‘Good Student’

The phrase, “they are a good student” has remained the same for many decades now, this phrase includes doing well on standardize testing, understanding how to read, write, and work through arithmetic. This also includes having polite manners, listening to teachers, acting appropriate in all situations and being able to complete all the outcomes that the teacher is wanting the students to know. What many of the teachers forget is that we want children who are willing to learn and show interest in what they enjoy which is not always every subject and it is the teacher’s job to help students love learning. Even if the student is not interested in the subject, we want to encourage all types of learners and personalities into the classroom. The “good student” used to be student who would listen, was quiet, complete their work, do well on tests, and would not be distributive in class. As education and the school systems change the realization that all student is unique and learn differently, teachers realized that student must be able to learn in their own unique way. Teachers realized that even though students do poorly on a test does not mean they do not understand the material; it simply means they do not enjoy taking tests. The students that are privileged by this definition of a ‘good student’ are the majority European children, who are able to afford education and understand what education should look like to students. For example, when I was in ECS 100 field placement there was a child who moved right from Araba and was very disruptive in the classroom but the teacher never got upset. He would tell me that the little boy was not used to being in a school where this was how students learned, he did not know that children must listen to the teacher and sit in his desk to do his work. Students that are English speaking white European background that have no disabilities are the students who are considered to be good students according to the National Committee of Ten which is still evident in todays curriculum. According to the common sense ideas students that are seen as bad students are not smart but this, we know now is simply just not true. Students who think outside the box and question or critique the teacher are not seen as good critical thinking students but students who are disobeying the teacher.