Wouldn’t we all love to hear a child exclaim positively, “I get to go back to school. I can’t wait!” Yet those words are rare. Why? And what can we do about it?

Here are three possible reasons students have a negative view of learning:

1. Parts of the learning process are hard.

2. We place too much emphasis on achievement instead of growth.

3. We reinforce negative messages about learning and school.

Let’s take a look at these three reasons in greater depth and then move on to the good news. There is a lot we can do to help students enjoy the learning process.

Parts of the learning are hard: People have a natural desire to learn and grow. If this is true, why do we so often see the learning process in a negative light? There are a few reasons why. One is that learning requires hard work and perseverance. When we learn something new, whether it is in school or elsewhere in life, we usually have to persevere through some bumps and hardships along the way. Let’s take learning to ride a bike as an example. Very few people hop on a bicycle for the first time without some wobbly rides or even painful crashes. This is to be expected. Yet if we want to learn to ride a bike we need to experience the less successful and possibly painful rides. After the initial learning we continue to get better and better and experience more and more of the enjoyment of riding a bike. This is true of the things we learn in school, as well. Throughout the learning process in subjects such as math, reading and writing, we go through times when what we are learning is hard. This is not always fun and can sometimes feel like painful failures. However, once we persevere through the difficult learning we experience success and enjoyment on the other side. The things we enjoy most we usually worked hard to get.

What can we do?

1. Teach children that anything worthwhile takes hard work.

2. Show empathy during the times it is hard and encourage them to persevere.

3. Make sure they enjoy learning at a mastery or independent level in some areas while they are learning hard new skills in another area.

Emphasis on ability instead of growth: A number of psychologists and neurobiologists including Carol Dweck in her recent book, “Mindset,” have explored the idea of fixed mindset versus a growth mindset. A fixed mindset puts the emphasis on natural ability or innate smartness. With this mindset children believe they don’t have a lot of control over the learning process. It is mostly pre-determined. In contrast, a growth mindset places the emphasis on areas that can be controlled such as practice, effort and strategies. The growth mindset helps empower students that they have control over their learning.

What can we do?

1. Don’t emphasize how smart your child is but rather encourage him/her to grow in character qualities such as resilience, perseverance and determination.

2. Help your child see the correlation between effort and results.

Negative messages about school and learning: Our popular culture bombards children with a lot of messages that school is a negative thing. If you admit you like school, you will likely be labeled a “nerd.” Since the primary thing we do at school is learn, children begin to also think of learning as a negative thing we must endure.

What can we do?

1. Model a love for learning.

2. Use phrases such as, “you get to go back to school” instead of, “you have to go back to school.”

3. Talk with children about the value of education and what a privilege it is.

I hope these three ideas are helpful and give you something to think about. If you want to know more about the idea of emphasizing growth rather than achievement, I highly recommend the following books:

“Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance” by Angela Duckworth

“Mindset: The New Psychology of Success” by Carol Dweck

“Talent is Overrated” by Geoff Colvin

Karen Blankenbeckler is vice president for academic affairs at The Bear Creek School.