What is a “Good” Student?

A “good” student according to commonsense is someone who is able to listen to instructions, sit and pay attention to the teacher, go along with the class and does not question the teachers instructions. As well, these are students who are able to comfortably convey their ideas and understanding during essays and exams. Ultimately, this definition does not encompass every student in a classroom or school. Many times as teachers we assume that a student should be “behaving and thinking in certain ways” (Kumashiro 21) but in fact we will be interacting with a variety of students, with different values and different backgrounds.  

The students that are privileged by this type of definition of a “good” student are first the ones that are able to pay attention and excel in exams, essays, and other indicators. In addition to this these are most likely students who may not have any physical or mental limitations. Students with ADHD, anxiety, or poor home life may struggle with these common norms that teachers and society place on students. Lastly, a student that has a good home life and supportive family that is able to help them with homework, questions or to even provide support. For many kids this type of home life is not a reality, and sadly these kids struggle in school due to the expectations that are put upon how a student should be.

It is because of these commonsense ideas that as a teacher it makes it difficult to see that not every student is going to fit under the vague definition of a “good” student but that instead every student learns differently. Some may learn better with just the teacher talking and them figuring out, or being in a group, using blocks or other manipulative objects or they may just be a student that needs further instruction. From my own experience, there was always this one girl in my Grade 6 class that everyone found different. It’s not because she wasn’t smart or anything, it was because she was struggling to understand the content like the “good” students were and was questioning what the teacher was saying. Ultimately, these commonsense ideas create a barrier around learning and a students ability to learn as not every student is going to be the same.