Jenny Anderson, an author and former New York Times journalist, shares insights from her book The Disengaged Teen. She discusses the alarming engagement crisis in education, linking mental health struggles and societal shifts like the pandemic to declining interest among students. Anderson introduces her framework of four engagement modes—Passenger, Achiever, Resistor, and Explorer—highlighting how these identities impact learning. The conversation emphasizes the importance of innovative educational approaches and parental involvement in revitalizing student motivation.
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insights INSIGHT
Root Causes of Teen Disengagement
Many teens are disengaged from education but parents often feel helpless and unsure how to support.
Smartphones exacerbate but aren't the root cause; the overall youth experience needs more care.
insights INSIGHT
Disengagement Tied to Mental Health
Teen disengagement today reflects both worsening mental health and concern about education's real-world relevance.
This cognitive churn causes anxiety and makes learning feel less meaningful to teens.
volunteer_activism ADVICE
Teach Adaptability and Resilience
Adapt education to today's world by teaching adaptability, flexibility, and resilience.
Support kids in trying, failing, and relearning as essential lifelong learning skills.
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Helping Kids Learn Better, Feel Better, and Live Better
Rebecca Winthrop
Jenny Anderson
The Tyranny of Merit
What's Become of the Common Good?
Michael Sandel
In 'The Tyranny of Merit', Michael J. Sandel argues that the current system of meritocracy has led to significant social and political issues. He contends that meritocracy stratifies society into winners and losers, based largely on economic status and educational credentials, resulting in hubris among the successful and resentment and humiliation among those who are not. Sandel suggests that this system ignores the role of luck and external factors in success and instead attributes success solely to individual talent and hard work. He advocates for a new way of thinking about success, one that is more attentive to the role of luck, more conducive to an ethic of humility and solidarity, and more affirming of the dignity of all work. The book also explores the impact of credentialism and the need to restore dignity to work that does not require a college degree, promoting a politics of the common good[1][3][5].
Mindset
The New Psychology of Success
Carol S. Dweck
In this book, Carol S. Dweck introduces the concept of two mindsets: the fixed mindset and the growth mindset. People with a fixed mindset believe their abilities are static, while those with a growth mindset believe their abilities can be developed through effort and learning. Dweck shows how these mindsets influence success in school, work, sports, and personal relationships. She also discusses how to adopt a deeper, truer growth mindset, and how this can transform individual and organizational cultures. The book emphasizes the importance of perseverance, learning from failures, and embracing challenges as key components of the growth mindset[1][2][5].
On this episode of Mind the Gap, Jon Hutchinson is joined by journalist and author Jenny Anderson to discuss her acclaimed new book The Disengaged Teen—a powerful exploration of why so many young people are tuning out of school and what we can do about it. Drawing on extensive research, real-world stories, and her own experience as both a parent and reporter, Jenny introduces her framework of four learner modes—passenger, achiever, resistor, and explorer—and explains how these shifting states shape young people's engagement. Together, Jon and Jenny delve into the mental health crisis, the limitations of hyper-achievement, and why motivation and agency matter more than ever in the age of AI. Jenny argues that school systems must evolve to reflect the world students are entering, without sacrificing depth or rigour. “How you feel about learning,” she says, “is inseparable from how well you learn.” This conversation is both a wake-up call and a hopeful invitation—for educators, parents, and policymakers alike—to reimagine what it means to truly engage today’s children and young people.
Jenny Anderson is an author and an award-winning journalist who spent over a decade at The New York Times before pioneering coverage on the science of learning at Quartz. She contributes to TIME, The New York Times and The Atlantic, among other publications. Most recently, she has written The Disengaged Teen, which you can find at https://www.thedisengagedteen.com/. You can find Jenny on LinkedIn here.
Jon Hutchinson is a former assistant headteacher of Reach Academy Feltham and is now a Director at the Reach Foundation. He has taught across primary and secondary and HE. In his spare time, Jon runs www.meno.acacdemy, a platform with free videos to support primary teachers to build their subject knowledge. Follow Jon on X @jon_hutchinson_ or Bluesky @jonhutchinson.bksy.social.
Mind the Gap: Making Education Work Across the Globe 
