The “Good Student”

To be a good student, according to commonsense understandings, you must follow instructions and do things exactly the way the teacher wants them done. You must behave as the teacher expects. As Kimoshiro points out in his chapter M was not a bad student; she did not learn how he wanted her to. The same goes for N; he was a very talented writer, but when he had to write about themes of stories decided by the school, his true skills and talent were not shown. Students also have to be flexible to meet different teachers’ views of what a good student is. For example, in my first English class at university, our professor wanted us to write our thesis in a specific way. My next English classes professor hated that kind of thesis and wanted us to write it differently. If I had written my thesis in the second class the way I did in my first class, my professor would think I am a terrible student and do not understand how to write a thesis.

I’ve often thought about what students are privileged by this definition of a good student. Throughout school, I always was at the top of my class. My friends and I often wondered if we were there because we were smart, or because we were “good at playing the game.” We were good at reading rubrics and following directions. We were never more intelligent than the rest of the class; we just happened to learn the way the teacher was teaching. Students who can learn in the colonial style of education are privileged because they can pick up these skills through note-taking, lectures, and exams. Students who learn in different ways, who may struggle following directions or have test anxiety, would be at a disadvantage in the classroom.

The good student is the student who can learn in the colonial classroom comes as no surprise when you look at education historically. The History of Education makes it clear that they believe the colonial style of teaching is best. Putting down the education styles in China and its language is “very difficult to learn, on the account of the sign-character,” the article puts down Chinese culture and their education system. India’s education system is ridiculed in the article for its style of learning outside, its ‘inferior’ pace, and its religion. These education traits are all viewed as negative in the article because they do not fit with the colonial commonsense understanding of what they think education should be.

Kumashiro (2010). Against Common Sense, Chapter 2 (pp. 19 – 33) – “Preparing Teachers for Crisis: What It Means to Be a Student”.

Painter (1886). A History of Education p.1-21