WHY STUDENTS FAIL TO UNDERSTAND

Failing English IV at All is Consoling

When I was in grade school, I was taught that in school what matters most is to learn and not whether you pass or fail. Sadly, today the scenario is different. Students now would be happier if they pass even without learning than learn and just barely pass the subject. If a teacher gives a grade of 85 to a student who knows that he does not deserve the good grade, the student will be happy with it and becomes so cordial with the teacher. Fail the same student and he wonders why. What is important to most students today is the grade, never mind learning - the enduring understanding of the subject content. Some ineffective teachers are partly to blame of this wrong attitude. Parents too reinforce so much this thwarted view of education. I cannot, however, make this happen to me. I am for my students learning the subject rather than passing it. I really fail students who do not learn because for me learning is the essence of education. Passing the subject is just the result when you have learned it.

Why do students fail to understand the subject? I said, "fail to understand" and not "fail to pass." I have three reasons why. Most students cannot comprehend. Unfortunately this lack of comprehension involves both listening and reading. Without good comprehension, therefore, most of them cannot think critically. Critical thinking is important to enduring understanding of the concepts being taught. Lastly and sadly, students fail because they are not diligent in studying their lessons and working on their homework and assigned tasks. These three reasons work against any student acquiring long lasting understanding of real life applications of the subjects taught in school. Most students thought that they could get good grades because they knew the subject. What they do not know is that they are supposed to incorporate what they have learned in the class to real life complex situation and thus make meaning of all the concepts learned for themselves and to others.

Paradoxically the digital age makes the students comprehend less and less of the subjects taught in school. Technology is spoon feeding the newer generation. Making life easier and more comfortable, which is what technology is for, has backfired because students now do not anymore strive harder to understand. Instead of reading and summarizing what they have read from books, they would rather download and copy-paste web articles to pass as their own, disregarding copyright infringement laws. Parents hire tutors now to answer their children's homework and accomplish assigned tasks to the utter delight of the now dumber tutee. How can, therefore, students comprehend? Some of the teachers do not even know how to teach comprehension skills. The latter think it is only the responsibility of language teachers to teach students how to understand. Moreover, most students are word readers; hence, how can they comprehend passages, worse, a sentence or a paragraph?

When students cannot comprehend, they cannot think critically. According to Facione and Facione (1994), a critical thinker interprets accurately evidences, statements, graphics, questions, etc. He identifies the salient arguments for or against the issue. He thoughtfully analyzes and evaluates major alternative points of view and draws warranted, judicious and non-fallacious conclusions. He justifies key results and procedures and explains assumptions and reasons. How can somebody who cannot understand be able to do all these things? The problem of lack of comprehension, therefore, creates a vicious cycle spiraling towards a vortex of confusion. The confused student now cannot even write a book analysis or critique a movie he has just watched. Critical thinking is a skill that takes time to hone. Failure to develop this kind of thinking is a surefire guarantee of failure in life someday.

Besides lack of comprehension and critical thinking skills, most students today are lazy. Diligence is not in the vocabulary of the new generation. I do not know who to blame, but modern society expects so little from the teenagers today that they live up to this lack of expectation. Teenagers do not bother do the hard thing because they are not expected to accomplish anything. They are young, so naive, so fragile that teachers cannot even ask them to write a research paper because they are just too young to do it. They cannot also do household chores because they are (again) young, so naive, so fragile. However, they can be fraternity members and kill themselves. They can do drugs because they are old enough. They can have sex and girls can get pregnant before high school graduation. Just do not ask them to write a paragraph because they are just too young, so naive, so fragile. How pathetic the lives of students have become!

When my students do not learn despite everything I have done to make them so, they have to fail in my subject. They say, I am a difficult teacher to comprehend, precisely because what I want my students to understand goes beyond the what, the where and the when. I want my students to answer the why, the how and the what if. I want my students to understand by doing. When I asked them to critique Exupery's Little Prince, it is for me to assess whether they have understood how elements of a story interweave to present us enduring assertions about friendship and life. Soon I will be asking my students to write a research paper for me to assess how they have understood the complex communicative function of the English language. These are just two of the many evidences of learning I will be asking my students. If they fail to submit even one (for no justifiable reason at all), I will have the impression that they cannot understand or think critically, worse, are lazy deserving to fail. Well, if it be of any consolation, failing is much better than passing without understanding.