Sometimes the best way to figure out the way forward is to take a glimpse back.
That’s what Tim Daly does in this insightful piece, “Bring Back the Try-Hard.” In case you need a movie refresher: Try-Hard characters were punchlines due to their over-earnestness, their rule-following, their unyielding drive for success. Even parents and teachers were a little annoyed by them. In some cases (like the satire Election), the adults actively sabotaged their youthful counterparts.
Unfortunately, kids who’d like to be Try-Hards today might discover their biggest challenge is… having no challenges available.
We’ve adapted our educational system to accommodate the lowest common denominator of effort. Inflated grades, reduced graduation requirements, normalized absenteeism. Take your pick of the ways we’ve signaled to our students that effort is optional. (And it seems this trend is catching on beyond the schoolyard: Movie makers are making easier-to-understand films for the audience. Musicians are making song lyrics simpler to appease the listeners. News is spoon-fed to us in 10-second clips because no one can handle reading an article)
The overarching point is that a population rises - or sinks - to the level that’s expected of them. The Try-Hard in school didn’t disappear because kids changed. They didn’t disappear at all. Instead, the Try-Hards are in hiding, waiting to be uncovered, because adults have lowered expectations of what they can accomplish.
Some classrooms and school systems still provide the challenge that students deserve. Research shows that learning gains are higher when teachers push every student to give their whole effort. One must imagine those kids also have higher self-esteem, knowing that they achieved real victories to earn their grades. Similarly, NAEP scores are highest for 8th grade students who identify with the statement “I keep working hard even when I feel like quitting.”
We need to support teachers who demand the best of their students, not pressure teachers to pass every child or give endless retake opportunities on tests. We need to show students we believe in their ability to do hard things.
We need to teach that effort is valuable in itself.
