We’ve been reading up on Supreme Court cases involving “student rights” in one of my classes. Most of the readings and videos have involved the biggies – student speech, mostly, and some search and seizure. I recently asked them to pick a topic related to student rights in school, and of course offered a list of possibilities for those not particularly motivated to come up with their own.
We’re not looking to do a serious research paper at this level. Mostly, I want us to go through the motions of gathering information, understanding the issues, and recognizing the difference between an informational or expository text (“here’s the current law about X, plus examples”) and a persuasive or rhetorical text (“here’s what the law or policy should be, and here’s why”).
The first day was all groundwork – some videos summarizing various cases and a little discussion about possible topics. Day two was intended to be straightforward, but essential. Students needed to come up with FIVE SOURCES they were going to use for information about their topic. Books or periodicals would be fine, but realistically I knew we were talking websites. I briefly addressed “valid” vs. “invalid” sources, but for something like this I wasn’t overly picky.
Honestly, there are SO many “student rights” sites out there, so many news stories citing various court cases and issues, so many legal advocacy sites with sections about students and education, it should be difficult NOT to find valid sources of information at the level I’m looking for. I figured most would be done in 15-20 minutes. I asked them to email me their five links or share a Google Doc (for easier follow-up on their part) and we’d discuss their topic and sources before they move on.
We’re not doing a doctoral thesis here; we’re trying to learn whether or not dress codes are sexist or when principals can search your backpack. I was only taking it slow because this foundational step was so important.
Sources, Shmorces…
By the next day, I only had a handful of completions. By itself that wasn’t so shocking; my students aren’t always a particularly self-motivated group. But I’d watched them working, and writing. I’d overheard what sounded like productive, on-topic discussions. I knew the product I was asking for was NOT all that demanding, and yet…?
I started taking a closer look at all the activity I thought I’d observed.
Several were overdoing it – summarizing entire web pages or the issues covered on each. That’s a good problem to have; obviously, they need to eventually read the information in their sources. Most, however, had simply started writing about their topic – what they thought, why this or that policy was unjust, ect. They were on fire! Except… they weren’t doing the assignment.
“Looks like you have a lot to say. That’s good. But… where are your five sources?”
“My what?”
Now, this is something many educators will immediately recognize. You can explain something quite explicitly while the same instructions are projected on the screen behind you and in large font on the paper in front of them. You can restate those same directions in multiple ways, give examples, and make sure they know how to refer back to them if necessary. Ten minutes after you turn them loose to work, a third of them haven’t started because they have no idea what they’re supposed to do. Of those, several are already mad that you never explain anything.
It’s not personal. You get used to it.
But this wasn’t silent confusion. These kids were writing! Several were quite emotional. Most responded with annoyance and confusion when I tried to steer them back to those FIVE SOURCES. Save what you’ve written! You might decide to use it. But first, we need to know stuff. What does the Constitution SAY? What have the courts already DECIDED? We can agree with it or disagree, advocate or accept, but we must start with existing KNOWLEDGE on which to build our opinions!
Their bewilderment and frustration were palpable. BUT I ALREADY KNOW WHAT I WANT TO SAY! Yes, I see that – and I want for you to be able to say it. I’m just asking that these strong opinions of yours begin with some facts and information.
Eventually, I thought they’d heard me. Maybe I hadn’t explained it as well as I thought the first day. They mutter what passes for agreement. I walk on.
And you know what comes next.
Ground Fog Day
Day Three. We should be outlining by now. Discussing topic sentences and supporting details. Instead, I’m walking around the room trying to figure out why we’re still not turning in those FIVE SOURCES. One pair (I finally caved on letting them work together) has given me a list of homepages – forbes.com, vox.com, etc. I try to explain that I need the actual URLs of the specific articles, which prompts them to sulk and refuse to do anymore that day. Another gives me a handwritten list of very long URLs, which I suppose technically meets the requirements, but WHO DOES THAT AND WHY?!?!
Mostly, however, it’s a brand new start in all the worst ways. What are we doing again? So we have to do research papers? Can I use the essay on Vikings I did for World History first semester? Again I’m left referring back to the same very basic instructions… and insisting they need FIVE SOURCES. Sources? For what? How many? Five?! So any five websites about anything? Mister, you’re not explaining this very well.
