Who are these people sitting in front of me?

I really need to blog more often. Sometimes I plan to do it, but the planned time eventually gets absconded by something else. So I am blogging today because this just hit me as I was grading a quiz.

Why do our students today feel as if their education gets in their way?

I know from many colleagues at educational conferences, from my wife who is a high school teacher, and from reading informal literature (blogs, articles, etc.) that there is an evolving perspective from educators regarding their students. Some say students have become too arrogant; others say too detached (ok, lazy); and others blame unpreparedness (or effectively an indictment of the educational system as a whole - I gotta riff on that one day). I have participated in a great many of these discussions, sometimes agreeing, sometimes disagreeing, but always walking unfulfilled - "we haven't quite hit it on the head" I think to myself.

So you're probably wondering about now if I have had an epiphany on the subject, ala Homer Simpson wandering in the snowbound woods.

No, not exactly, but I do have a new thought. The perception I have of students now is that they just do not think of themselves as students. Not first at least - they are entrepreneurs, husbands, wives, employees, community service volunteers, disabled persons - you name it, first. They simply do not identify as being a student. Coming to campus and participating is something that gets calendered in around everything else that has a higher priority. My office hours now are generally filled with students who come in and ask for ways to not do work, or have an alternative plan, or simply to get advice on what they perceive is a unique, externally created constraint on their education. But it is all self-inflicted. I hardly ever get anyone that comes in for assistance anymore with the course material, nor do I have students willing to make up for technical deficiencies on their own time (how many Javascript tutorials can I post? You gotta go do it!).

"Dr. Gary I am going to miss class this week because my boss asked me to help HR at the recruiting fair"
"Dr. Gary I need a makeup exam because my 3rd cousin once removed on my mom's side decided to get married on a Tuesday at 11am" (yes this one really happened)
"Dr. Gary I can't make class today because I am very tired. I worked a 12-hour shift followed by studying for 4 hours and was up until 2am playing XBox"
(course eval) "Dr. Gary's class is so hard. I spent 4 hours per week on homework (I ask for 9), we all have jobs you know"
"Dr. Gary I am sorry I didn't conduct the class project as you required, I was busy starting my own company on the side. I will do better next year." (Of course you will I informed him, because you will be back with me in the same class).

Now of course students come to you with valid personal situations, so that is not what I am talking about. I am talking about their identity. They just don't self-identify as students, they do not internalize that identity into their value system which in turn impacts their daily business. Some colleagues and I are submitting to an NSF program whose purpose in part is to connect students to their profession. Unfortunately NSF has it all wrong - I don't need to connect my students to their profession, I need to connect my professionals back to being students.