Get Your Students Hired
even though you teach with much passion, why some students do not show interest?
Hi Chris,
You make a number of very good points about how to encourage and support students. If we can help them to become the life-long learners they need to be then we will have accomplished far more just teaching them about a career area.
Gary
Personally, for many of these students it stems from the fact that many of our public schools reinforce the idea that education equals more money in the workplace. The passion to be a life-long learner, or self-taught learner, is lost in too many standardized tests and impersonal classes that fail to allow students to have any ownership in what they are learning. While most of these passionless students have come from a learning environment that treat every student the same--at many of these adult career colleges we have the opportunity to help them take ownership of their education and show them that we offer an education that is more personal and relevant than what they have had before. As instructors we need to find ways to reinforce this and make it a part of our everyday class activities.
Hi Andrea,
You have hit on a key point in terms of behavior from some students. The easiest thing to do is fail so by acting disinterested the students can slide a bit toward being failures even though they want the end result of the training. They also like shift the blame to someone or something else so again they are not accountable for the results. Your method lets them see how they can be successful and meet their career goals if they will put forth the effort.
Gary
Many students that feel intimidated by the coursework seem uninterested so that they do not have to rise to the challenge. This is something that I figured out over time with many students that came to a trade school because it was percieved as "easy" by the student. On day 1 of the class, have a discussion about the background of the students and how that relates to their choice to come to school. This often sparks a dicussion about career choice and why they are there.
Hi Ginny,
Good approach. I teach a number of general required courses so I am challenged to keep the interest of the students as we move through the course. You are trying to keep them engaged and supporting their efforts to be successful. These are signs of a dedicated instructor. Keep up the good work.
Gary
Sometimes they are put in a prerequisite class and either hate the topic due to not doing well during high school or just the opposite, they did well and are possibly bored. When I notice a student who is not paying much attention, I usually ask them after class if they are comfortable with the material. 9 times out of 10 they are up front. If they are struggling, I offer help outside of class or even suggest tutoring in the library with the tutors.
Hi Robert,
Right you are about some students just not being interested in our subject matter. You point is well taken that we still need to do whatever we can to get them engaged in the learning process.
All the courses I teach are required courses so I experience what you are talking about. I am a stepping stone along their career path. I get good student evaluations because I work very hard at making the course interesting and meaningful but I know that many steps are only working their way through the system. I feel that if I can model the behavior of a professional educator and give them good current information in a diverse way I have served my profession well.
Gary
Having read the comments and responses already posted, I want to offer something perhaps a little controversial and perhaps even a little discouraging (since none of the responses so far seem to 'go there'): I think the harsh reality is that we should expect that some students will simply not be interested in our course material, no matter how passionate and dynamic we are with our presentation. I can tell you with no hesitation that there are some subject matters that simply won't interest me, even if they're offered as part of a larger curriculum that does. That was certainly true when I was in school. I'll go through the motions, and I'll do the work. I'll participate, or I may not. I may even feign interest - but don't ask me to enjoy it or BE interested. That's simply unrealistic. and it's no reflection on the instructor. As an adult, I think I'm entitled to my own interests and can't be made to enjoy some fields. I might even resent your attempt to make me change my own interests, which is really what you're trying to do, and I might even resent your implication that I'm somehow closed-minded or inadequate simply because I don't find your field as fascinating as you do.
I think we need to understand that many of our students will have similar attitudes about our own little corner of the curriculum.
As an important disclaimer, though, I don't think we should use that as an excuse to ignore those students or tune them out, or even as a reason to hold fast to our presentation style and educational techniques. I just think that sometimes we wear ourselves out beating our heads against the illusion that we can 'fix' any problem and 'reach' every student. Common sense and (if we're honest with ourselves) our own experiences say otherwise.
I hope I don't sound too cynical or negative here; I certainly do think I fret about this as much as anybody and I think I work as hard as anybody to make sure that nobody walks out of my classroom disinterested and bored. But I also like to think I'm pretty realistic about this; with hundreds of students in any calendar year, it's just not realistic to believe that teaching with passion and practice will make every student interested.
Maybe that's just the reality of teaching a GenEd-type course (as I do) that does not seem, at least to many students, encompassed by the name of the school itself, which is very much focused on the specific industry to which it is aimed. (As another wrinkle, these GenEd courses are sometimes treated as an afterthought and a necessary evil by the school administration itself, which might even feed into a student not caring about my course.)
Hi Deborah,
Way to go in bringing these students into more of the mainstream of the class. Getting them engaged can be a challenge and you have found an excellent way helping them to see the value of the course as well as developing rapport with you in the process.
Gary
I try to go the extra mile with those who seem to want to just get through it and get the degree. I will call on them a little more, ask their thoughts on the material being covered, work with them through difficult challenges, and make not only feel they matter but know they matter. Sometimes, they really need that extra attention to help pull them through. I let them discover they are there to actually learn and by giving them a little extra attention, they become aware they too contribute to the learning experience not only for themselves but to those around them. They seem to pay a more attention and desire to get more involved when they feel empowered. The next thing I know they are actually paying more attention and wanting to be acknowledged for their contribution. It has been working for me 99 percent of the time.
I try and focus on why they are in school in the first place. They are spending a great deal of their time and money to be there and I try to make sure they understand the bigger payoff that comes through adequately preparing themselves for their career.
Hi Cheryl,
You are right we can't reach them all no matter how hard we try. The key is that we tried and that we were effective with the other students that wanted to learn and be successful.
Gary
All comments are valid. Sometimes, no matter how hard I work, it doesn't seem to make a difference with some students. I try to focus on those that ARE getting something out of the class and those that appreciate my efforts. I agree that it seems to be a generational difference. Not one I'm fond of. I find that nontraditional students have a different attitude and that doing an internship or coop will turn a student around - again a chance to get into the real world and see how important the information is.
Hi Ann,
Can you bring in former students and have them reinforce the fact that grades are important to the future of the students? Or, employers that can explain to the students that they are looking for students with high grades and not those that barely scrape through?
Gary
Many of my students don't seem to care if they get a D. They just want a passing grade so they can move on in their schedule. I'm not sure what the best way is to get them to understand that grades will matter down the line.
Hi Carolos,
Good point about their education not being a game. Sometimes these students cannot make the transfer from being a student to preparing for the real world. They need to see how high the stakes are for them to have success.
Gary
I think that in some cases is because of the type of advertisement of the schools. They promes you a Degree and a job with little work.
The student will look for the easy way out and when they see that they have to work hard then they quit or start having problems with the classes.
The key is to make them understand from the beginning that it is not a game. That they need to work hard to be able to feel proud of the job that they perform.
I agree with Robert to some extent. Students in college are always looking to get a degree and get out. They know that the piece of paper at the end of the two or four or x number of years means more money in the working world. However, they forget the reason why it means more money in the working world. Its ONLY good for them if they learn information that will make them more productive. If they are more productive, they will then make more money. Unfortunately, students today do not understand this basic concept and it might be because a lot of professors at liberal art colleges are so far removed from the private market that they don't even understand this themselves. Students would be better off not going to school at all rather than paying huge sums of money to sleep through courses and just "get the degree."
I don't want to say it may be a generational thing, but it seems like many students today don't seem to have a strong interest in learning. They want the degree, but don't care much for how they get it. The students that don't have this attitude are the ones that keep me going.