First, as a society we have to make a commitment to responsibility. Our mesages that we send are all wrong. What kids see on TV or the internet or in magazines, is that work is not necessary or enjoyable. Kids see images of sports or entertainment figures living the sweet life with minimal attention given to the rarity of this success. What we see is a life of ease and success. Life is not easy. And learning should not be easy. Anything of true worth we accomplish is usually a bit of work. What this means is that children must be prepared to struggle a bit. I don't mean that success is unattainable, but success should take some stretching of a student's ability. And students are unique individuals; so, each struggle is a personal struggle that must come from an inner well-spring.
Secondly, we must recognize that failure is inevitable and not undesirable. Everyone fails. It is only those who do not try in the first place that will know no failure. Failure is the stuff of greatness. The Wright brothers tried and failed several times, but they persevered and reflected until success came. Many of our students do not understand the satisfaction of perseverence. Somehow, and ideally it comes from parents, students have to embrace the opportunity to fail and achieve.
Which brings me to my final-- and some might say flawed -- solution to fix our failing students. Student who have ignored their educational opportunities must fail. Our current system gives so many chances that few of our weakest students take it seriously. There's always another chance for redemption and the effect is chronic disaffection with school. These students don't care and more chances make this worse.
More on this topic later...
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