Today I gave the kids a project workday in one of the three courses that I teach. Some kids spent the day working, but others worked on their social skills, or homework for other classes. Where is the motivation? Where is the longing to be better and to do better than other? Where are our motivated learners ready to face the challenges that the day offers?
My project that I gave is due on Friday. If I get 50% of the kids to turn it in then it will be a good day. A lot of them will not and then wonder about why they are failing. This is par for the course for the last 2 weeks. This is the worst that it has been though. Even the higher level classes are trying to grind themselves to a halt. All teachers are having this difficulty in their classes. Motivation of the kids is at a minimum. This motivation problem has permeated into the grading scheme. Back when I was in school turning it in gave you some points, but rarely was your grade passed on completion. Now, a lot of teachers have a minimum grade of a 70 if the kid turns in a paper. This is a reward for putting more work in then your classmates. This is not a way to teach kids. We are setting themselves up for failure by doing this and I am as guilty as any for doing it. The minimum effort is the entire goal of most of these kids.
The education that I have received on how the community wants to deal with this lies with teachers. They make sure that the teachers are making every lesson as fun as possible so that the kids are entertained. The corporate response to people being unmotivated is to motivate them with a write-up or a firing. In the corporate world you can fail, but in education failure is not an option. How is this teaching a lesson to kids about the real world? Why does Texas have one of the largest drop out rates in the country? It is not because we are too hard on the kids. If anything the grading has gotten easier since I was in school. All of these problems stem from motivation. Kids skip and miss school for any reason. Some miss because they go on vacations during the school year. Some make up work, most don't. The typical response is to look at the teacher, or to create a rule where the student gets another chance. What good is a bandage going to do a person that is hemorrhaging?
The solution is simple, and it is one that I will bring up over and over again. We have to give the kids a reason that they should learn. A reason to go to school and work hard. The answer is a vocational program that combines high school with a program like a local community college or ITT Tech. In middle school, the student should get a test that places them in a program for high school. These tests are used by other developing countries (the ones that score higher than us on tests.) Europe's system separates at the high school level into a vocational program and an academic program. When the student finishes their vocational program they are actually prepared to enter the work force with a certification like an electrician. This program would help to prepare those to move into the world and become a contributing member of society. These programs would be challenging to the kids in their own way. The academic programs would prepare the students for college.
Could a vocational person enter community college? Sure, with some extra course work. What stands in the way of a program that helps prepare students for a vocational program is the legislature. Again, the government has said that 100% of the kids need to go to college. As an educator, and a supporter of higher education, I completely think that is a great goal, but it is not realistic. The reason is not ability but a combination of various factors like family life, willingness, and financial ability. We need to create a system where the average kid that is not looking at college has the ability to support himself after school has ended. We need to start being realistic. There is no reason for some of these kids to take 4 years of science, or Pre-Calculus. Students need a strong foundation, and there are some of them that are working night and day to help support their families. Why can we not try to provide the education that will help them? We need to tailor our education system to them, not the other way around. By providing a purpose we will find motivation.
Motivation is a key to success. You can have all the intelligence in the world but if you do not have the motivation to succeed you will not ever live up to your potential. We are trying to tailor everything to the individual. Why are we not taking the same approach to education. Should the system not change to the need of the populace? Education should be dynamic not stagnent. We can place higher expectations on everyone, but without the motivation to succeed our expectations fall flat.
Until Tomorrow,
"What we want is to see the child in pursuit of knowledge, and not knowledge in pursuit of the child."
--George Bernard Shaw
I remember in my 9th grade honors english class my teacher motivated me then and her words still do. I had a list of books to read for the summer just like most honors classes do because they don't want you to be rusty through the summer. I asked her what about this book, she said umm I think that book is a little too challenging for you. I was outraged that she would proceed to tell me what I was not capable of doing. How dare she? So I proceeded in reading the book she told me I could not read because of the difficulty level. That book is Jane Eyre and it became one of my favorite books.
ReplyDeleteI guess it did help that she had the audacity to write me off as just another complacent student because now I try that much harder when someone tells me I can't do something.