A Hypotethical View on Motivation of the Students in a Vocational School

Autumn starts and the school is ”assaulted” by tens of graduates that completed their nine years of basic education and have chosen to continue their studies in the Vocational School.

Is there a set of common characteristics these adolescents have? I was curios to find this out and I have taken time to approach each of the 15 students in my class and have an informal chat with them on the school corridors. I summarize here the outcome of these discussions:

• most of the students were disoriented, having no clear idea what would be the career they will pursue in future
• some students displayed a low self-esteem, thinking they would have rather continue studies in general upper secondary schools it they would only had the grades to be accepted
• other students could not care less what they would learn in the school, being there just as a pass time, their main interest being more materialistic: make some money to spend and fast – probably they would be among the first dropouts from the school
• some of them seemed disconnected from reality, their favorite topics being movies, video games or social media applications
• and some of them just dreaming to become famous.

This is a difficult situation. How could the teacher find the way through to the students mind, motivate them in the learning process and reduce by this the dropout rate?

To find answers to these questions I thought I need to understand first what are the skills that an employer would expect from an employee. Because what these young students need is counselling and direction in their first steps in the job market. They will become specialists in their field, but the specific skills would need to be enveloped in a set of generic skills that would make them successful in their careers. I have documented my findings in another blog http://pblmpop.blogspot.fi/2016/08/pbl-study-blog.html . Some of the most appreciated skills appeared to be:

• ability to work in a team structure
• ability to organize and prioritize work
• proficiency with computer software programs

Now I felt I have a start point, some solid arguments to use in favor of vocational education.

I would definitely start my first class by saying: ”This is what you will learn here” and that would be the goal setting moment. The key to get students' attention is to win their trust from the first moment and for me this is one way to enable the transparency of the (unlimited) possibilities they would start to have by studying, and learning how to study after they graduate. Dropout from school must not be an option.

The approach I will use in teaching would be of an X-type manager with strict control in the beginning, leading gradually to an Y-type by empowering the students and let them accept responsibility. By this approach I expect to built the needed self-confidence as well as the intrinsic motivation that would lead the students to experience increased level of competency and satisfaction.

What I feel I will have to use throughout the teaching:

• meet their psychological needs: make sure the room is appropriate for learning (light, air, temperature, etc), avoid lengthy periods of passive listening, use mixed teaching methods and multimedia to stimulate and maintain learner interest, be consistent with the feedback (amount and type);
• meet their social needs: promote group work, allocate specific roles in a group, teach communication skills
• meet their individual needs: plan for attainable goals and learning outcomes, support the learning and provide help where necessary
• meet their cognitive needs: present challenging material, link teaching to the achievement of external long-term goals such as gaining employment, give students the opportunity to enjoythe satisfaction of applying their learning in an immediate and authentic way.

And not least, I must thrive to present the content of my course in an understandable and professional way, in order that the outcome and knowledge accumulated by the students would be in the highest measure of relevance for their future jobs and careers.

With this approach I feel confident that the students motivation would be kept to high level in my class.

Source:

1. Jordon, et al. (2008) ”Approaches to Learning: A guide for teachers.” NY: Open University Press. Haaga-Helia r-book pp. 154-169. http://site.ebrary.com/lib/haagahelia/detail.action?docID=10256405