|
Home | Bio | Resources | Workshops | Conferences | E-zine | Teacher Idea Exchange | Links | Contact |
|||
|
E-zine Underachievement:
What Is It? What Causes
It? What is
underachievement? Underachievement is
one of those popular "catch-all" terms that means
something different to nearly everyone who hears
it. In one sense, we are all
underachievers. Studies have been done which
show that all humans use only a small percentage of
their total brain capacity. Additionally,
most of us could pinpoint projects or activities,
tests or papers where we could have put forth more
effort than we actually did. Almost everyone
can recall something in which they could have done
a better job. However, the
underachieving students we are considering in this
e-zine article are more than this. These students
have a significant gap between their ability and
what they actually produce and achieve in
school. This type of underachievement is
usually degenerative. Signs begin in the
early grades and the effects are cumulative as the
child grows older. While the signs of
underachievement may begin in the early years,
middle school, intermediate school or junior high
usually marks the highest point of consistent
underachievement. Underachievers are
students who, in a significant way, are not working
up to their potential. These students often
see "YOU CAN DO BETTER" written boldly in red on
homework, classwork and test papers, and receive
this message in many other ways, both verbally and
non-verbally. However, for a variety of
reasons they continue to do much less than they are
capable of doing. Underachievement
can be considered an "umbrella" term. I am
often asked about the relationship between
underachievement and various learning difficulties
such as learning disabilities, behavioral
disorders, ADD and ADHD. These are types of
underachievement. However, underachievement
does not only indicate specific disorders.
Instead, it is a generic term and encompasses much
more than that. What types of
kids are underachievers? How do they differ
from achieving students both in and out of school?
The vast majority
of underachieving elementary or primary school
students are boys. This is due, in part, to
the traditional structure of the school itself with
its emphasis on straight rows of desks, quiet
learning, and compliant behavior. Such a
school setting is usually more suitable for girls
than boys. Less noticed,
perhaps, are the underachieving girls of
intermediate, middle and high school age.
When adolescence comes, some girls who have done
well in elementary school suddenly develop an
interest in boys and decide it isn't "cool" to be
so smart. Many prefer not to demonstrate
their intelligence, feeling that if they do, the
boys will not like them as much. In studies
comparing underachievers and high achievers, a
significant difference in self-concept, school
attitudes, and out-of-school pursuits is shown
between the two groups. Underachievers
usually have low self-esteem and a fear of
failure. Behaviorally, they are often
described as "immature" or "behavior
problems". Most lack motivation for
schoolwork and say that they are bored with
school. Ironically, many
underachieving students do not need to study
in the primary grades and as a result they may lack
basic study, time management and organizational
skills by the time they reach the middle or
intermediate level. Gifted and talented
students may become underachievers if they have not
been challenged in school and therefore have never
discovered how to learn something that is
difficult. How do schools
contribute to underachievement? Reasons for
underachievement may come from the school.
Some teachers have impossible standards while
others may have low expectations of their students.
Either way, underachievement can result.
Other teachers are too strict or repressive and
lack patience with students who ask difficult
questions, do not conform, are divergent rather
than convergent thinkers, etc. This type of
classroom climate eventually turns students off to
school. Many times, the
make-up of the school system itself contributes to
underachievement. The conforming nature of
the school setting, inappropriate or dull
curricula, days and weeks spent on drill and
practice activities for standardized tests, and
inflexibility in scheduling, types of activities,
or curricular content can lead to underachievement
in many students. Gifted students may
become underachievers when the grade level
curriculum does not challenge them and meet their
needs. If a gifted student is only presented
with work and concepts he already knows and there
is no attempt to differentiate the curriculum, he
or she will soon decide school is "boring" and
really is not the place to learn anything
new. This attitude often leads to
underachievement. Do parents and
the child's home life affect
underachievement? Underachievers
often come from homes where there is considerable
instability within the family unit. Since
many families are in turmoil, under stress or
overcommitted, it is easy to see why
underachievement is on the rise. When
families have other worries to deal with, such as
marital discord, job pressures, financial concerns,
a lack of emotional support, no leisure or family
time, and isolation from extended family,
supporting day-to-day educational tasks becomes
less of a priority. Often, what is happening
at school just gets lost in the shuffle. In some families,
just surviving from day to day is the focus of
life. In others, the complexity of modern
life with all its busyness has taken its
toll. In both situations, a child's
achievement in school does not really seem
important. Still other parents demand high
grades for their children without any concern as to
whether they are actually learning anything.
To these parents, the report card is the important
concern, instead of the learning that has or has
not taken place! Well meaning
parents who place a high priority on educational
achievement sometimes put too much pressure on
their children to achieve in school.
"Counteridentification" may result, where a parent
overly identifies with the successes and failures
of a child. In this situation, the parent may
almost be living his or her life through the child,
and the child may feel he or she could never live
up to parental expectations. Many times, one
child in such a family will become a high achiever
while the other will rebel against the pressure to
succeed and will be an underachiever. Many children,
especially children who have demonstrated a high
potential for learning, are involved in too many
extra-curricular activities. There are some
children who spend every afternoon and evening in
one activity or another and then attempt to do
their homework late at night. Not only are
such children stressed out by having too much of a
good thing, many also become underachievers because
they cannot keep up such a frantic pace.
For parents, being
an encourager of educational achievement without
exerting undo pressure requires striking a delicate
balance. There is no magic "balancing
formula", thus each parent has to decide where
that point of balance needs to be with each
child.
|