Welcome, Guest!
Column: Subfreshman year — not a guarantee
Published: Saturday, December 15, 2007 - 1:06am
[Note: Uni High is looking into the possibility of making subfreshman year a "probationary" year. This is still very much in the preliminary stage, and current subfreshmen would not be affected regardless of the outcome. When school resumes after winter break, the Gargoyle will take a closer look at this topic. In the meantime, reporter Maritza Mestre gets things started with this opinion column.]
“SUBBIE YEAR DOESN’T count!” is a phrase told to subbies at the beginning of their first days at Uni by many students. “It doesn’t go on your transcript, so don’t worry about it.”
But what if subbie year counted the most? Some teachers have had the idea of making subbie year a “trial” year.
The idea is that the school would see how students applied themselves during subbie year, and if it wasn’t up to par, they’d be asked to leave.
This thought has come from observing subbies throughout the years at Uni who just don’t try and who goof off all year. The new system would allow more students to transfer in freshman year to fill up the slots of those students who didn’t take subbie year seriously.
This idea sounds both good and bad to me. On the good side, it would get rid of the people at Uni who are really not there for themselves. Their parents might have pushed them into the school, or they might be here for some reason other than their own interest. If it is clear students aren’t trying, then they really shouldn’t be at a school like Uni.
If a student is trying but doesn’t feel like it is showing, teachers will be able to help the student find a school that is a better fit for him or her.
Sometimes it is hard to know if a school will fit someone until after the student has given it a try. A great advantage about subbie year is that it gives people that year to “try it on for size” to see if Uni is really the place they want to attend.
However, I don’t think the system should be similar to a grading system in which you must have a certain number of A's and B's to stay.
I think grades should be important, but there shouldn’t be a designated number of particular grades you need in order to stay. If students are working toward something so set in stone, they may not try new study habits or more challenging assignments, which is one of the main benefits of subbie year.
Instead, I think a system where students are not kicked out unless it is obvious to everyone they don’t want to be here and aren’t trying could have positive results. If students appeared to be slacking off, it would be best to inform them early on during their subbie year, so they could change their ways if they really wanted to be at Uni.
If this program were put into effect, it would have to be done the right way. The idea shouldn’t be to scare students; Uni should remain an environment where students feel secure enough to grow without the fear that one mess-up could send them packing.
Comments
Probation for Subbies....
Maritza's fair-minded editorial said most of what I'd want to say but if there's any value to it---an open question---let me offer a teacher's perspective.
I don't think the goal of a probationary year would be to enforce academic or behavioral perfection. A system where students need to maintain a minimum GPA---other than that they should basically pass most of their classes---would not likely get my support. Even demanding unstinting effort sounds too rigid to me: one of my best physics students---who later went on to win awards at a prestigious university and a Marshall scholarship or some such---admitted to me that he had had "a bad attitude" during his first two years at Uni. All of us on the faculty understand that Uni seniors are very different people from Uni subbies; and part of our reward is helping effect this change.
However:
Uni High is a public school, paid for primarily by public money, yet in any year can only enroll 60 students from among hundreds of intelligent and deserving applicants. Too often we see students rapidly learn to take Uni for granted; and sometimes we feel like we should be telling students---but more importantly telling their parents---that education at Uni is something of a privilege and not at all an entitlement.
For starters, here are two things we need to work on:
I hope it is clear that flawed or insufficiently-awesome students are not the problem I am trying to address. We need the help of parents; and subbie-year probation is an imperfect way of addressing this, but I'd like to see whether it would help set a better tone.
I speak only for myself and not for any other employee of Uni High.
Post new comment