Empowering Students to Take Responsibility

Emily is an inconsistent student. Sometimes she fully engages and works hard in lessons; other times, she switches off, forgets her homework, and completely disengages. Recently, while the class was practicing independently, she sat staring into space. Despite being reminded a couple of times by the teacher, she didn’t complete even the first question. She was held back at the end of the lesson for a conversation.

During this conversation, she explained her behavior:

  • “I can’t see the board. Maybe I need a printout of the lesson.”
  • “I can’t read white paper; I need colored paper.”

(There is nothing on her record about having eyesight issues or needing different paper.)

The teacher could react in two ways:

The Initial Response:
“There is no reason why I should go out of my way to print different coloured sheets or a PowerPoint. Emily, you need to take responsibility for your learning and stop making excuses.”

This is the initial intuitive response. If we want to encourage personal responsibility in students, we can’t allow them to just make excuses. The problem is, in the next lesson, Emily will likely continue making these complaints, and she still won’t be working. However, there might be another option that leads to a better outcome.

The Better Response:
“Next lesson, I will present you with a specially printed PowerPoint in your preferred colour. I will expect to see you working very hard next lesson now that we’ve solved this problem, okay?”

I would bet that Emily works very well in that lesson. This is the better response for several reasons:

  • Emily has been set up for success – she should now have everything she needs to stay fully on task during the next lesson.
  • Emily now knows that you care – she understands that you have her best interests in mind and that’s why you made this effort.
  • You have made it clear that you will hold her to account.
  • If she still disengages, she has no excuses – you can follow up with a statement like this:

“Emily, I did a lot for you before this lesson. I printed all the work and even did it in the colour you requested. And yet you still didn’t do the work, so I have no option but to put you in detention.”

Now, it’s on her. You gave her the chance to succeed, and she didn’t take it.

Conclusion:
If we don’t give students the chance to succeed in our lessons, they won’t, and they will switch off and struggle. As teachers, one of our main goals is to do everything we can to help students experience success. The power of the approach outlined above is that, by giving them the best chance to succeed, we can be fairer and more just while holding students to high standards.

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