Breaking Barriers: Unleashing Academic Excellence

THE CHALLENGE

Education, then, beyond all other devices of human origin is the great equalizer of the conditions of men- the balance wheel of machinery. Horace Mann

Toxically motivated, angry, and disconnected students – sound familiar? When the bell rings for the first time to signal the beginning of the new school year, hundreds of these students march in. They enter with all the other smiling faces without a hint of what is really behind their cheery appearance.

But once in the classroom, they sometimes can exhibit toxic motivation, and anger, and show signs of being disconnected from the learning process. William Glasser, author of Counseling with Choice Theory: The New Reality Therapy (2001) believes that students have a reason for behaving in a particular manner. Glasser believes that children misbehave to avoid a less appealing or less painful alternative.

When teachers plan their academic instruction for a class, they expect participation and contribution from all students. However, toxically motivated, angry, and disconnected students show little interest in classroom activities and refuse to participate. Teachers are frustrated with the attitude and behavior of some students. As a result, teacher/student relationships sometimes become strained and ultimately result in a vicious power struggle. The power struggle may eventually escalate to a referral to an administrator for the smallest infraction. Consequently, an environment of hostility can be created in the classroom and learning opportunities are lessened significantly.

The task of managing student’s hostile classroom environment and maintaining an environment that is conducive to learning for all students can become overwhelming and complex. Managing student behavior in the classroom presents a greater challenge when students are toxically motivated, angry, and disconnected from the learning process. The success of the teacher in managing the behavior of these students will depend upon the techniques and strategies the teacher selects to encourage disconnected students to engage in the learning process (Coil, 2001).

Teachers need to have a thorough understanding of what causes toxically motivated, angry, and disconnected students to exhibit disruptive behavior. This understanding will enable teachers to determine the most appropriate techniques and strategies to use with these students to engage them in the learning process. Professional educators and community members oftentimes offer a variety of explanations. Most will agree that home environment, significant others, caretakers, societal influences, experiences, personalities, and other factors each play a part in determining the moods and goals the students bring to the classroom.

I have concluded after working with students for close to three decades that a reason students bring toxic motivation, anger, and disconnectedness to the classroom is that these students feel limited in their ability to participate in the classroom environment in meaningful and expected ways. They have met with repeated failure in the past and they fear more of the same. This leaves them feeling powerless with a deepening need for positive affirmations. William Glasser, author, and behavioral expert believes that all human beings have five basic needs: love, freedom, power, fun, and belonging. Glasser also believes that a person will do whatever it takes for as long as it takes to meet a perceived need to the point of one’s satisfaction. Unfortunately, for some students, this process could take years and an enormous amount of emotional and psychological energy. This happens partly because these students lack a clear understanding of how to satisfy their needs resulting in motivation, anger, and disconnectedness.

When students believe that they are failures and think they will continue to fail in the future, poor decision-making can be perpetuated. Poor decisions can have a direct impact on academic achievement. Some educators refer to this as the failure syndrome and some define it as learned helplessness (Brophy, 1998, Lumsden, 1994).

These students eventually feel unworthy, unloved, and powerless to change their circumstances. They also view their environment as hostile, uncaring, and unresponsive to their needs. Once these unhealthy views become fully integrated into their psyches, their behaviors mirror their views and manifest in a variety of negative ways. Regrettably, the negative ways in which students manifest their behaviors are through aggression and frustration. Mary Fitzsimmons (1998) suggests that a nurturing and caring environment is one means of providing an antidote for aggression and frustration.

I have worked with thousands of students over the years. Some were motivated to achieve in school while others were like the students I have described here. The most common characteristics among students who wanted to achieve were:

• they felt empowered to offer something to others
• they felt accepted by others
• they felt valued by others
• they felt respected by others
• they exhibited high self-esteem and self-worth

Educators are presented with a great challenge to create environments and opportunities that can enhance learning and encourage motivated, angry, and disconnected students to fully engage in the learning process. Jeremy Brophy (1998) suggests that this environment can be created when teachers provide support, encouragement, and task assistance. Stephen Covey (1990) agrees and emphasizes the importance of teachers communicating care and respect for students to aid in the creation of encouraging classroom environments.

Most students will thrive in a caring classroom environment and for toxically motivated, angry, and disconnected students such an environment has enormous benefits. Overwhelmingly, research has shown schools that make it a priority to meet students’ basic human needs of support, caring, empathy, acceptance, and respect, foster motivation to learn (Purkey, 1999, Bonnie, Lumsden,1997). The indication is clear, if professional educators want to provide the best possible learning environment for students, they must send a clear message that they care not only about what students learn but also how students learn and what they need.

An e-copy of this book can be downloaded from the Village Shop for a nominal fee OR click here Regenia Rawlinson’s Amazon Author Page to order this book from Amazon.com

NOE: This course is 7 hours. The 7 hours refers to the time it will take for teachers to review the activities in each section. The time to complete the activities with the students will depend on the level of students and modifications to the activities.