Back on Feb. 21st, I sent a post to TIPS relevant to this thread. Among
other things, I said the following:
>One thing that has struck me this semester is that many of my students
>seem to take little pride in their work in my courses. I began to
wonder
>about what it is that causes us to take pride in something. It seems to
>me that we take pride in something when we consider it to be a valued
>activity--when either we ourselves personally value that activity or
>members of an important reference group value it (I think that often
>these two overlap a great deal). Furthermore, we feel proud when we
>believe we have performed that activity well.
>Thus, it seems to me that the relative lack of pride that I perceive
>many of my students to have with respect to their educational
activities
>may have one of two sources:
>(1) they don't feel that they have the resources (intellect, time,
etc.) to
>perform their educational activities well (i.e., self-efficacy);
>(2) education is not personally valued by them nor is it valued by
>important reference groups.
After this point, the discussion degenerated. (By the way, I noticed
that my personal rant, as well as a supporting rant by David Campbell,
have both been removed from the TIPS archives. I guess this would make
the archives an abridged version of what is discussed on TIPS.) But my
intention was to start a discussion on the same issues being brought up
in the present thread.
As some have noted, students (as well as all of us) are constantly
engaged in a cost/benefit analysis. They consider their goals, they
evaluate their resources, and they make a decision about how much effort
they should invest in a particular activity. Thus, in addition to
looking within ourselves and attempting various self-transformations
(perhaps a worthwhile goal, in general; but self-analysis is neither the
only intervention we need to be performing nor probably the most
important one, in my opinion), I think we need to be examining students'
evaluations regarding their available resources as well as their
development of short-term and long-term goals. And at least as important
as individual self-examinations, I think that we need to be aware of the
societal and cultural influences that inform students (and us) of what
is to be valued in life.
As for goals, as much research has shown, the majority of students are
enrolled in post-secondary educational institutions because they desire
to have a prestigious and well-paying job. Thus, credentialing is a
major goal of most students. I believe that this desire is due to
pervasive societal and cultural forces: they have learned from such
sources that it is important to obtain such a job and that a
baccalaureate (and often higher) is required if they are to do so.
Nevertheless, because they are human beings, I think that most students
are also very curious about their lives, about others, and about the
rest of the universe. Thus, I believe that most are motivated to learn
about various issues that they could be learning about in their
schooling. Perhaps previous and present experiences, however, have led
them to conclude that school is not be the best place to find answers to
interesting questions (I am not trying to be ironic here). Furthermore,
I think that many of them have obtained from the culture the idea that
one should not appear too eager in school; and that those who teach are
either less competent in their chosen field ("those who can't do,
teach") or are otherwise unsuccessful (students can't help but notice
the very low salaries and prestige of most teachers). Thus, many of
them, I think, have learned neither to value what goes on in an
educational institution nor to respect those who work in such
institutions. Previous experiences as well as the norms/values they have
learned from the surrounding culture often conspire to place a negative
value on what goes on in educational institutions.
As for resources that students perceive themselves to have: some on the
list have mentioned the great demands placed on the time of students.
Most students have full-time or nearly full-time jobs. Again, I think
that this is a reflection of what they have learned from their culture.
They have learned that it is very important to have money so that one
may buy vast quantities of consumer goods. At this point, teenagers and
young adults have the largest amount of disposable income of any age
group in the United States (at least, this is what I learned on
Frontline the other night). For this reason, the advertising campaigns
of major and minor corporations focus predominantly on this age group.
Students have learned (just as we all have learned here in the US) that
it is important to consume and to impress others with what they (we) buy
and consume.
Furthermore, many students feel (for good reasons) that they are not
prepared to perform the kinds of complex intellectual activities that
are (or should be) required in college courses. If they feel that this
lack of preparation is due to intellectual deficits that cannot be
corrected, then they will not even seek remedial help in order to better
prepare themselves. (The work of Carol Dweck is important here. But I
will spare you any discussion here of the little I know of that work.
Perhaps another thread....).
Somehow, we have to help students to understand that many of them can
become better prepared for college-level work, that they can rearrange
priorities and goals so that there is more time for schoolwork, and that
their education is valuable and, thus, should be valued, not only for
their future careers but for their lives, as well. This requires work
not only (or perhaps not even primarily) on ourselves, but also on the
wider society and culture, as well as on students' self-perceptions.
So, how do we start????
Jeff
--
Jeffry P. Ricker, Ph.D. Office Phone: (480) 423-6213
9000 E. Chaparral Rd. FAX Number: (480) 423-6298
Psychology Department [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Scottsdale Community College
Scottsdale, AZ 85256-2626
"Science must begin with myths and with the criticism of myths"
Karl Popper
Listowner: Psychologists Educating Students to Think Skeptically (PESTS)
http://www.sc.maricopa.edu/sbscience/pests/index.html
