They say that you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink. Or, in a less folksy way: The things we control can't always bring about the ends that we're looking for.
Nobody knows this better than teachers. If they don't know it going into the profession, they learn it soon enough. Those naïve enough to think that teaching students is as simple as giving them information are in for a truly rude awakening.
This technique may work in certain elite schools where students are phenomenally motivated from social or parental pressure. But in places where that social or parental pressure isn't particularly intense? Those kids aren't going to listen, or learn, or care. At least not off the bat.
So students are like the horses. You can guide children to information, but you can't make them learn. They'll only learn if they want to.
Our job as educators isn't just to teach them. It's to motivate them to learn. Once they're motivated, we need to make sure they have a safe and supportive learning environment. But teaching without inspiring is usually worthless. Some say that motivation is the job of parents. It absolutely is. But in communities where parents aren't inspiring their kids to want to read or learn about how the world works, the responsibility falls on the teachers.
How challenging is this for teachers? Imagine being a waiter, except that none of your customers are hungry. You need to convince them that they're hungry. And then show them how to eat. How long would you keep that job? We see proof of this challenge in the attrition rate of teachers, which has grown dramatically in the past decade and is now more than 16%. The rate for new teachers is far higher. In the United States, 46% of new teachers leave the profession within five years.
All the more reason we need to start treating good teachers the way we treat military heroes. Their job is harder than most can imagine. It's not just about pedagogy. It's about inspiration.
Blake Harrison is the co-founder and creative director of Flocabulary, an education start up that produces hip-hop music and curricular materials to teach academic content for grades K-12. Having worked with students in many contexts, he now manages a roster of artists and educators to create Flocabulary's learning tools, which are used by more than 5 million students each week.