MMSD Today

News and information for staff members and the Madison community

Vol. I No. 2 - December 19, 2005

Effort and Struggle Leads to Learning

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Mary Ramberg, director of Teaching and Learning

Imagine this:

A driver is stopped by a police officer for speeding – 45 mph in a 25 mph zone. The driver tells the officer that he doesn't deserve a ticket because, "I was trying really hard not to speed."

Or this more dramatic scenario:

A novice swimmer is pulled into deep water. The swimmer works hard to keep from being pulled out deeper and to get back to shore, but, unfortunately, drowns.

These two scenarios pose an interesting philosophical question: Does it matter if people put forth effort, if the effort doesn't produce results?

We're in a fortunate position in education. We don't have to decide the "right" response to this deep question. We know what we need to do so our students' effort is rewarded.

Research tells us that when it comes to learning, we can teach students how to do more than to work hard; we can teach them to work smart. For example, we can teach students that:

they have a right and obligation to understand whatever it is that they're supposed to be learning,
they need to monitor their own understanding, and
it is their responsibility to make sure that they ask and get answers to their questions.

It is okay if our students struggle. "Struggling [with school work] is not the enemy, any more than sweating is the enemy in basketball; it is part of the process, and a clear sign of being in the game," according to Suzanne Sutton, in an article for the National Association of Secondary School Principals.

But we want students' struggles – their effort – to pay off for them, to produce the desired results. In short, we want our students to work hard and to achieve.

If we teach students how to work smart – how to put forth productive effort – we teach them a valuable life lesson, as well as help them achieve the tasks at hand.

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