Youth and learning International week for academic staff

Youth and learning International week for academic staff University College South Denmark April 26 th. 2016 Arnt Louw, avl@learning. aau. dk 1

Headlines of the presentation The societal framework for education - trends and tendencies Youth today - some characteristics Youth and motivation - learning culture / performance culture - Examples Key questions Arnt Louw, avl@learning. aau. dk 2

The societal framework for education - trends and tendencies Speed view on youth in the educational system Goal oriented youth Competition – from education for all to competitiveness Polarization – between NEET and the young people who manage it - Education for all – an imperative for the individual! Fusion between education and employment policy - demand of compulsory training in order to claim benefits Complex educational and vocational choices Arnt Louw, avl@learning. aau. dk 3

The societal framework for education - trends and tendencies An age of measurement: ”The past twenty years we have seen a remarkable rise in interest in the measurement of education or, in the lingo of the educational measurement culture, in the measurement of educational ‘outcomes’ ”. Arnt Louw, avl@learning. aau. dk 4

The societal framework for education - trends and tendencies Evidence, impact measurements – what works. . . Rise in learnings concepts: Corporative Learning - Instructional Design - Inquiry Based Learning… Effective learning – but effective for what, whom, how? No evidence! that worked in the past will work in the future… Arnt Louw, avl@learning. aau. dk 5

The purpose of education? Qualification Socialisation Subjectification (Biesta 2016: 82) Arnt Louw, avl@learning. aau. dk 6

The societal framework for education - trends and tendencies Deficit view on the youth – especially with in Vocational Education and Training The computer room is locked during the break and everybody have to leave. Several students want to stay and work on but they are apparently not allowed to. Some of the student discover an open garden door and open the front door to us all. We enter and start working on our drawings. When the teacher returns after the break he simply says: Teacher: ”How did you get in? Who has opened for you”. 7

Youth today - some characteristics Arnt Louw, avl@learning. aau. dk 8

Youth today - some characteristics Explosion in expectations – perfect body, perfect marks, perfect social life… You got to have fun You have to look good - fitness You have to have a lot of friends You have to choose the right education - and work You have to have a lot of options You have to have a lot of stuff Arnt Louw, avl@learning. aau. dk 9

Youth today - some characteristics One should be in control – balance: “There is the girlfriend, homework, assignments, family, and friends – and then there are the parties and all that. There a lot of things. And if you want good marks and if you would like to hold options open… It becomes a very stressful life and you don’t get much sleep because you also want to do your homework. So I would say I am pretty stressed at the moment. So to me it is about prioritizing my time. But it is hard for me”. Young man, 19 years, upper secondary education Arnt Louw, avl@learning. aau. dk 10

Youth today - some characteristics Education: Performance oriented culture rather than learning culture: “You ought to work to learn, but you're working really to get a good grade” Fusion between educational policy and employment policy Arnt Louw, avl@learning. aau. dk 11

Youth motivation has changed 90 s - choose what you like – discourse (identity) • My mom always told me not to think about job-options or money – to choose what I like. In my opinion that is also what creates a complete human being some how. • (Youngster 1999) 2000 s - Goal oriented discourse (Contract management) • It would be nice to know, what I am going to do and then after a while accomplished my goal. This is what I need to do and this is my goal. To complete a upper secondary education… • (Youngster 2006) 2010 s – competition discourse (winners and losers) • If someone comes up and ask me for help – if it is something I know and we are graded for it, I don’t want to help. I think like, they should do it themselves. I just think they should pay attention… • (Youngster 2011)

Youth today - some characteristics The liberated youth: The message young people are brought up with go something like: You can be anything you want? But you also have the responsibility to be anything you want and thus responsible for any failure if you don’t become anything you want…: ”My parents would never force me or put pressure on me to do better. But yet I really feel that I have to do well because my sister has done well and my parents have done well. So I really feel that I must get very good grades. I think that is how it is for many…” Young man, 19, upper secondary school Arnt Louw, avl@learning. aau. dk 13

Youth today - some characteristics Choosing and education is not only about choosing what to do, but also who to be! The performative youth – profiles… Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tinder… Arnt Louw, avl@learning. aau. dk 14

Youth today - some characteristics Overall very narrow ideals for the good youth life despite many different terms and conditions for the young people growing up today Arnt Louw, avl@learning. aau. dk 15

