Have you ever had students just not try in class? You call on a student after explaining something, and ask a question. The student shrugs and says, “I just can’t do it.”

The truth is, we all are influenced by our views about what causes the good and the bad to happen in our lives:

• Are we the cause?
• Is there something outside of our control?
• Is it always going to be this way?
• It is just a one-time thing?
• Is there some divine reason that it happened this way?

For a quick read that explains the different types of attributions, check out this SparkNotes article!

While I personally believe that all things happen as a reaction to something else, that doesn’t mean that I feel I deserve all the good that has come to me.

When I was in middle school, my grades got sent home. Where I went to school, they only sent grades home when there were problems. And I had a problem–a “D” in one of my classes.

My mom picked me up from school, and when I climbed into the passenger seat, I saw the paper printout of my grades and knew what was coming.

I can’t remember how my mom started the conversation, but I retorted, “Mom, it’s not an F!”

“You can do better,” was all she had to say. And she was right, I could do better. I know for a fact that the reason I wasn’t doing well in the class was because I didn’t like the teacher, so I wasn’t doing the work.

Until then, I had been blaming the teacher for my grades (“she doesn’t like me, and that’s why my grades are so low”).

So, I promised myself before high school that I would do the work for every class, regardless of what I thought of my teacher.

And I did well all throughout high school, because I did the work.

In my experience, I was the thing holding myself back. However, I also learned to recognize that there were others in my classes that weren’t doing well–and not because they weren’t trying.

A lot of those students thought that it was their fault, that they were to blame for their academic failure. However, I realized that perhaps there was more to it than that.

I thought, “It’s not because they are dumb– it’s because they just haven’t been properly taught. Somewhere along the way, there must’ve been a disconnect between what the teacher was teaching them and what they actually learned.”

After all, anyone can learn anything, as long as they are taught in a way that makes sense to them. They also need to be taught from the ground up: basic–>complex.

But younger students don’t know this yet. In fact, many people will never reach this conclusion ever in their lifetime. Sadly, many people go down to their graves honestly believing that they couldn’t learn math, or that they would never be able to anything other than what they were “naturally” good at.

“Oh, I’ll never be able to speak another language.” Well, given the chance to go where another language is the only language spoken and a good reason to learn it, you would definitely be able to learn that second language.

What we think we can do doesn’t define us. Yes, we may have preferences, but we could learn to do whatever was necessary.

I’m studying to be a teacher right now, and I’m almost done, but if it was necessary, I could switch majors right now, and begin studying Biology in order to become a doctor. Would it be painful? Yes. Would I enjoy it? Probably not. But I could learn to be a doctor.

And when our students say that they can’t learn something, we just need to keep proving them wrong, using themselves as the tool to do it. Prove to them that they can learn English, math, or whatever, by actually teaching it to them in a way that sparks that learning!

It’s not enough to tell them they’re wrong, and that they can and will learn it. They are going to need proof.

Comment Below!

I enjoy sharing my thoughts with you! Please tell me what you think about attributions!

• How do you help someone who believes that they are the ones to blame for all things bad in their life?
• Why is it important for us to be objective in our analysis of what causes stuff (good and bad) to happen in our lives?

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