When West’s new Advisory class started this year, few could predict the backlash from students. An anonymous Instagram account, @students_against_advisory, created a petition to remove it, which has reached 137 signatures as of Feb. 16. It begs the question: why was Advisory created, and why have students reacted so negatively?
Starting fall of 2023, the school district announced Wednesday’s Academic Focus Time (AFT) would be replaced with Advisory. AFT allows students to complete school work or meet with teachers, while Advisory has time to teach the district-mandated social-emotional lessons (SEL) and relay grade-specific information.
Under Advisory, students travel to meet with a designated teacher. Organized by last name and grade level, these classes are meant to stay the same for every year a student is at West. Although Advisory benefits students by giving them grade-specific information, it fails to create sustainable relationships between students and teachers. Advisory classes lead to awkward silences more than anything else, and the concept of trusted adults among staff is flawed.
The largest problem with Advisory is the lack of support and interest from students. Most seem to feel neutral or bothered by the class, and very few students buy into the emotional learning sections, which makes the idea of building student-teacher bonds less effective. While some negative feelings may stem from a dislike of change, students’ annoyance isn’t aided by teachers who seem unenthusiastic about the district-mandated lessons.
Most teachers will run through Advisory without going into any sort of depth. Teachers already have their own lessons to prepare, and many don’t have the time to learn an additional one once a week. This also harms the efforts to have students build a consistent relationship with a school faculty member, as most teachers and students won’t have any meaningful discussions during Advisory. This lack of investment from teachers is also caused by a lack of training or efforts from the district to teach SEL.
The district’s slideshows provided to classes are often pointless or monotonous for high schoolers. Some are repeated through the years; many teachers just want to get through the lessons. This is also why so many students skip the class; it’s reasonable to dislike moving from class to class for a pointless lesson you’ve already seen. Aside from grouping students for convenience, the system was designed for legal reasons alone, and students aren’t intended to pay attention. While this may be passable for teaching SEL, it doesn’t help students or teachers buy into the class.
However, while many students dislike the lessons within Advisory, they are still required. The state requires schools to teach SEL. Additionally, the ICCSD requires the slides they send out are taught within the school. Creating a time like AFT is the best way to teach these lessons, but Advisory’s unnecessary complications make it a worse option.
Although the school may not want to get rid of Advisory, it should attempt to improve the class. Currently, Advisory is a space that needs to be filled, when it could be scheduled for a specific day only when needed. Removing Advisory regularly and planning it when specific information needs to be communicated to students would keep students more engaged. While the schools may be unable to change the legal requirements for SEL, they should change how it’s delivered. Advisory every Wednesday is not the solution.
