The Disengaged Teen Book Club

Thanks again for joining the Disengaged Teen Book Club. We've been working on getting books sent out to everyone. If yours hasn't arrived yet, click on the "media" link here for articles, podcasts, and videos by the authors.

And wow - what a fabulous group of Alaskans! I'm in awe of the decades (perhaps centuries!) of teaching and parenting expertise in this group... and yet we're all hungry to learn more and figure out how we can do it better.

We also hope you've been able to access AASB Connect, our discussion board for this book club. If you're struggling to navigate the platform, please let me know (eferry@aasb.org, 907 723-6599, cell). We're all figuring this out together.

To that end, we're trying out the Q&A thread option. We'll post a prompt each week. You *should* be able to reply to this prompt with your insights and questions.

A core idea of the book is that we exhibit different behaviors as our sense of engagement and agency changes.

What mode were you in as a teen? What mode describes where the teens in your life are at?

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Emily Ferry
Association of Alaska School Boards
Juneau AK
907-463-1671
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Good afternoon!

As far as which mode I was at as a teen, i could see myself in all the modes at different points in my life.  I think the majority of my teens (high school) were spent as a Passenger and Achiever.  I say Passenger because school felt easy and i kind of just coasted along, but the competitor in me wanted good grades so maybe a part time Achiever.  In college, I became a bit of a Resister.  Why was i being asked to take classes that weren't a part of my major?  They had nothing to do with what I planned to do with my life and were boring or hard.  I think when i turned 19 I actually became more of an Explorer as a mentor helped me find an area of study that interested me, that pertained to my job (at the time), which felt like would be useful for me in the long run.  I became much more successful in my high education when I reached this mode.  

As for my teen in my life right now, i think they're oscillate between Passenger and Resister.  They're having a hard time identifying how school as it is now will contribute to their life as a whole.  I do find identify some Explorer in them when they are given the freedom to choose a topic of their interest and fixate on learning everything about it.  Anyone want to know about greek gods, I know someone who can tell you all about them!

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Tiffany Jackson
Association of Alaska School Boards
Juneau AK
907-463-1666
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As a teen, I think I was an Achiever.  I was motivated to do well in school by completing my work, making good grades, and meeting my teacher's expectations.  I also valued following the rules and staying out of trouble.  

The teens that I am in contact with daily at school seem to be in Passenger mode academically.  They come to school but don't see a meaningful reason to achieve academic success.  On the other hand, they are capable of high levels of engagement in activities they value, such as physical education, basketball, and gaming in the evenings.  

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Angie Schraven
Teacher/School Staff
Northwest Arctic Borough School District
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I was an achiever in high school. I work at a charter school and most of my students are achievers as the families that choose to send their students to the charter have high expectations for their students. I do have a small handful of resistors; some are probably that way due to lack of motivation (need to see the value of what they are doing), but I see some are resistors due to neurodivergence. Several of my students show signs of genuine ADHD (some are professionally diagnosed and treated, others are not) and I see lots of signs of students spaced on the autism spectrum (from very strong signs to more subtle, quiet signs). I am here to learn how to inspire all of my students and learn how to teach in a way that activates explorer mode. 

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Emily Annas
Nome Public Schools
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I was definitely  a passenger. I was making it through school, and doing what needed to be done to get by. Also what was expected of me bare minimal. I did enjoy learning information that was of interested to me in the moment. The teen in my life I would say is a resister. He has moments of wanting to learn what brings interest to him. If the learning is difficult he often shuts down or if he doesn't no where to begin. This child does have adhd, and is going to be tested for autism taking that into consideration.

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Juleesa Caldwell
Parent/Caregiver
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By the time in hit high school, I was a passenger most of the time. I left home at 19 and vowed to never go to school again, but after a year of manual labor in metal shops, residential construction, and sliming fish, I thought I'd try out the college thing and ended up at UAF where I functioned as an explorer, especially when I took courses following passions. I might have been a resister in some classes... like the undergraduate required course in Library Science because I worked at the library and felt I knew most of the content.

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Nathan Pitt
Discovery Peak
Fairbanks
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Hello.

I've been a Passenger for most of my educational career. I went to six different schools by the time my fourth-grade year was done and switched schools again in Junior and Senior High school. For me, it was more about navigating the social side of things. How can I fit in?  How does THIS community work? I was successful enough but never engaged. This has become a refrain even in my adult life; a pattern I have yet to unlock. I don't really know how to dig in to topics or activities I like. I see what it would take to be a better musician or Board member, but I still just skim the surface of possibility.

I did have one teacher in high school who helped unlock my Explorer mode. She was my French teacher who asked all the right questions and pushed all the right buttons to support my learning. So much so that I gave up theater to be on the yearbook and became a Philosophy major in college because she taught Existentialism in her Novels class.

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Phil Burdick
Sitka School District
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When I was a teen, as a sophomore, I knew I wanted to be a school teacher after college. I was a dedicated student and would categorize my high school years in Achiever mode, always focused on what was in front of me and doing my best.   My three kids went through school, two sons in Achiever mode. They were both extremely competitive and wanted to be the best at whatever they did. My daughter on the other hand spent much of her teen years on Resister mode.  She got good grades, but I had to stay on top of things and make sure she was completing her work.

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Velvet Ivers
Yakutat Schools
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   I related strongly when the author mentioned students vacillating throughout the day. My first two years of high school were largely in passenger mode, the last two years were all over the map, but some great teachers/mentors help me rediscover explorer some. My reflections on my experiences and my children's experiences is helping me see engagement and the role it plays in learning and in what we call academic success.

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Paul Rioux
Board Member
Sitka School District
Sitka AK
907-738-9063
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I thought long and hard about this prompt. My original thought was similar to others, where for different parts of my life I lived in different modes, but I think the one I lived in the most is the Resister. I had opportunities before me for multiple avenues and opportunities, but my anxieties held me back. I held myself back and convinced myself I couldn't do it. 

Luckily, I see a lot less of that mindset in myself nowadays as well as a lot less of it in the youth I work with.

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Callie Little
Youth Engagement Coordinator
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It's been loving reading your responses and learning more about you. I love that we have all quadrants represented in this group. My three kids are very close in age (18 and twin 16-year-olds). They've had very similar home and school experiences. I find it fascinating to observe how and when they show up differently. I have one whose default is achiever, another who appears to be a passenger but can slide into explorer and/or achiever, and another who is a born explorer and who could sometimes use a little more attention to achieving. He occasionally turns into a resister when he gets overwhelmed by exploring (and procrastinating) too much.  

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Emily Ferry
Association of Alaska School Boards
Juneau AK
907-463-1671
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In my teen years, I was oscillated between a passenger and an explorer. There are things I did since I felt obliged to do as a child and student while  others I was genuinely interested and took the initiative. The social and educational environment played a great role in my actions and decisions. 

I look at my two teenagers and see a reflection of myself back then, they too oscillate,one is a passenger and resister while the other is an achiever and explorer. I hope to learn how to help then move towards greater curiosity, ownership and engagement.

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Dorcas Anunda
Teacher/School Staff
Nome Public Schools
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