The topic I shall be talking about is very much wide, if we are to dwell extensively into it, we could write volumes.
Looking at the topic holistically, it can only be measured on objectivity test, I believe there shall be a thousand and one divergent opinions to what I have here.
In my approach to this topic which is “the attitude of twenty-first century students towards learning “ I looked at the topic and brought out the key parties involved to enable us reasonably discuss the topic.
These parties are:
⁃ The Students
⁃ The parent
⁃ The teachers
⁃ The government
-Who is a Student? As the name student connotes the word student emanated from the word study. A student is a person who studies a particular academic subject he/she is a person seriously devoted to some subject whether academic or otherwise and he/she is a student of life.
From the above definition, it is very clear that each and every person and at whatever stage remains a students. Therefore, the person called student is not just restricted to academics but rather encompasses all stages of an individual activities.
-Who is a Parent? A parent is one of the two persons from whom a child is immediately biologically descended or by adoption;a mother or a father, a parent is also a person who act as a parent in taking responsibilities of a child and a parent is also considered as that individual who manage the whole activities of his/her child at all stages in life. It is the responsibility of that parent to impact knowledge on a child directly or indirectly depending on the parent capacity. Apart from impacting knowledge, it is also the responsibility of the parent to ensure that knowledge is acquired through studying. It is also expected that a parent should be on the watch to ensure that a child study whether consciously or unconsciously, conventionally or otherwise depending on the circumstances at hand.
-Who is a Teacher? A teacher as the name connotes is regarded as a person who have an acquired skill or a profession in a particular field and who is responsible to impact knowledge on the student. He/She is also a person who teaches, especially one employed in a school. The method of teaching adopted by a teacher is usually through the conventional way of impacting knowledge. At this point.
It is important to note that a teacher does not necessarily have to be a physical person teaching a student in a particular manner and in a particular setting.
-What is a School? It is an institution dedicated or designated for the purpose of teaching and learning of a particular set of people, which in this context we refer to student. It is important for us to note that school, if given a wider scope can be considered as an institution which encompasses any activity in life, not necessarily the conventional notion we have of what a school is limited to.
-Government: The last but not the least, The government as an entity is an organization or a body that is responsible for safety, stability and for ensuring the proper implementation and regulations of the activities of the four (4) key organs mentioned earlier through policies.
Now, having introduced the topic for deliberation by first identifying the parties involved to enable us to be fair to the topic, it is very much relevant to take us down memory lane to enable us have an insight on why the chosen topic of the attitude of the twenty-first century students towards learning.
Going back to history a little and taking Nigeria as a case study. The ordinary Nigerian is quiet rich in knowledge which was acquired then through the traditional way of learning of our norms and culture, that was possible because learning is maintained and has been in practices right from time immemorial, even though in a different was and manner. Studying then was not done through the conventional way, like what is obtainable subsequently to date. Formerly, people do study and learn various skills either out of volition or by heritage, gradually learning what we study shuttled from just keeping what we learnt in our memories to the well documentation of such knowledge. And this documentation are found on woods, stones, images such as scriptures to mention a few.
The method of studying introduced then in the Northern part of the country was through conventional way of establishing a school commonly called MAKARANTAN ALLO, where students used slates to study the scriptures usually taught by the teacher called Malam.
On the other hand, the Christian Missionaries came into the shore of Nigeria through the Southern part of the country. They also introduced their own way of learning through reading and writing in English language. This method of study was used to teach the scripture to the people of those communities. This kind of study is also done through the conventional system which take place in Churches. Gradually the colonialists saw the need to introduce a system that will pave way as enhance the traditional way of study considering it at that time to be incomplete and slow, that led to the introduction of schools as an institution for learning which were meant only for a knowledge in a particular kind of skill.
This is we’re I’ll discuss extensively on the topic “the attitude of twenty-first century students towards learning”. Remember, anything new is always very interesting and tempting or resisted. The discovery of the conventional way of studying made the students during that time to become very inquisitive to learning and to understand. They have to study and study hard. Because of the students quest for knowledge during that period, competition became the order of the day, and I am not surprised with the kind of intellectuals that existed amongst our parents, grandparents and to an extent some of our great grandparents. We are living their future which they unselfishly struggled for through studying. This should serve as a foot for thought most especially to the upcoming generation students.
Now having taking us back a bit, Coming back to the topic. In response to this, I shall say that students attitude towards learning these days has a double edged sword, because so many issues could be considered to the merit or otherwise of the student towards studying in the 21st century. They include the following:
1)The Gradual Movement to e-learning: This has really enhanced the level of learning of students in our institutions and is gradually phasing out the conventional way of learning. On the other hand,it has succeeded in making students lazy. The e-learning way of studying has widened the learning scope/opportunities while at the same time diverting the student’s attention from what is relevant to his/her progress. It also left the student with no limit to what he/she should concentrate on at one point or the other, being mainly like a one man business that grants the student lacks of checks and balances so to say, expect with serious intervention from the key players mentioned earlier towards the learning structure of the student, who are expected to monitor and serve as a guide to the student.
2)Academic Corruption: This is another fundamental issue that negates the learning culture of a student. Parents, teachers, schools and the government are to be blamed. It is a known fact that presently we have some schools or rather permit me to say virtually most schools now at one stage or the other do engage or are gradually identifying themselves as ‘special centers’ . By special center, I mean or as it goes, it means centers where a student will not fail his/her examination even if he/she lacks the requisite knowledge to make him/her pass. This is another reason that automatically could make a student uninterested to study because the zeal has been taken away by the pillars that are supposed to support him/her grow.
On the above point most of the parents are always ready to go an extra mile negatively for their children to pass their examinations even where the parents knows that his/her child deserves to fail. This practice is more frequent at secondary school level during either SSCE or JAMB examinations. If looking at the teachers, they also contributed greatly in discouraging the students to study. It is important to note that the teacher always stands as a role model to the student. Some of the teachers that teach students/ children are incompetent and not qualified to be within the four walls of a classroom, so employing such teachers amounts to wasting the time of the student and at the end of the day, the student ends up with nothing to refer to during exams. Some of the teachers are not disciplined too. On the side of the government we could say it has failed when it comes to education generally, most of the issues raised came to be because of the failure of the government in the educational sector.
Sincerely, I am not a politician but I must commend the effort of the El-Rufai Government in deeming or necessary to revive the standard of government schools to enable all stakeholders have a reason to free and qualitative education.
Education is too important for us all not to be involved. For in the words of John F Kennedy, America’s 35th President, “let us think of education as a means of developing our greatest abilities, because in each of us, there’s a private hope and dream, which fulfilled, can be turned to benefit for us all and greater strength for our nation”.
Dahiru Asma’u Mohammed, Mass Communication Department, Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, Kaduna State