Where I last taught was an alternative school. For those that don't know, this is the school kids go to after they get expelled. Not that they're all bad kids (some are) but almost all of them say the same thing when confronted with something hard, like math. They say, "I just can't do this, I don't think this way, it isn't who I am."
The argument, which they cannot articulate because they've been socially promoted through 8 to 12 years of schooling, is that they are at some level genetically or culturally hardwired to be incapable of completing the task. The task can be sitting still, not throwing things, not dropping the f-word every three minutes, writing a five paragraph essay or anything else. It doesn't really matter. The point I'm making is there is a instant reaction that anything that requires effort is impossible, and then fear of failure prevents them from even trying. Learned helplessness is the buzzword most often used to describe these situations.
I'm uncomfortable with these explanations, as my sarcasm above should make clear. It sounds too much like determinism, like saying because someone is born poor, or hispanic, or black then they will never be able to comprehend a linear equation. Or because someone has a record they will always be a criminal, so why bother trying. It is just in their nature.
Pardon the language but I call bullshit. Maybe I'm wrong, maybe nature will out in the long run. For sure, maintaining the peak condition lifestyle has been a real struggle for me, but I have to believe in the ability for humans to change their behaviors. Otherwise what is the point? Of anything?
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