Research Reveals A Worrying Trend Amongst Students

Hello!

Do you lack enthusiasm for learning and completing schoolwork?

If so, you’re not alone.

Gallup, recently published some troubling new findings. According to a recent poll, only 55% of all students are engaged enough to succeed in school.

Because your engagement – your involvement in and enthusiasm for school – is a crucial quality that’s proven to distinguish between high-performing and low-performing students.

Research shows that your level of engagement in your education is more important than IQ and natural talent. Along with hope and wellbeing, your level of engagement is

now known to be a more accurate predictor of your future success than high school grades, GPA, SAT and ACT scores.

So for you to do well, earn the grades you want and land a well-paid job in the future, you need to be engaged in your studies.

And if you’re not? Well, something needs to be done, and it needs to be done quickly.

Why do so many students lack motivation in school?

That’s not a particularly good question. Instead, you might want to think about what you can do to help fix the problem.

Lots of students suggest they would be more engaged in their learning if their teachers delivered better lessons.

In other words, they’re saying, “I would be more enthusiastic about my learning and more interested in my future if the adults in my school did a better job.”

It’s an understandable and common attitude. But it’s an attitude that prevents students from making progress and achieving their potential.

The truth is that young people are capable of being engaged in education and doing good things irrespective of how good their teachers are.

Sure, having good teachers is helpful. But it isn’t a necessity.

Groundbreaking research conducted by Sugata Mitra found that students are capable of teaching themselves and each other, irrespective of what the adults in their life do.

In fact, when students take control of their own learning rather than depending on teachers and parents to spoon-feed them answers, they often make quicker progress and achieve more.

It might be true that you’d like some of your teachers (or maybe all of your teachers!) to deliver better lessons, but it would be a BIG mistake if you were to wait for the education system to sort itself out.

Whilst you can make polite requests for your teachers to facilitate lessons that are more interesting and innovative, it might never happen because that’s something that’s out of your control.

So what can you do to improve your level of engagement in school?

Rather than following the crowd, you need to become a leader and establish your own level of engagement in school. This might be easier said than done, but it is possible to do.

As General Norman Schwartzkopf once explained so well:

That’s what you need to do for yourself… get yourself to willingly do more in school than you normally would.

So how do you do that?

Here are a few ideas:

Make a decision from this day forth to be fully committed to your own development and success.
Stop focusing on the quality of teaching. Instead focus all the little things you can do to be a brilliant student every day (e.g. have a positive attitude, be punctual, always bring the equipment you need, listen, take notes, ask questions, master the accelerated learning techniques that are proven to improve grades, etc.).
Become incredibly curious about the subjects you’re studying and how you can use them to make your life even better than it already is.
Find daily motivation – Whether it’s in the form of inspiration content online or via a supportive role model, it’s important you discover a way to motivate yourself to excel every day.
Cultivate an attitude of gratitude by concentrating on the positive things about your school. It’s easy to forget how lucky we are. Chances are, students in other countries dream about having a school like yours.
Be dedicated to taking massive action towards creating the life you want, irrespective of what others around you are doing.