Academic Attitude

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Academic Attitude

During the course of a student's progression through academia, he must learn that the teacher cannot think for him. It is essential for a student to free his mind, allowing thought to flow. Instead of waiting for the answers to be handed to him on a silver platter, he will rise to his full potential, above to the meta level, and for himself, determine what the answer is. The student must also become active in his learning. Therefore taking his academic potential to the higher level. As well as achieving the higher level of thinking, the student must actively pursue his learning. The way a student approaches his education, weather he be in junior high or seeking his doctorate, is his academic attitude.
The student should no longer be baby sat. She must think for herself rather than be force fed information. To achieve this higher level of thinking, as Roger Sale explains, takes discipline. Through discipline the students' mind becomes liberated, allowing her knowledge to become "active" (Sale 14).
Therefore, by making her knowledge active, the student is able travel past the surface and explore the information in a deeper sense. In doing this, learning does not become a habit. Rather, instead of memorizing material to perform well on a test, or regurgitate it into a paper, the pupil synthesizes the information presented, relating it to other things, hence, learning about the subject.
Information, then, is no longer strictly exchanged from teacher to student. It allows the learner to open her mind, liberalizing it, allowing deeper thought into the subject. Approaching learning with a free mind demonstrates quality academic attitude.
It is commonly believed that education is based on the fact that a student is to handed information by the teacher (Freire 23). It is as if the teacher is saying,

I am an expert, and if I assume that the important fact about my knowledge is that I am indeed an expert, my way of speaking to you, who are not an expert but a beginning student, is always going to be along the lines of: "I have what you want. Here is
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...(Bartholomae and Petrosky 41). The pupil takes the information presented to him and, by relating key moments to personal experiences formulates his own meaning.
This type of "strong reading" requires the student to think freely. It is then that he is able to dig past the surface and see the subject clearly.
Together, a student having an open, "liberalized" mind, and taking responsibility for his academic progress leads to a good academic attitude. The way the student approaches his learning greatly affects his academic attitude.
As a pupil, one must approach her material openly and relate to it, formulating her own meaning. In order for the student to perform well, she must actively participate in her learning. She should encourage herself to step beyond her comfort level and ask questions. Become involved in discussion, whether this discussion is with the author or the teacher. It is then that the student becomes more knowledgeable. Only when these types of academic habits are pursued will a student have an excellent academic attitude. A students academic attitude, the way she approaches her education, needs to be open and active.

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