麻豆传媒入口

In nearly every classroom, especially in middle and high school, there are a handful of students who simply refuse to do the work. They鈥檒l listen to the assignment and maybe even nod their heads, but when the rubber hits the road, they don鈥檛 hand anything in鈥攁t best, they submit a couple of sentences instead of the essay you asked for.

鈥淥ften teachers react defensively to obstinate behavior, creating a situation where teacher and student may become locked in a power struggle or an ineffective pattern of communication,鈥� writes special education teacher Nina Parrish. So how does an educator handle a student who simply refuses to turn in assigned work?

Teachers, it seems, are dying to know what鈥檚 behind the issue. When 麻豆传媒入口 asked our audience what topic they鈥檇 most want to see the research behind, 鈥渨ork refusal鈥� was the top response鈥斺�淣ot kids who don鈥檛 understand or kids who present other behavioral challenges, just kids whose only perceptible issue is refusing to complete work (or hand in completed work),鈥� explained Rebecca, an educator.

The research exploring work refusal, while limited, boils down to a central takeaway: Understand the underlying causes of a student鈥檚 failure to complete work, which might involve a desire for more autonomy, a fear of failure or judgment, or a sense that the assigned work is meaningless. There are no simple explanations: What motivates any particular student can be mysterious, and some will inevitably continue to refuse work regardless of your best efforts. But using these targeted, research-backed responses gives you a fighting chance of turning chronic work refusers into more frequent work completers.

LOOKING UNDER THE HOOD

While it can feel tempting to throw up your hands, seeking out root causes can lead to clearer next steps. 鈥淯nderstanding the antecedent of work refusal leads to the development of logical intervention strategies rather than those based on assumptions or trial and error,鈥� writes Texas State University education researcher Glenna Billingsley in a of the research surrounding work refusal.

While every child is different, Billingsley鈥檚 research review points to a few key factors that often operate just below the surface of work refusal.

A DESIRE FOR AUTONOMY

Assignments and activities that students consider irrelevant or uninteresting may 鈥渢rigger misbehavior that enables them to avoid these disengaging conditions,鈥� Billingsley writes in her analysis鈥攂ut adding 鈥渕ultiple opportunities for responding鈥� that students can choose from, across modalities and at different skill levels, can improve engagement. Because Billingsley鈥檚 review found that work refusal was often at its highest when students were asked to 鈥渢ransition from a preferred task to one less enjoyable,鈥� providing students with a range of academic tasks to choose from can help nip work refusal in the bud.

Billingsley鈥檚 analysis adds to a growing body of research suggesting that students are more engaged in their learning when given more choice and autonomy. A , for example, found that second and third graders who were required to complete mandatory reading logs saw a marked decline in interest toward reading compared with students who voluntarily logged their reading progress. Similarly, better reading habits when the curriculum allowed them to choose what they read, and in a , researchers assert that giving students a say over disciplinary policies can 鈥渆ncourage a sense of well-being and comfort with the way a classroom functions,鈥� while offering choice around assignments can 鈥渆ncourage initial engagement with learning activities.鈥澛�

How to address it: There are a number of ways to introduce more curricular choice at all grade levels.

Preschool teacher Oi Ling Hu has students vote for the read-aloud of the day鈥攁nd even, on occasion, what activities the class will engage in. In later grades, education researcher that teachers allow students to present what they鈥檝e learned 鈥渢hrough debates, video reports, demonstrations, or dramatic presentations鈥� (we鈥檇 add music, drawing, and coding, too)鈥攏ot just essays or oral reports. 鈥淐hoice in the classroom has been linked to increases in student effort, task performance, and subsequent learning,鈥� Marzano writes. To help students feel like you respect their freedom of choice, you can also let students co-create their classroom norms, offer flexible seating options, or give English students a say over what books they鈥檒l read (even at the AP level).

A FEAR OF FAILURE

Billingsley鈥檚 research review lists 鈥渆xpectations and assignments that students perceive as too difficult鈥� as another leading cause of classroom work refusal. 鈥淪tudents with a history of school failure may feel that the current assignment offers only another opportunity to fail,鈥� she summarizes. On the same note, a found that academic deficits accounted for a full 20 percent of classroom misbehavior: When students didn鈥檛 understand an assignment or found it too difficult, misbehavior was the outlet for their frustration.

Student concern over grades can exacerbate matters. A found that letter grades 鈥渆nhanced anxiety and avoidance of challenging courses,鈥� while a suggested that students were more motivated by receiving written feedback from their teacher, or even no feedback at all, than by receiving grades.

