h age. The most important characteristics of these students are that they are content to support the status quo and never question authority. These students are that they are content to support the status quo and never question authority. Anxious-dependent students are very common (26 per cent of the Mann sample) and can be spotted early by their excessive concern about grades. Like compliant types, anxious-dependents want to learn exactly what the teacher wants them to know - but these fear that they will miss something. They are likely to ask the teacher to repeat definitions so they can get them word for word. Compliant students generally trust teachers and assume that the students distrust teachers and expect trick questions or unfair grading practices. Their combination of high ambition, anxiety, and suspiciousness suggests that they feel angry about having less power in the educational setting than they would like.workers, Mann »s third category, make comments in class that communicate a depressed and fatalistic attitude toward themselves and their education. Like compliants and anxious-dependents, discouraged workers see themselves as having little control over their learning. Some may have worked so hard to earn high grades in the past that they no longer find learning pleasurable; they have burned out. Often they are older students coming back to school after a stint in the military or work force who find it hard to regain their youthful enthusiasm. Some have jobs or families and are more likely to be physically tired and preoccupied than the typical «college kid.» Any of these circumstances can dampen curiosity and lead to joyless learning. Though classes appear to offer little pleasure to this small group of students (4 per cent in Mann «s sample), they can be made into active participants by an inspiring teacher. Independent students take what instructors have to offer and pursue their own goals in equal measure. They are comfortable, (perhaps even detached or aloof) in doing what is asked of them, usually prefer seminar to lecture classes, and do not balk when asked to formulate their own thinking about a topic. The majority of independent students are high participators, make friends with instructors easily, and identify with them to some extent, much as many graduate students relate to their professors. They are ideal, mature students, the ones a teacher can count on to discuss and to perform at a consistently high level. In Mann »s population, 12 per cent of the students were in the independent group and, not surprisingly, they were more frequently juniors or seniors. Independent students rarely present problems for teachers, but, if the quality of instruction is poor, they are most likely to be selected as spokesmen for the group «s grievances.students do not require much special attention other than the just desserts of their achievements. The instructor should acknowledge their independence and encourage them to use it to go beyond what might be expected of others. The key to dealing with such students is deciding whether they are exhibiting genuine independence or rebellion. The best test is their past performance on structured tasks. Heroes resemble independents in their identification with the teacher and their preference for independent or creative work. They lack the detachment of the independents, however, and seem anxious to make the teacher notice immediately what great students and i...
