We Are College Bound!

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One of the schools I work in is a member of the No Excuses University network, with the goal of raising the college awareness and ultimately college-going rate of our students. We call our students "scholars" not "kids," and every classroom has a university they have adopted and use as their logo. Yesterday The Atlantic published an article about the types of language we use when encouraging students to go to college which really made me think about the efficacy of our approach. It said that, in many cases, we focus solely on the financial benefits that a college education will bring our students, and use that as the primary motivation. Instead, we should be "selling" college as a pathway to intellectual fulfillment and a better life in general, rather than just a way to make more money.

In one portion of the article I found particularly interesting, the author said that his students of poverty tended to talk about what they wanted to BE, rather than what they wanted to DO. Students might say they want to be a doctor or a lawyer, but they don't really have an idea what that means. Wealthy students might respond to the same question by saying they want to litigate trials or treat children with cancer, and then figure out the college path that makes sense for that goal.

I am looking forward to sharing this concept with my staff. It's not just about talking about college, it's about HOW we talk about college with our low-income kids. We need to continue to help them articulate their passions, then help them see that college is the path to turn those passions into a lifelong career.