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Alex Chediak

Helping young adults thrive at college and beyond

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The Unteachables: A Generation that Cannot Learn

May 24, 2012 by Alex Chediak

The title is a bit pessimistic. Not all students are “unteachable,” but too many are:

Meetings about bad grades are uncomfortable not merely because it is unpleasant to wound feelings unaccustomed to the sting. Too often, such meetings are exercises in futility. I have spent hours explaining an essay’s grammatical, stylistic, and logical weaknesses in the wearying certainty that the student was unable, both intellectually and emotionally, to comprehend what I was saying or to act on my advice. It is rare for such students to be genuinely desirous and capable of learning how to improve. Most of them simply hope that I will come around. Their belief that nothing requires improvement except the grade is one of the biggest obstacles that teachers face in the modern university. And that is perhaps the real tragedy of our education system: not only that so many students enter university lacking the basic skills and knowledge to succeed in their courses — terrible in itself — but also that they often arrive essentially unteachable, lacking the personal qualities necessary to respond to criticism.

The entire two-page article by Janice Fiamengo is a devastating critique not just of incoming students’ unrealistic confidence in their academic prowess (and intellectual laziness) but of a “system” that, to a large extent, often aids and abets the perpetuation of this illusion. As I wrote in the Preface of Thriving at College:

Our society tends to make people feel so “affirmed” all their lives that they lose the proper, objective basis for affirmation: a gift, a talent, a skill, as demonstrated by some accomplishment. Instead, everyone gets a trophy in Little League for showing up. When people are regularly reminded how special and talented they are, they’re shocked when they’re shuffled off the stage of their latest obsession, like another failed American Idol contestant.

However, I believe the problem is correctable: The “unteachable” can become “teachable” through attitude adjustment, but the professor also has to adjust to a new reality. While not neglecting her formal pedagogical duties of communicating the course content, she must also become part motivational coach, part drill sergeant (cf. I Thess. 5:14). If she makes clear, on the first day of class, that there will be uncompromisingly high standards — but that she as an instructor will be working very hard to help students reach these standards — “I’m here to help you learn, but the class will be tough, and you’re going to have to work hard, just like I’m working hard” — the lazier students sometimes wake up, and the more motivated students (privately) express gratitude.  (You also need to stick to your guns and not inflate grades. Word gets around that you’re tough, and student effort and performance increase.)

HT: Ardel Caneday

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Filed Under: Thriving at College, Culture, Practical Ministry

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Amazon Book Bomb for Thriving at College"There is no better guide to college."
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"Written by an ‘insider’—an excellent gift for high school seniors."--Jerry Bridges

 

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"A sharp tool." Tedd Tripp

"Outstanding book on preparing teens for adulthood." Jerry Bridges

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Also by Alex

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With One Voice

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Praise for With One Voice

This relatively short book packs a powerful bang for the buck, providing much biblical and practical advice for young men and women seeking to glorify God in relationships.

Alex and Brett Harris
Best-selling authors of Do Hard Things

Alex and Marni Chediak offer sound biblical advice and a clear Christian framework for working through the maze of confusions surrounding modern marriage.

R. Albert Mohler, Jr., President
The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

Publishers have been cranking out books with all sorts of directions to help Christians navigate the treacherous waters between the buoys of singleness and marriage, and I know of none that is more clear, concise and helpful than With One Voice.

J. Ligon Duncan, III Ph.D.
Senior Minister, First Presbyterian Church

With One Voice is clearly written and God-centered. Our eighteen year-old daughter just read it and restrained herself from underlining nearly the whole thing!

Dr. Bruce A. Ware
Professor of Christian Theology
The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

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