Why Urban Kids Dismiss School | Documentary Idea

by Whitney Reed
(Washington DC, USA)

Documentary idea. There is a huge debate raging in the USA right now about school reform. There are a lot of ideas being thrown around; merit pay for teachers, digital classrooms, open-source learning, school choice etc... but very few people are looking at the students.

Students are losing incentives to go to school, especially those kids who are already behind, namely those living in poverty. Before the internet, you would go to school to get knowledge to get a job...that's no longer true. Kids don't believe that anymore, and they are right not to.

Ken Robinson does some wonderful exploration on this topic as you can see in this video.

What makes students want to learn? What do they feel is important? Why do they come to school? Why do they drop out? What would a classroom that inspired learning and held attention look like? What are their incentives?

I think asking kids from failing schools about their motivations in life could be a key element in closing the achievement gap.




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