Most are genuinely stuck. Bewildered. Stymied. Buffy and Willow and Xander, wrestling with Spike’s assertion that Ben IS Glory and Glory IS Ben. There’s simply too much dark magic in play to allow their brains to grasp – let alone retain – such madness. FIVE SOURCES? Related to a student right of our choice? So what are those posted directions and samples for? What are we doing again?
Lost Connections
Most educators know how bewildering kids can be. We love them anyway, and it’s not usually the same from day to day or from student to student. In this particular case, however, I’m convinced that the sticking point was more than usual teenage cluelessness. I think it’s the nature of the requirement triggering the crisis. I might as well have asked them to recalibrate their heartbeats to produce more of a polka rhythm, or required them to eat only color and write with one-dimensional fruit. Starting today, work will only be accepted in Morse Code. Grades are determined by the square root of your age as a negative number divided by zero. And informational writing must be supported by FIVE SOURCES.
Information. Existing facts. Building our arguments on knowledge and reason. Assume a common foundation of documented truth and empirical understanding. Know stuff FIRST. Then feel. Then rant. Then insist, explain, or decry.
That’s just not how we do things anymore, is it? They’re high school freshmen – I’m not mad at any of them or despondent over the process. Every lesson has its unexpected wrinkles, and they’re not always the same from year to year or class to class. But I don’t think they’re alone in their bewilderment. If one of our goals in public education is to prepare students for the “real world,” I’m not even sure that insisting on facts and reality as the foundation of their informational or persuasive writing is doing them any favors. Facts and reality don’t seem to carry much weight these days. They get in the way of too many emotions, agendas, and belief systems.
Why Ruin It With Reality?
We’ve watched over the years as our primary social and political arguments have shifted from disagreements over methodology (“Which approach is most likely to accomplish the goals we largely share?”) to tribal warfare over basic reality (“Did Trump lose the election due to fraud? Is violent overthrow of democracy a valid form of peaceful political protest? ARE BIRDS EVEN REAL?”) Reaching across the aisle has become more and more like a mid-season Star Trek episode; someone always ends up in a different time-space continuum. Emotions are strong, and tied firmly to belief, and religion, and tribal associations, and convictions regarding values and one’s own sense of self. What they don’t seem overly concerned with is objective reality.
My kids will eventually give me those FIVE SOURCES, but at the moment they’re products of the times in which they live. It’s legitimately difficult for them to fathom the idea that their opinions and emotions should at least take facts, history, and reality into account. It’s not just that they don’t want to do it – they can’t easily get their heads around why anyone would expect such a thing. My instructions are inconvenient and irrational – the bizarre babblings of a madman. “FIVE SOURCES,” he says. Honestly, he won’t shut up about it. Cleary he doesn’t understand – I ALREADY HAVE STRONG FEELINGS ABOUT THIS. Why would we slow all that down, complicate my position with these… these… what did you call them again? “Facts”?
I realize it’s old school. Outdated. Perhaps even detrimental to their future success. But we’re going to get those FIVE SOURCES before moving forward if it takes all month and nearly kills us all. I can’t do anything about the rest of the country, but for now… THIS group is going to at least START with facts and reality. Where they go next is entirely up to them.
These are complicated times, and in the interest of serving ALL students (and avoiding as many problems with parents as possible), I’m renewing my commitment to avoid pushing my own personal values and ideology and just sticking to the facts.
Young people are naturally interested in the Salem Witchcraft Trials. It’s a topic that’s become so sensationalized in our culture that it’s used as an analogy for everything from the anti-Communist hysteria of the mid-20th century to any effort to hold elected leaders accountable for poor behavior. You think I’m wading into THAT minefield when we cover it in class? No way!
So I’m not pushing my patriotism on kids any more than I’d try to convert them to my faith or expect them to conform to my own narrow ideas about civility and human decency. It’s not my place to tell them what to believe, just to provide un-curated information related to state standards and stand back. They may then peruse mankind’s collected writings at their convenience and decide for themselves whether or not representation should or should not be considered a prerequisite for taxation. I’m trying not to take sides.
