As seen in the Fall 2023 edition of the Oregon English Journal by the Oregon Council of Teachers of English.

Jake returned from winter break unable to produce work. He was capable, but he stopped working. He responded to every question with, “I don’t know.” We soon learned his father had been killed in an altercation with police.

One of the mysteries of teaching and parenting is trying to discover why students who are so capable of performing a task … don’t. As a special education teacher, a common concern that I was asked to address was the inconsistent performance of students. Students would repeatedly display an ability to perform a particular task, but then fail to produce work in an assignment of the same or a similar task. Why? What is the barrier?

Teachers and parents will sometimes attribute a lack of willingness on the part of the student. They may perceive the student as lazy or rebellious. Of course, sometimes they are right. It does happen that the students just stubbornly refuse to do assignments. Teachers spend a great deal of time and effort trying to figure out what is behind a student’s stubborn refusal.

Tiffany showed up one day wondering how she was going to graduate on time because she had just discovered that she was pregnant. She had not even told her mother. She was clearly distracted, and her commitment to strong academic performance was compromised.

Sometimes there is an obvious explanation, such as the student was ill on a particular day or some other issue as with Jake and Tiffany. All too often, however, there is no easy explanation. With no explanation, adults may say something like, “I know you can do this, why don’t you just sit down and get it done?” This question to the student is often perceived, somewhat accurately, by the student as an accusation of unwillingness. The adult decides the student “won’t” perform because the adult is convinced that the student “can.”

As is common with accusations of any kind, the student may dig in heels and either continue to refuse, or the student will complete the task but poorly with no demonstration of the student’s true abilities. It is nearly impossible to ally with the student once such an accusation is put forth. Students want to “save face” or simply maintain control, which essentially proves that the adult was correct and justified in the accusation. The cycle continues.

Circumstances behind the “Can’t”

As a special education teacher, I would often use metaphors or analogous situations to explain what is going on for a student. Imagine the task of walking to the corner store to purchase some milk. On the surface, this seems to be a simple chore, but let’s introduce some barriers or complications. What if the student were blind? What if the student was kept up all night with an ill child? What if the sidewalk was under construction or non-existent? What if the student is only 8-years-old? Each of these situations present a different set of skills to accomplish the same task. These explanations for the student’s “unwillingness” may be somewhat obvious in analysis, so let me suggest one that is not so clear.

Let’s think about the student with ADHD or some learning disability. The student may have performed the task in the past thus proving the ability to do so. But let’s also consider the amount of energy and focus it took to perform the task. For a student with a disability or a difficult life-challenge, the task requires more energy and focus than for the student who has no such circumstance. For a typical student with no extra challenges, the assignment is like the errand of walking to the corner for milk, a bother but doable. For the student with a barrier to overcome, the assignment is a much larger task with many more complications. The task could be like walking a mile while also carrying a one-year-old child in a carrier.

Horatio returned in the middle of a term from a couple of months in rehab. He saw no point in performing typical academic tasks, for there was no possibility of earning credit in that term. His recovery program, however, required school attendance. Every day, every hour, he was struggling with “Why?”

So, while the student has proven a capacity to perform the task, we must also consider the circumstances and conditions under which the performance takes place. Is the student struggling with something outside of school that is interfering with the ability to perform? Perhaps the student is unable or “can’t” perform the task due to this distraction.

Additionally, the student may not be able to admit that the task is beyond their current performance levels because they too are aware that they have successfully performed the task in the past. They may not have the self-awareness to understand why the very presentation of the task before them makes them feel tired and incapacitated. When working with students who are struggling through issues such as trauma, abuse, or simply having worked late at their job the previous night, there may not be an obvious explanation for their “unwillingness” to perform the assigned task. To avoid shame and to maintain control in their lives, the students create excuses to explain their lack of productivity. The explanation may be as much for themselves as for the teacher. The resulting behavior is that the student refuses. Can’t or Won’t? Which is it?

Remove the “Can’t v. Won’t” dilemma

Using some compassionate mindfulness opens the door for conversation about these interfering elements in students’ lives. Teachers, parents, and other adults can become allies in the discussion to remove or manage barriers. The point here is that it becomes a discussion, a conversation, rather than an accusation with the accompanying defensiveness.

Teachers and other adults can always assume that the student is capable; the student “can” do the task. The issue is one of barriers that interfere with the doing of the task. Supporting the student should always include expressing the belief that the student can and is willing if the circumstances are right. Adults need to create supportive circumstances.

Part of the discussion may be consideration of the academic task itself serving as a distraction from the troublesome circumstances. With proper support, a student can be persuaded to join the class in the academic tasks as a way of orchestrating a break from whatever is troubling the student. With an effective alliance between the student and the supportive adults, the student will learn skills of resilience that will last a life time.

Creating alliance with the students requires us to build relationship. We are not just purveyors of academic knowledge; we are coaches and mentors of how to live in an increasingly complex world. Academic performance is just one element of their lives, of our lives, and sometimes academics are actually a secondary priority, not to be ignored but to be managed in a larger context.

The teaching team worked with Jake toward a delayed graduation as he processed his grief. He took 18 months to return to his previous performance levels. In the meantime, teachers acknowledged and supported his performance by focusing on his step by step accomplishments rather than his failure to produce assignments. He was attending. He was listening in class. He occasionally took notes and even turned in partial assignments. Gradually, one class at a time, he began to earn credits again.

After several conversations with teachers, Tiffany decided to lower her own expectations. Realizing her time was limited, she accepted B’s and C’s on assignments in which A’s had been the norm. She chose to graduate on time albeit with a lower GPA. She had a new priority so she reset her standards. Rather than expressing disappointment, teachers allied with her and supported her thoughtful decisions.

Teachers coached Horatio into viewing his current assignments as pre-season activity; his work did not affect his rank in the standings, but it was an important part of his training. He was not earning credit, but he was developing skills and habits. As a result, he did not produce as a regular student, but he neither did he resist the work. Teachers supported him in producing whatever he could as he “trained” to become a full-time student while also managing his recovery.

With some mindful awareness, adults in the students’ lives can orchestrate a pause to examine factors that are outside of the academic capacity of the students. So often the outside factors are very much beyond the control of the students. Conversation with a student can be one of empowering the student to consider all of the factors that affect performance. From the student’s perspective, there is no need to take a rebellious stance because the adults become empathetic allies in achieving goals.

If a student turns in the sentence, “My fadder got kilt by pleese lass nite,” the compassionate teacher is not going to simply return the work with misspellings circled in red. To ally with students, we must help them put their work in perspective. We must use our colleagues and resources to view students in the entirety of their lives. Goals will change. Expectations will change. We will change.

By properly empowering students with insight and compassion, “Can’t or Won’t” becomes irrelevant. The students retain control of their circumstances as they gain perspective of the place of education in their lives. Teachers and parents become allies in discerning what needs to be done to determine the student’s level of engagement with the assignment, with the class, and with the school at large.