Survey Says Student Motivation High, Part Two

January 14th, 2009 By: Diane Trim in Articles, School Climate, Teachers' Corner

The Quaglia Institute for Student Aspirations (www.qisa.org) and the Educational Assessment group of Pearson surveyed 414,000 secondary school students about their engagement at school.

What the survey found is that students want to succeed and they need teachers and schools to support them in their success. Students often don’t feel that teachers or schools believe in them and their success or give them opportunities for leadership and decision making.

Dr. Russell J. Quaglia, founder of the My Voice survey, said that teachers need to help students set realistic goals and make learning more relevant.

“Most teachers say they entered this field either to make kids’ lives better or to make a difference in the world,” Quaglia said. “We must do both. The end game of this is academic achievement.”

Quaglia’s Institute has identified eight conditions that lead to student success. The last four are printed here, the others can be found at: http://www.insidetheschool.com/articles/survey-says-student-motivation-high-part-one/

1. Curiosity & Creativity. This condition is characterized by a thirst for knowledge, but it’s also about students feeling safe in class. If a student is capable of learning, connected to the content, but still doesn’t perform well, that student might not think that it’s O.K. to succeed.Over half of the students reported in the My Voice survey that they felt comfortable asking questions in class (66%) and felt encouraged to be creative. Most (75%) enjoy learning new things, but few students found that what they’re learning in class helps them in everyday life (38%).

   Teachers also need to provide students with complex problems to solve. The problems should have multiple solutions so that the students can be more creative and talk about the possibilities. “Create open-ended assignments,” Quaglia said. “Instead of giving formulas, have students develop the formulas.”

2. Spirit of Adventure. According to the My Voice report, this condition is met when students have the ability to take on positive, healthy challenges at school and home, with family and friends. It’s the idea that a student can try something new without the fear of failure or success. Students who have the courage to try new things are more confident and resilient than their peers.The My Voice Survey found that, although three-quarters of students (67%)push themselves to do well, 57 percent of our students tell their friends when they earn a good grade. That means that over 40 percent say nothing about their good grades to their peers. Ten percent of students are afraid that their friends won’t like them if they do well in school and just 38 percent of students say that their peers are supportive of one another. One-quarter of the students (24%) won’t even try something if they believe they’ll fail.

   These are powerful deterrents to success, the My Voice authors write, but teachers can support their students in their efforts. Students perceive that 70 percent of their teachers think they can be successful, but just over half of teachers (56%) say that teachers helm student learn from their mistakes.

   Some students don’t have the courage to be successful and are genuinely afraid of success, Quaglia said. We have to make it safe to be successful in schools and have the conversations with students about success so we understand their fears.

   “Let’s say I’m a C student,” he said. “Then someone inspires me and I’m getting As. I’ve left my C group and the A group resents me. We have to make it safe for those kids to be successful.”

   Quaglia draws the same conclusion about teachers. “Want to become unpopular [as a teacher]? Become teacher of the year,” he said.

   Instead of alienating teachers of the year in the staffroom, teachers need to model the success we’d like to see in students. Have your diploma displayed in the classroom, share your accomplishments with staff and students, get out your shell and let kids know that being successful is a good place to be, he said.

   Teachers need to understand students’ fears and why they’re fearful, Quaglia said. “We won’t know the solutions until we have the conversations with students,” he said.

3. Leadership & Responsibility. Under this condition for successful learning, students feel comfortable expressing their opinions and ideas and are willing to accept the consequences for their actions. Schools that practice Leadership & Responsibility well provide students with decision-making opportunities, seek student input, and trust the students to make the right decisions and act responsibly.Most students (66%) think about others’ feelings when they make decisions and about two-thirds of students (63%) consider themselves to be good decision makers. Nearly the same number of students (62%) reported that teachers encourage students to make decisions.

   Many kids see themselves as leaders (59%), but only one-third of students (35%) said that other students saw them as leaders. Just 30 percent of students said that student council represents all students as school and just over one-third (37%) knew what goals the school was working on for the year.

   Students don’t’ think teachers trust them to make decisions, Quaglia said. Teachers need to let students make decisions and accept the consequences.

   “Teachers need to believe in the child’s potential,” he said. “Students are not the problem; students are the potential.”

4. Confidence to Take Action. The last condition for school improvement is a culmination of the first seven conditions, says the My Voice Survey report. This condition outlines the extent that students believe in themselves, make goals, and have intrinsic motivation and approval. Students have the confidence to set their own goals, take steps to progress toward the goals, and reach the goals.According to the My Voice Survey, 76 percent of students think setting high goals is important and 79 percent work hard to reach their goals. Most students (91%) said that they believe they can be successful, but they reported that just 77 percent of teachers expect them to be successful.

   The majority of students (85%) say that college is important to their future, but just 65 percent of students said that their school is preparing them well for the future. Students are excited about their future (77%) and over half believe that they can make a difference in the world (63%).

   What’s troubling, the report says, is that so few students believe that school is preparing them for the future. Even though many students want to continue their education, they’re not seeing what they’re learning in school at the moment to be relevant to that goal.

   What we need to do is to see the world through different lenses, Quaglia said. “What would my perspective be if I lived in Michigan where they’re shutting down auto companies?”

   Quaglia said teachers need to give students a voice to encourage them to take action. “We won’t know what the issues are until we listen to students,” he said.

   “We need to make sure we ask students who they want to become, not what they want to be,” Quaglia said. “Students should say they want to be honest, have integrity, and believe in themselves. If a person has those qualities, that’s the doctor I want to go to, the plumber I want in my house.”