"Academic Validation": Let’s Talk About It.
I remember an English Literature A-Level class I had at the age of 18, I was studying the play ‘A Death of a Salesman’ and wrote an essay that aimed to please my teacher, who already had high expectations of me. I walked into class a few days after submitting it to find my teacher handing out photocopies of that very same essay to my peers. This was one of the most prominent moments in my academic career thus far, there I was, sitting in class, while my teacher analysed my essay in front of everyone telling them: “This is how you write a good essay.” I felt a rush of excitement, nervousness, and pride charge through me. In that moment I was the model student, I had greatly impressed my teacher, my peers, and more importantly myself. This feeling of satisfaction in my class confirmed to me that I was worthy of studying English Literature, but this confirmation did not come from me, it came from others. It was addictive. I wanted everyone to see me as this model student, I wanted to get my essay photocopied and read to the class again and again, and in many ways, this feeling drove me through my career as a student, but at what cost? This feeling is what I now understand as ‘Academic Validation’, and to answer to the cost of it, we must talk about its effects.
Some of you at this point may still be wondering what ‘Academic Validation’ is. For those that experience it and even for those who haven’t, it is often a difficult term to truly understand, so let me clearly define it for you. Academic validation, Réndon says, stems from “faculty-initiated interactions within and outside of the classroom that aim to develop, facilitate, and help students trust their innate capacity to learn and to acquire confidence in being a college student.” In simpler terms, it is these faculty-initiated interactions, in school, in your classroom, or even at home, that result in you relating your self-worth to your grades. This is where it can get toxic. As humans we all seek validation from others, a report from ‘Psych Central’ claims that it is a common need that most of us experience. Yet achieving balance between external and internal validation is key in having a healthy perception of yourself. Such a balance is rarely struck when it comes to academic validation, which I know from experience, largely stems from external perceptions of yourself as a student. And while it is a great achievement to be recognised for your hard work as a student, it is important to not rely on this too heavily as a marker of your self-worth.
Knowing academic validation is one thing but understanding what triggers this feeling and pinpointing how it operates in your mind is another. It can stem from receiving acknowledgement or rewards from your teachers, family members, or friends, who always want to know how well you are doing and whether or not you are achieving your goals. It comes from thinking that a grade you receive on a test, a mark you get on a piece of coursework, or whether or not you get into your dream university, may change the way people see you as a person.
Many students may feel (1) the desire to be acknowledge based on previous experiences of academic validation’ or (2) wanting to one day be acknowledged and receive the academic validation’ which they have seen handed to their peers, friends, or siblings. It is something that nearly all ambitious students strive for, making it a common yet unsettling feeling. Equating validation for your academic work to your self-worth can end up sacrificing your mental well-being in the process. We always want to achieve our best, but what happens when we miss out on that A* or do not get the 1st class degree we have been striving for? If you place all of your self-worth on how well you did on this essay or whether or not you topped the class, you are bound to start critiquing yourself when you do not achieve what you expected. As Cal Nguyen, a student at Temple University points out, the idea of getting a bad grade for her reflected onto her self-worth, allowing her to assume that the hard work she was putting in simply wasn’t enough and equated to her being “a failure”. This links to what Wilfred Laurier University point to as “depersonalisation”, which is when students become consumed by academic validation enabling it to induce mental health issues, such as anxiety, depression, poor quality sleep, and abnormal stress levels, all the in the pursuit of good grades and feeling better once you obtain them. There is no wonder why over the past decade UCAS reports that there has been a 450% increase in mental health issues experienced by students in the UK. I am outlining the effects of academic validation’ in students not to scare you, but to let you know that without the right balance, it can be a very toxic feeling to carry with you as a student, which I and many other students know from years of experience.
Finding a way forward with this feeling as a student is not easy, which means, there is not one way that can alleviate the burden of academic validation for everyone. But in pursuit of finding a healthier balance, I will proceed with what I think can generate a stable mindset when approaching your academic goals, which comes from: finding validation within yourself. In other words, valuing internal validation in the same way you value external validation when it comes to your work. This means feeling validated from an essay you hand in to a teacher before they even get to read it, feeling proud of a test mark before your parents see your result, or knowing that your rank in class is good enough for you before you find out which peers ranked above you. This may sound easier to read than to act upon, and by no means is the journey towards self-validation easy, but it is important to have as a student. It comes from realising that you are more than your grade, your rank, or a mark you receive on an essay. In fact, validating yourself based on the hard-work you know you are putting into your schoolwork, can last far longer than a “well done” from a teacher. While it is valuable to receive encouraging feedback, it is also key to find a balance, knowing that next time when you do not receive satisfactory comments on your work from teachers, parents, or friends, you will be able to push forward knowing that you believe in yourself. As stated by Kenyan author Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o: “Belief in yourself is more important than endless worries of what others think of you. Validation is best that comes from within.” Once you realise this, you realise that it is not academic validation that should be driving you, rather, it is a deep faith in your ability as a student which exceeds any feeling of inadequacy a grade may give you.
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Written by E. Ticehurst