I have been on a med leave from the airline. Took a job teaching in a high school "magnet" type aviation program. Small data set, I know. And we can assume that guys that make it to primary military flight training have something on ordinary high schoolers. Then again, some number of my students will be there in 5 or 6 years.
Here is what I have noticed, and was validated by the experienced pros I work with. When I was a student in HS and college, especially HS, it was common for people to ask "why do we need to know this" , "where does this come from" , "what good is this to me", etc. It usually came off as a challange because you didn't want to take it serious or were looking for a way to justify your lack of interest. Making sure you could blow it off. But, we asked. In the process, however, you may have gotten some good answers from the teacher that might have motivated you. Answers that gave you a valuable perspective. Today, most students are not interested in the why or real world applications. They want to know just the answers required to pass the test, data.
I have a class of 22. So far this year, I have gotten maybe ten questions from them relating to why what I am teaching is useful or how it will be applied. I don't think I have ever gotten a question that required amplifying on a subject. On most days they are like baby birds with their mouths open looking to be fed answers, not knowledge. When I engage in classroom discussion they are mostly incapable of relating processes or systems. They can regurgitate the four forces acting on an airplane, but can't process what would happen to a plane when they are not in equilibrium. Having given them that info they are fine, until I make the aircraft a helo. It is like starting all over. Dumb looks. No analysis. No relating previous knowledge to the new problem.
Seems to me HS students want data. Not knowledge. It could be greek to them. Give them enough data to get the grade of their liking, rarely an A, and they shut down there after. My students are very pleasant about it. Good kids. But you can see it. And the grades represent it.
As an aside. My students are shitty internet researchers. They can only scratch the surface. They can code and play games with someone on the other side of the globe. They can find any YouTube video of a car crash or rapper you want. But if you ask them to find out who the CEO of Sipirt Aerospace is you, will get the CEO of Spirit Airlines. Ask them who was the first to fly across the Atlantic and you will get Lindberg all day, even though they have the worldwide web and their finger tips. No sir. These kids are different. Like any other generation they are a product of their environment. It may not be bad. I don't know. But it absolutely is different. And since previous generations had some great qualities, I hate to see all of it lost to whatever it is these kids excel at.