I was asked for suggestions on how to deal with the
following problem. There's no physics angle, but there
is a pedagogy / student psychology angle, so I was
hoping some wise persons on this list could lend some
insight.
"Mary" is by all accounts fairly bright, way above
average, but is not doing well in school. She's a
junior in high school, but will be taking freshman
level math, since she flunked it twice in a row.
She seems to exhibit the following three traits:
-- Generalized fear of the world.
-- Seeking attention.
-- Wanting to be "in control".
When said that way, it doesn't sound too bad; everybody
is somewhat scared these days, and teenagers are always
scared. Everybody wants attention, and everybody wants
to be in control. The remarkable thing in this case is
that these traits are carried to an extreme and manifested
in destructive ways.
-- If you tell her to do something, she will do the
opposite just to show she is "in control".
-- She has never received much positive attention, and
has apparently (perhaps subconsciously) decided that
negative attention is better than no attention at all.
In particular, she has gotten herself into a situation
where *not* doing the homework gets her more attention
than doing it.
This has become something of a vicious circle, or rather
a downward spiral. The math class is an example:
by all accounts she understood the material last year,
and the year before ... but refused to do the homework,
perhaps because it was too boring. Now she's signed up
to take the class a third time ... which isn't going to
make it any less boring.
Sidelights:
-- She has no understanding of humor, irony, sarcasm,
or light-hearted teasing, even when it is not directed
at her. That is, she tends to take everything literally.
-- She sometimes does well in non-academic activities,
including art, music, and sport.
-- She likes to read.
==========
Here's how far I've gotten thinking about this: From
the keen-grasp-of-the-obvious department: She needs to
get turned 180 degrees, going around the spiral in the
upward direction. That is, we start by finding something
she does right, and provide positive feedback and positive
attention. Eventually (so the theory goes) that will
make her less interested in negative attention.
A related thought: Bribery. That is, find some X that
she really wants, and say "if you toe the line, you can
have X."
At the opposite extreme: Boot camp. Draconian punishment
for not toeing the line.
At the next level of detail, I don't know how to put any
of those ideas into action.
=======================
I am aware that this isn't the first rebellious teenager
the world has ever seen.
I've thumbed through various books on the subject. Most
of them seem worse than useless, filled with obviously
counterproductive suggestions.
Bottom line:
-- Do you folks have any insights or suggestions?
-- Are there any references you would recommend?