When my opponents cannot afford to lose

I recently had a FaceBook conversation with the mother of a college friend. She is remarkably experienced with the American education system for her remarkable young age and resplendent beauty [Mrs. Convey I am speaking of you]. Between discussing her famed tomato sauce recipes, she commented that American students have it too easy. I believe she means to say we pamper our students and guard their self-esteem in such a way that we end up blinding them to the realities of the world. The students in my classroom do not have the luxury of such sheltered blindness – or ignorance if you prefer. If my students were guilty of such apathy that I remember seeing among American students, they would be kicked out of school and into abject poverty before once watching SportsCenter or Hannah Montana [or Boy Meets World for those from my generation].

Let me explain.

Nearly half the kids from each grade earn failing marks and get held back each year. That is to say that half of my English students are taking first year English for the second consecutive year. In my math classes, half of my students, for the second year in a row, are failing to wrap their minds around the concept of negative numbers. It frustrates me know that I am failing to transfer knowledge from myself to my students, the ultimate goal of education. It hurts even more knowing the grave and eminent consequences awaiting students who fail to grasp the concepts.

A student is allowed to repeat a grade one time without consequence other than burdening his family with an extra year of tuition fees. A student is barred from school if held back a second time. Being a math teacher, I calculated with minimum effort that one in four of my students will not be allowed to return to school after this year. When grading tests and giving multiple consecutive failing marks, 7 out of 20, 5 out of 20 and even 1 out of 20, I can’t help but think that I am contributing to the termination of my students’ education. It doesn’t take an overly compassionate person to understand the frustration and anger I feel when my students fail to do homework, sleep in class or in general fail to recognize, or perhaps have repressed, the gravity of their situation. Keep in mind my students are malnourished, ragged clothed and often smelly 6th and 7th graders.

This is the context in which I need to play the game. What game you ask? It is really no game at all and the manner in which is played is by no means playful. The objective of the game is simple. The students try to gain every point possible regardless of the morality of the means. That is to say come test day, if my students realize that their laziness has caught up with them and remembering that they failed the previous two tests, they no longer hesitate to cheat if the opportunity presents itself. With one hundred kids to a class and three to a bench, the opportunities are plenty. 

I recognize and understand my students, my opponents and friends. For me, victory would be to see each of them earn the right to move on to the next grade. This will not happen as the resulting log jam would cause the entire system to implode. So my redefined victory is to give the right, to those who have earned it, to pass. This means recognizing those students who have worked hard and grasp the concepts. This is easy at first. But the difficulty comes in separating student number 75 from 76. The former will pass and continue to be educated. The latter will be relegated to a life in the fields. [I shall argue the fault in assuming a life in the fields as undignified later.] This decision will be mine to be made come May. For now, it is for me to punish the cheaters and corner-cutters, allow the students to work hard, and accurately reward those who do. This is my game. A good life.