Allow me to begin with a quote from the article regarding an alarming trend in young adults today:
“an increased tendency to see a poor grade as reason to complain rather than as reason to study more, or more effectively.”
It has been some time since I was young undergrad (24 years ago) or an old Ph.D. student (10 years ago). Yes, I too complained about poor teachers. But, those complaints were to myself and other students, never with the audacity of students today in their disrespectful emails directly to professors. I quickly realized that learning the material was my responsibility regardless of professor quality. That meant staying in the library until it closes. I remember thinking of the old Lexus tagline when walking to the library: “The relentless pursuit of perfection.” It was apparent that I was not super smart and I had to be relentless to learn the material.
So here we are today with students unable to cope with failure and take responsibility. The article aptly points out this is a serious problem for universities and students:
“The lack of resilience is interfering with the academic mission of the University and is thwarting the emotional and personal development of students.”
So what can we do? Well, I as a professor, and with even greater vigor now as a tenured professor (slight grin here), maintain standards and remind students that we are training them for a world that does not devote itself to their comfort.
I think teachers at all levels, as well as students and parents, will find the article below very interesting.
-Dr. Moore
Efficient Minds™ 