I continually go back to the work of Skip Downing and his approach to student success which he outlines in his book, On Course. Today I was reminded of one of the principles he talks about in his book: accepting personal responsibility. Here at the college, there has been conversation about students who are “not prepared” and/or “disruptive”. Often times the discussions lapse into a complaint session about the students with no real constructive outcome.

So much of what I hear is really about the issue of responsibility. We want our students to be better prepared, to be active learners in the classroom and when they aren’t, we start to blame. We become what Downing calls “victims”. Victims of how the high schools aren’t doing their job, how this new generation feels too entitled. I even got an email yesterday that said our students struggle academically because of poor diets. While this all may be true, it leaves us, as educators, feeling powerless. In some cases, the students are seen as having all the power, while faculty have none. How can we keep enjoying teaching when we feel that we really can’t do anything to change the tide.

What if we asked the question, “Given that my students may be unprepared or disruptive, what can I do about that?” I think this is where Downing’s work really has something to offer. How can we create a classroom that empowers both students and faculty to take responsibility for the learning that happens? How can we as teachers give some responsibility to the students for their own learning? Some of what this implies is that we aren’t nor should we be the experts dumping information into the empty containers that we call students.

How do we create a classroom in which everyone takes a role in the learning?

There is a On Course link on the blog that provides faculty with numerous tools to promote responsibility in students. Please check out the site and share with all of us what you find. I particularly like the use of classroom contracts

http://www.oncourseworkshop.com/Getting%20On%20Course008.htm.

I hope that you will share your thoughts about this post. Anyone?