Youth and motivation for learning / education Arnt Louw, avl@learning. aau. dk 16

Motivation A psychological understanding of motivation Motivation as something within the young Motivation as the prerequisite for learning “ 72% of all VET teachers thinks that the share of unmotivated students has risen”. (Weekly Newsletter A 4, 2012) ”The problem is illustrated by the ongoing complaints on the part of vocational colleges and employers that many students lack the skills and motivation required to fulfill their vocational education and training” (Juul & Jørgensen 2012: 295). Arnt Louw, avl@learning. aau. dk 17

Motivation A sociological understanding of motivation Motivation as something contextual Motivation as a result of learning ”An understanding of how students engagement and motivation i created, developed, blocked in the student-teacher encounter (Louw 2013) Arnt Louw, avl@learning. aau. dk 18

Youth and motivation Motivation is created in interaction Focus on youth orientation and motivation for participation Focus on youth learning orientation in different educational settings Arnt Louw, avl@learning. aau. dk 19

Different orientations for motivation at play Coping motivation Mastering, progressin, feed back Relations motivation Recognition, communities Challenge: Despair, lack of self-confidience Challenge: school exhaustion Challenge: School fatique Knowledge motivation Discover, produce, connections, creativity, fantasy, curiosity Challenge: Boredom, lack of connection Performance motivation Grades, goal orientation, self discipline, optimizing time, competition Motivation palette Arnt Louw, avl@learning. aau. dk Involvement motivatoin Open learning processen, experiments, creativity Challenge: very narrow approach to learning 20

Youth and motivation Some tendencies in light of this understanding of motivation • Among young people at risk: The coping motivation is under pressure • Increased performance motivation creates de-motivation – fear of failure • Lack of involvement motivation detaches the youth and lead to a narrow and strategical understanding of learning Arnt Louw, avl@learning. aau. dk 21

Youth and motivation Motivation in practice – some examples Arnt Louw, avl@learning. aau. dk 22

Youth and motivation Arnt Louw, avl@learning. aau. dk 23

Youth and motivation The teacher is lecturing for 45 minutes by one of the carpenter benches. He is showing how to cut out the mortise and tenon joints for the window frame. He is doing everything himself, showing how to do the different things. Conversation with a student afterwards I: ”Do you learn anything from seeing the teacher doing everything? ” Student: ”Yes, a lot. I see, how to do the different things and learn some tricks” Arnt Louw, avl@learning. aau. dk 24

Youth and motivation The teacher walks around in the work shop helping different students. A lot of students wants help. Kim and I are also waiting for help, but other students keep jumping the line in front of us – getting the teachers attention before us. Lunchbreak – and we didn’t get any help. Another student: "There is a lot of waste-time. A lot of the young students are lost on account of that!”. Arnt Louw, avl@learning. aau. dk 25

Youth and motivation The teacher takes hold of the two wooden beams Magnus is holding and explains and shows what to do with them. They are both seated on the floor and Magnus listens very intensely to the teacher’s instructions with one hand rested on his forehead. He doesn’t quite get it. He seems very interested and engaged. In the end he gets it and is about to leave to continue his work, when the teacher says: “Come and see me before you move on. There is something I need to show you about the next step. Magnus: “OK”. Magnus leaves, visibly pleased and eager to move on Arnt Louw, avl@learning. aau. dk 26

Youth and motivation The teacher: ”This is called a ‘saddle mark’. It is used when constructing rafters and roofs. It is important to keep 3/5 of the thickness of the beam. This is good to remember. No matter how thick the beam is you keep 3/5 of the thickness. You will be asked this many times. Arnt Louw, avl@learning. aau. dk 27

Youth and motivation Overall points about youth and motivation: • Different orientations for motivations can be at play at different times • The motivations orientations are changeable over time • Not good og bad motivation but unbalance between the different motivation orientations Arnt Louw, avl@learning. aau. dk 28

Youth and motivation For reflection… • Focus on motivation is about bringing the student perspective into the discussion and the pedagogical practice • The motivations model contributes to reflection and inspiration for professionals – not as yet another tool or concept • The motivation model not as a governmentality technology or competitive factor Arnt Louw, avl@learning. aau. dk 29

Thank you for your attention Arnt Louw, avl@learning. aau. dk 30