How to address it: A found that grades and on-task behavior were highest in classes with the highest ratio of praise to reprimands鈥攁nd while it might feel unnatural to track your language so closely, recommend roughly 鈥渟ix praise statements every 15 minutes.鈥� Remember to praise students for specific actions (鈥淭his essay was really well-structured!鈥�), not inherent abilities (鈥淵ou鈥檙e so smart!鈥�), to avoid reinforcing the same kind of fixed mindset that can lead students to feel anxious about their skills in the first place. Try to find opportunities to make your praise sincere and focused around ways that students have improved, even if that improvement is just turning in an essay on time.

It鈥檚 also worthwhile to foster a more mistake-friendly classroom. Model your own mistakes, and avoid being overly punitive about errors: Consider policies like dropping each student鈥檚 lowest grade, allowing students to retake some assessments, or reducing the amount of work you actively grade. One revealed that withholding grades until several days after handing back your written feedback can boost student performance on future assignments by up to two-thirds of a letter grade.

A NEED FOR PURPOSE AND BELONGING

When a student consistently refuses to do work, 鈥渃ommunity and connection are usually the issue,鈥� on 麻豆传媒入口鈥檚 thread about work refusal, and the research tends to agree.

Belonging at school鈥斺�漷hat sense that we are part of a larger whole, that there is a kind of goodness of fit between me and my environment鈥濃�攊s really important socially and academically, according to the social psychologist Geoffrey Cohen. He points to a suggesting that feelings of belonging are greater predictors of college completion than academic success.

An adjacent phenomenon鈥攁 lack of purpose鈥攃an be equally harmful. 鈥淭eachers often underestimate the importance of purpose and relevance in building motivation, and overestimate how good a job they are doing at making the purpose clear,鈥� write education researcher Chris Hulleman and science teacher Ian Kelleher in an article for 麻豆传媒入口. This shortcoming is sometimes at the root of a student鈥檚 hesitancy to work.

How to address it: There are a variety of research-backed interventions that can boost purpose and belonging. , Hulleman found that having ninth-grade science students write brief reflections connecting what they learned in class to their personal lives boosted their grades and made them more likely to take science courses again in the future. In class, teachers should 鈥渄eliberately and regularly state the purpose of assignments and activities,鈥� Hulleman recommends. Teachers can also connect their lessons to the real-world issues that students care about; in math class, for example, dig into issues like personal finance and sports statistics.

To tap into students鈥� passions and interests, education instructor Rebecca Alber recommends sending out a survey at the start of the year that asks questions like 鈥淲hat is something or someone you personally would like to know more about?鈥� or 鈥淢ake a list of all the things that you don鈥檛 currently learn in school but wish you could,鈥� then using student responses to inform your lesson planning and assessment options. (Vanderbilt University offers that teachers can adjust accordingly.) Hanging posters and incorporating learning materials that reflect the diverse interests and identities of your students signals that they鈥檙e 鈥渧alued learners and belong within the classroom, with far-reaching consequences for students鈥� educational choices and achievement,鈥� a .

THE ROLE OF TRAUMA

Finally, it鈥檚 worth considering how trauma might factor into your students鈥� refusal to do work. 鈥淲hen you feel the weight of the world bearing down on you, or you simply don鈥檛 think you can take another step without imploding or breaking down, don鈥檛 you just want to get away from it all?鈥� asks elementary school administrator Matthew J. Bowerman. 鈥淚magine what children are feeling after the last several years.鈥�

A led by pediatrician Nadine Burke Harris found that traumatic childhood experiences are tied to a host of learning and behavioral problems, including defiant behavior, fight-or-flight responses, difficulty focusing, and impulse-control issues.

How to address it: 鈥淚t鈥檚 unfair to ask teachers to be therapists or doctors,鈥� Harris told 麻豆传媒入口 in 2020, but teachers can 鈥渄eliver that daily dose of buffering care that鈥檚 so important for healing.鈥�

Many traumatized students blame themselves for their academic shortcomings, Harris says, so teachers can help kids understand 鈥渢hat what鈥檚 going on in their bodies is actually a normal response to the abnormal circumstance that they find themselves in.鈥� Then, teaching social and emotional learning skills鈥攍ike calming oneself through simple breathing exercises, bringing oneself to focus, and bonding with others鈥攃an help get kids back on track. At Fall-Hamilton Elementary in Nashville, for example, every classroom has a designated peace corner with a comfortable chair and soothing toys where students can go when they need to self-regulate. Students who need extra social and emotional support are paired off with an adult (who isn鈥檛 their teacher) for two-minute check-ins at the start and end of each day, where they can discuss their goals and what they鈥檙e struggling with.

WHAT鈥橲 YOUR EXPERIENCE?

Do you have any insights about how to deal with work refusers? What have you tried鈥攚hat worked, and what didn鈥檛? Let readers know in the comments.