Phi Delta Kappan, February 2011 (Vol. 95, #5, p. 4),
Comment
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Comment by Robert. B. Vellani, PhD on January 30, 2016 at 6:57am
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I highly recommend showing your students the RSA Animate video on Carol Dweck's Mixed and Growth Mindset. This ten-minute video is a conversation starter that challenges the students to ask themselves where they place themselves. Next, since none of us are completely fixed or growth at all times, I asked students to list five areas where they are fixed and where they are growth. This furthered the conversation. The Final Word is this - the 21st Century economy requires self-directed, growth mindset citizens.
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