By Jacques Sprenger
Are we teaching our children to exercise self-discipline or are we fomenting instant gratification? Are we, ourselves, good role-models for children, whether our own or as teachers? Is our nation beginning to feel the pinch in finding highly qualified workers or is immigration the solution?
As a teacher of high school students, I receive the result of eight years (10 if you count kindergarten) of a great variety of teachers and learning experiences. One factor stands out however above all the others that contribute to effective or ineffective learning: Self-discipline. It is a very rare case indeed to see a student who is organized and willing to learn and work hard.
Is it the area's Mexican-American culture? Is it the climate, hot and muggy most of the year? Is it the proximity to the border with Mexico, which many students cross on a daily basis? Or is it the teachers in elementary who failed to instill the desire to succeed in the children in their care?
Before analyzing these questions, allow me to give a contrasting example: We occasionally receive Asian students who are part of an exchange program; they arrive with very little English and within a year they have mastered the language sufficiently to perform well in every class.
Of course, they possess two great advantages: one, their own language is much more difficult than ours, which means that they learn another one more easily than we do. Second, they bring self-discipline unmatched by our local students. So why the difference and where does it come from?
I do not pretend to present this paper as scientifically based, it is not. It is simply the result of personal observations and opinions derived from daily contact with students from different parts of the world during many years. I will therefore offer conclusions that will hopefully shed some light on the problem.
Let us discard to begin with the notion that hot climates tend to reduce the motivation to work; first, because all classrooms are air-conditioned. Second, because people who move to colder areas up North do not suddenly become hard workers; they are or they are not long before the change of climate. Look for example at undocumented aliens from Mexico, a hot country by definition. They are usually very hard workers, very ambitious and very much self-disciplined.
Is it the culture then that favors a laid back attitude? I can testify from personal experience that Mexican-Americans are proud of their Latin roots and that they pursue the American dream with all the energy at their disposal. Yes, they seem to enjoy life more than other subcultures in the country; yes, they have more children per couple than other minorities. Their music is proof that life is beautiful and worth living to the fullest. That doesn't mean that they don't take their responsibilities seriously, even though they have experienced some discrimination and racial profiling by some white groups.
The teachers at the elementary level I have talked to are totally dedicated to their mission, which is much more than just teaching the 3 R's. They teach the need to succeed in modern society and the required social skills as an adult. You cannot be a teacher of young children and not love your job; kids tend to notice hypocrisy right away and they would make you pay the price if you just pretended to enjoy their company.
The problem is the families and their extreme poverty. Many parents work two jobs to make ends meet; quite a few are single parents (mothers) who struggle to maintain a large family, which means that the kids come back from school and find an empty house. And so they go out in the street and hang around with their buddies, who quite often introduce them to drugs and violence.
The last element that contributes to failing students in high school is low self-esteem. These kids have been told since birth that they would never amount to anything; that they did not have the necessary skills to succeed and that society was geared to prevent them from ever emerging from their humble condition. And so, Hispanics in many cases do not perform well in the classroom as compared to other minorities, thus perpetuating the belief that they have no chance of succeeding in modern society unless they use illegal means to do so. They never had a chance to learn and exercise self-discipline.
Are we teaching our children to exercise self-discipline or are we fomenting instant gratification? Are we, ourselves, good role-models for children, whether our own or as teachers? Is our nation beginning to feel the pinch in finding highly qualified workers or is immigration the solution?
As a teacher of high school students, I receive the result of eight years (10 if you count kindergarten) of a great variety of teachers and learning experiences. One factor stands out however above all the others that contribute to effective or ineffective learning: Self-discipline. It is a very rare case indeed to see a student who is organized and willing to learn and work hard.
Is it the area's Mexican-American culture? Is it the climate, hot and muggy most of the year? Is it the proximity to the border with Mexico, which many students cross on a daily basis? Or is it the teachers in elementary who failed to instill the desire to succeed in the children in their care?
Before analyzing these questions, allow me to give a contrasting example: We occasionally receive Asian students who are part of an exchange program; they arrive with very little English and within a year they have mastered the language sufficiently to perform well in every class.
Of course, they possess two great advantages: one, their own language is much more difficult than ours, which means that they learn another one more easily than we do. Second, they bring self-discipline unmatched by our local students. So why the difference and where does it come from?
I do not pretend to present this paper as scientifically based, it is not. It is simply the result of personal observations and opinions derived from daily contact with students from different parts of the world during many years. I will therefore offer conclusions that will hopefully shed some light on the problem.
Let us discard to begin with the notion that hot climates tend to reduce the motivation to work; first, because all classrooms are air-conditioned. Second, because people who move to colder areas up North do not suddenly become hard workers; they are or they are not long before the change of climate. Look for example at undocumented aliens from Mexico, a hot country by definition. They are usually very hard workers, very ambitious and very much self-disciplined.
Is it the culture then that favors a laid back attitude? I can testify from personal experience that Mexican-Americans are proud of their Latin roots and that they pursue the American dream with all the energy at their disposal. Yes, they seem to enjoy life more than other subcultures in the country; yes, they have more children per couple than other minorities. Their music is proof that life is beautiful and worth living to the fullest. That doesn't mean that they don't take their responsibilities seriously, even though they have experienced some discrimination and racial profiling by some white groups.
The teachers at the elementary level I have talked to are totally dedicated to their mission, which is much more than just teaching the 3 R's. They teach the need to succeed in modern society and the required social skills as an adult. You cannot be a teacher of young children and not love your job; kids tend to notice hypocrisy right away and they would make you pay the price if you just pretended to enjoy their company.
The problem is the families and their extreme poverty. Many parents work two jobs to make ends meet; quite a few are single parents (mothers) who struggle to maintain a large family, which means that the kids come back from school and find an empty house. And so they go out in the street and hang around with their buddies, who quite often introduce them to drugs and violence.
The last element that contributes to failing students in high school is low self-esteem. These kids have been told since birth that they would never amount to anything; that they did not have the necessary skills to succeed and that society was geared to prevent them from ever emerging from their humble condition. And so, Hispanics in many cases do not perform well in the classroom as compared to other minorities, thus perpetuating the belief that they have no chance of succeeding in modern society unless they use illegal means to do so. They never had a chance to learn and exercise self-discipline.
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