As a vocational/technical teacher, what are your thoughts about focusing on four-year college degrees as the prime student motivator? Do you find that some students are more motivated by two-year technical programs? Do schools do enough to show students the wide array of career choices?
I’m going to call you on your earlier question: “If college entrance is a motivator for high school students…..” That’s a big “IF.” This is an assumption that sets both students and teachers up for failure. Where did we get the idea that every student ought to get a four-year college degree? When asked why they plan to go to college, students will consistently say, “Because I want a good job.” As professional educators, we risk becoming overly enamored with learning for learning’s sake. Too often there is a subtle message that the project-based learning of career and technical education classes is somehow inferior to the mastery of theory in “academic” classes. But in reality, most people are motivated to learn by their desire to earn. Two-year technical programs are often articulated through high schools into community colleges. They result in industry certification in fields such as medical imaging, computer networking, computer assisted drafting, and auto mechanics that allow their graduates to enter the workforce with salaries that are often equivalent to those of many college graduates, including teachers. Too often our schools do a poor job of informing students about mid-level options and imply that either people go to college or spend the rest of their life in dead-end low paying jobs. Many students realize that college is an economic and intellectual long shot by their high school freshman year. Unless we show them another way to win, the chances of motivating them to apply themselves is slim indeed. Delayed gratification may have its place, but postponing meaningful work until after a college education dulls interest, reduces student confidence, limits reinforcement of learning, and may result in years invested in preparing for a career to which an individual is poorly suited.
How can you motivate clearly gifted students who show little interest in the material presented to them?
