“Good Students”

According to common sense, a good student is someone who sits quietly when the teacher is talking, who speaks when told to speak and sits still and does their homework. A good student will do all the homework raked of them and won’t challenge what is being taught. This idea is very problematic because not every student functions this way. This way of thinking privileges the children who are able to learn in the same way that the teacher teaches. Because they conform to their teaches methods, they are seen as ‘good students’. This disadvantages students who learn differently, you have been brought up with different ideas and beliefs and they are made to believe they are ‘bad’. It broke my heart reading the story Kumashiro wrote about his student M. This student didn’t learn in the same way as the other students and because of that he thought he was being bad. As hard as he tried to be ‘good’ he just couldn’t get there. Some students thrive in structure and some students are suffocated by it. As teachers we need to be aware of how all students learn and be careful to not teach in an oppressive way just to fit them into the mold.