How to help students hope
A polling expert finds students less engaged with school as they get older. Brandon Busteed from Gallup Education says if schools taught to strengths instead of weaknesses, more students would be successful in school and in life.
What if educators looked for strengths rather than weaknesses in students? A mindset that focuses on assets and talents could change the way that teachers and students feel about school. Brandon Busteed, executive director of Gallup Education, says a strengths-based approach would help keep high school students engaged in learning. Gallup’s 2013 Student Poll found a precipitous drop in engagement between 5th and twelfth grade. Busteed says that could turn around if kids got to do what they’re good at, especially students who don’t excel at traditional academic pursuits. “We need more rigorous standards,” he writes in a recent commentary for Education Week, “but what we don’t need is more standardized rigor.”