The disruption that I have found to be the most common in my classroom is a lack of intrinsic motivation. This lack of interest in one’s own education is exasperated by parents who are not involved in their children’s education. These parents also support their children’s lack of interest by complaining to the teacher or administrators when they believe that their child is being pushed too hard or given too much work. Children are expected to do less in school than they were a generation ago, yet parents still try to protect their children by inadvertently undermining the educational process. Students feed off of each other’s complaints about the workload and parents complain to each other about the amount of work that their children are receiving in class. In most courses, little work is required outside of the classroom because students do not bother to do their work and parents support their children in their refusal to complete the assignments. There appears to be no support in the home environment for the teachers and the teachers’ efforts to assign work that will benefit the student.
Michael B. Horn, who has coauthored a book about the disruptive theory with Mr. Christensen and also heads a think tank in Massachusetts, also incorporates Howard Gardner’s multiple intelligences theory as a part of a way of addressing needs in education (Trotter, 2008). Mr. Horn was referring to Mr. Gardner’s multiple intelligences theory and how children and adults as well, have different styles of learning. People learn predominantly by one or two of the seven learning styles. Teachers can better reach their students if the teacher understands their students’ preferred learning style and adapt their instruction to match their preferred method of learning.
In my school classroom, building, and district, there is little support from the parents regarding their children’s education. I have experienced parents who, at the end of the school year, have had no discussions with their child about school all year and do not even know the names of their children’s teachers. When students complain about the amount of work they are receiving, seldom do parents hear the teacher’s side or rationale for the work, rather, the parents support their child’s interpretation and demand that the work load be reduced. Even the youngest students have parents that do not open their school bags to look at completed work or to check if there are any assignments to be done at home. Once the student is home, school is over for the day.
If all parents would at least have some involvement in their young child’s education, it would establish a pattern that homework is important and a necessary tool for learning. For older students, it would benefit the students if parents asked about the work that is being done both in and out of class and he reasons for the assignments. Instead, parents often support their children’s immature and irrational minds instead of learning the reasons for the work and supporting the teacher in requiring that the student complete the assignment. Students are often more willing to complete assignments when the use of technology is involved. Perhaps once a pattern of success of initial work has been established, a student can then progress to using more technology when completing assignments.
Elementary administrators can support teachers and benefit the students in trying to lessen the apathy that many families have about educational work outside of the school day. Emphasizing to the parents of the youngest students the importance of checking school bags daily will help to create a routine that can be followed for many years. Requiring parents to sign a child’s agenda nightly can help enforce this involvement. By trying to have even the youngest students have ownership in this nightly exercise to train their parents would also be helpful. This can be done by incorporating a reward system and privileges for students who get the agenda signed. When needed, a significantly older sibling, grandparent, or other influential adult can perform the parent’s role. For older students, ensuring that there are positive and negative consequences in place and uniformly given for positive parental involvement will also help the students engage the parents. Children can be the bridge to taking ownership of their studies. The earlier this is done, the more established the routine will be.
References
Trotter, A. (2008). Scholars discuss 'disruptive innovation' in K-12 education. Education Week,
28(11), 9-n/a. Retrieved from
