Public Education's Untapped Resource

In public education, we spend quite a bit of time talking about creating and celebrating success ... which is great. I mean, that's why most of us are in this business is the first place--to help people reach their full potentials.

What we don't spend a lot of time talking about, however, is helping students WANT success. Granted, it might sound like a waste of time. Who wouldn't want success? Just ask any student if he wants to be successful, and I'm sure he'd tell you he does. Of course he does. But ... does he want it?

Forgive me for quoting Tony Robbins, but he perfectly sums up decades of research on human motivation by claiming, "The most important thing in the world is the activation of internal drive." There is a difference between someone paying lip-service to wanting something that they know they should or are supposed to want and someone wanting something bad enough that they are willing to change habits that have been ingrained in them for years and/or instilled in them by their families.

I've met students who live in poverty, work almost forty hours a week, walk to the grocery store to get food for their families, and take AP classes with straight As. They want success. And, conversely, I've met students who live in similar struggle, rarely attend school, spend their time distracting themselves with drama, and don't have a plan after high school. They, too, often claim to want success.

So, what's the difference? The answer probably isn't cut and dry. It could be that the student who has that internal drive has a life so bad that she's willing to do anything to rise above it. Or, it could be that she's found her passion, and the idea of doing what she loves is worth the hard work it takes to get there. It could also be that she has support structures within the school or community that others in her same shoes don't.

Regardless, the difference between these two students is often not potential or ability, but rather, it is the depth of desire for something better. Choosing not to take steps toward success is similar to stories of women in bad relationships who never choose to leave because--even though their relationships bring them mainly sorrow and fear--at least its what they know ... and what is known brings us comfort. For some, comfort, even if it's accompanied by misery, is a better gamble than the unknown: discomfort that could bring us happiness.

To truly tap into our students' potentials-especially in communities of poverty--we first must tap into their internal drive and not assume that the desire for success runs deeper than the need to just get through the day.

The greatest untapped resource in public education is the internal drive of our students. It's time to make them want it. Their futures depend on it.