I asked him to give me a day to consider what he’d asked. That evening, I compiled the writings of Frederick Douglass, James Baldwin, and nearly a hundred other black intellectuals in American history, along with the speeches of famous southerners, Klan leaders, and transcripts from several Mel Gibson films. I also provided links to some of the more violent white supremacy websites along with a suggestion he Google #BlackLivesMatter. If he really cares about the issue, he can spend the next several decades pouring over the studies, experiences, opinions, and diatribes of those on all sides of the issue. It’s really not my place to take a position on the “humanity” or “equality” of this group or that – especially when it might offend certain stakeholders in the community. 
Was John Brown right to decapitate those settlers in front of their wives and kids? Not my call. Should women have the right to vote? Hard to say – there are good arguments on both sides. How well did Communism actually work out in the Soviet Union? Gosh, I dunno… there are all sorts of reasons they may have decided to move away from the “U.S.S.R.” thing and tear down that wall. Who am I to say? Did “executive privilege” place President Nixon above the law? Maybe – have to ask your parents about that one, not really an appropriate question for American Government class.
There’s a cliché in education about teaching the child, not merely the subject. The more annoying version is that students don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. I’m not in love with either platitude, but like most things with unfortunate sticking power, they’re not entirely wrong.
Her 1st Period class is Biology 101 and has 34 students (this is obviously pre-budget cuts). Just under half are pretty much getting it and will hopefully do fine on the Big Test. Their actual enthusiasm for truly understanding science varies widely, but whatever. 
Ms. Endocrine could put more time and energy into figuring out what’s behind all of this, but she has 147 other students, many of whom DO show up and need regular attention. If it’s left on her, she’ll have to either ignore the absences or issue standardized consequences – detention. Suspension. ‘F’. 
Except the research says dozens of other factors impact how or even if kids learn. The science says it matters how we adjust to actual, real students in front of us, whether we wish it were necessary or not. Ms. Endocrine COULD just teach the material. If they refuse to learn for whatever reason, she could give logical consequences – detention. Suspension. ‘F’. 
One girl’s mom is sick – really sick. Two kids have undiagnosed ADD or OCD or some sort of acronym making things difficult all ‘round. Judy needs glasses, but keeps not getting them. A few are probably under the influence of something illegal, far too many are scarred by some form of sexual abuse in their recent past, and it’s pretty obvious to everyone that Gary has SERIOUS anger issues he doesn’t know how to control. 
So we hire extra counselors, partnering with outside organizations when we can and eating the cost ourselves when we can’t. We create separate classrooms or activities and find specialized staff to mitigate the outside realities we can’t directly control. 
It’s about trying to teach kids Biology, and English, and Math – things we can’t do without some regard for who we’re trying to teach and what they’ve brought with them that might get in the way. If it were as simple as just delivering content, we could pack them in the gym and show a video lecture each day. Even better, just send a DVD home with them – see you when it’s time to assess.
You read somewhere online that Christians are mad about coffee cups. You already despise a certain breed of religious person, and this seems to fit that profile. You and a hundred others you follow rant about those nuts and their damn cup obsession, eventually blaming them for not doing more for the homeless, for trying to run your life and ruin your relationships, and for that one pastor who molested that boy.
But knowing the origins of something doesn’t automatically reshape our emotional expectations and ideals. We are not a people known for clinging to our own history, let alone that of the grander human story. Trivia from 2,000 years ago isn’t likely to compel us to give up our caroling, forsake our eggnog, or burn our DVDs of Scrooged, Elf, or the Die Hard Trilogy. 
But I’d respectfully suggest that the aches and fears some have over the ongoing de-Christing of the season may not be proof they are fascists, or oppressors, or Fox News morning show hosts (except the ones who are). It may simply be that they feel like something special is being taken away from them for reasons they don’t entirely understand. 
on when you’re cold and expected pizza. 
You don’t have to accept others’ perceptions, but your blood pressure might go down a bit if you assumed the less-than-worst of those expressing frustration. Sure, it would be nice if reason and research won the day more often, but how many of us choose a spouse, an outfit, or even a restaurant only after a day in the library and a pro/con spreadsheet? We’re simply not that detached from our own perceptions and experiences. 
