Michael Braun's Blog

A vexing question for any instructor arises whenever a student fails to turn in an assignment on time or otherwise neglects classroom responsibilities to the detriment of his grade. The teacherly instinct is to chase after that student and implore him to complete his work. But there is also a certain amount of guilt that goes along with such action, evidenced by threats handed down at the end of each year – “in kindergarten,” “in grade school,” “in middle school,” “high school,” “college, they won’t let you get away with this! You’ll need to be responsible for yourself and your own work!” That threat wouldn’t be administered if instructors didn’t think that they themselves were passing the buck, failing to teach responsibility and hoping that students learn it sometime in the future.

And to be sure, many students do learn responsibility. Most students, especially at the college level, are hardworking and dedicated. They turn their work in on time with no reminders needed, and that work is of high quality. Clearly, someone has instilling in these students a lesson in personal responsibility.

But what if this sense of responsibility is not taught to these students but rather is something genetic? Perhaps responsibility is a manifestation of a reduced tolerance for uncertainty. Or maybe it is a stronger sense of leadership. There are a variety of possibilities for explaining why some students seem to be dedicated to their work, no matter what class they are in, and other students can’t be bothered to get out of bed in the morning even for a subject they care about. All exaggerations aside, it raises a nagging question for instructors: should we even bother teaching responsibility?

When I say “teach responsibility,” I don’t mean to question the value of setting deadlines and keeping students to them. Though this may inadvertently cause the student to learn the consequences of not following the rules, it is unlikely that this specific policy will be something novel to the student. There are deadlines and consequences all the time, from not getting out of bed when the alarm rings to waiting too long to buy concert tickets. Life, in this regard, is an excellent teacher.

Instead, I mean should we offer specific instruction in how to be responsible? To answer yes to this question, we must find support for (at least) three specific assertions. First, responsibility must be, to at least some degree, something that can be learned, not something completely determined by genetics. Second, students must not currently know everything we can teach them about responsibility. Third, there must be a time to teach responsibility that will add to the student’s future learning and behavior, such that the time spent on responsibility doesn’t come at the detriment to another subject.

Overall, finding support for those three assertions is a tall order, but let’s proceed under the assumption that we have support for the first two and now must consider the third. This is the challenge for all instructors who choose to pass the buck. There is no time to explicitly teach responsibility in kindergarten because there is too much material to cover as it is. The same is true all the way through college, where professors bemoan lack of student responsibility but assume that doing anything about it is too late.

What would successful responsibility education look like? It’s one thing to stress the importance of meeting deadlines; but it is quite another to educate a student about maintaining a lifestyle that helps support academic success. In other words, do not live with people who distract you. Do not accept additional responsibility unless it will help further your future success. Do not plan a vacation in the middle of a semester. Do make sure to budget your time each and every day so that you have enough time to get your work done. Et cetera, et cetera. What kind of course does that fit into?

In the end, responsibility education in college falls into one of two categories. It could be taught as part of a course on succeeding in college. In this case, these types of activities (study skills, test prep, note taking guidance, etc.) fit right into the curriculum. The second category is valuable as well, though less instructive: advice given from professors and other instructors, often unrelated to the course material. Both categories are valuable, but are irresponsible students smart enough to know they need a course on study skills? And are they smart enough to listen in class and know the advice applies to them? I suppose this takes us back to the nurture or nature question and a conclusion that the teaching of responsibility is always easier to pass on. In college, instructors can always say, “they won’t tolerate that in the work place!” And so the cycle continues.