Are you a good student?
What does it mean to be a "good" student according to the commonsense? Which students are privileged by this definition of the good student? What is made impossible to see/understand/believe because of these commonsense ideas?
A good student means that the students attain good grades, they listen in class and participate, they are never late and are always present, they finish their homework, they do not disrupt the class, and they listen to their teacher. I believe that most teachers were to agree with this definition of what a good student is, and some may just wish that all their students are like this so they don't have to stress over students that are "not good students." As a future educator, I believe that all students are good students in their own ways. I believe that you don't need to meed any "standards" or "certain criteria" in order to be a good student. I believe that even if students don't hand in your assignments on time all the time or you are occasionally late for classes it doesn't make them bad students. Those things don't affect their knowledge, either. I think the student who are privileged by this knowledge are the students that come from wealthy families, stable home lives, and if they have white skin.
It is possible to clearly see how conflicted our education system is with this definition of a good student. It damages the minds of our students in the way that they feel they are not good students if they go outside of the "good student guidelines." Grades do not determine whether you are a good student or a bad student. Sure, students who have good grades, attend class on time, and finish their homework may be great students, but that doesn't mean that the student who doesn't have the best of grades, doesn't always attend class on time, and doesn't finish their homework punctually, makes them a bad student. I believe that all students are equal and if they withstand this "good student" motto, students will start to feel incapable and teachers will have unrealistic expectations for their students. Growing up, I never had the best grades, I wasn't on time for every single one of my classes, and sometimes I handed in my homework late. But, I was kind to my teachers and my classmates and I never got in trouble in school. I still, to this day, consider myself a very good students, based on my own standards of who I am as one.
