“Doing School” Denise Clark Pope

"My husband and I work hard to send healthy messages. Instead of asking, how did you do on the spelling test, we try to ask, what did you learn today, what are you excited about."  Denise Clark Pope

Book: "Doing School: How We Are Creating a Generation of Stressed-Out, Materialistic, and Miseducated Students"

Quote from my book from a 10th grader: 'People don't go to school to learn. They go to get good grades, which brings them to college, which brings them the high paying job, which brings them to happiness, so they think.' Students honestly believe that the better the college they go to - the better off they will be in life.

Q and A with Denise Clark Pope 
Can you paint a portrait of a stressed-out student? 
They are overscheduled - both in school -- with too many classes, or too many advanced courses, and out of school - with so many extracurricular activities, sports, tutoring, etc. that they have no time to reflect on what they are learning/doing. Many admit that they are simply "doing school" - not engaging in depth with material or even enjoying the activities that they do. As one student explains, "we are "robo-students" - just going page by page, doing the routine. School is lifeless." 

What will this generation be like as adults?
 Imagine if Steve Jobs had no time to tinker in his garage because he had to go to piano lessons and SAT prep class and art class and was on a travel baseball team that had practice five times a week and away games on the weekend. ... I am not sure he could have invented the Mac.

What are parents and students focusing on and what should they be focusing on? 
Families need to sit down and discuss together - with the kids-what do we mean by success?

Is this type of pressure more prevalent in affluent areas? If so, why? 
This kind of frenzy over grades and college admissions tends to be more prevalent in affluent areas where more students are college-bound and where more families have the resources to schedule their kids in extracurricular activities, prep courses, apply to more colleges, etc.

AP program isn’t all it’s cracked up to be — study
“Does the Advanced Placement Program Save Taxpayers Money?"
"The Condition of Education 2013."

Denise Pope
Stanford Graduate School of Education
Co-Founder, Challenge Success
www.challengesuccess.org