Melvina,
Thank you for this post. How do you go about determining each student's individual motivations?
Jeffrey Schillinger
I teach dental hygiene courses and many students are adult learners who are back in school to upgrade or change careers. We have many previous dental assistants who are looking to increase pay/responsibilities. I always try to acknowledge the wealth of dental experience that these students bring with them. I encourage them to share their related experiences that pertain to our topic with the class.
I always spend class time during the first class meeting allowing each student to share the story of how they chose to enter the dental hygiene program. The usual responses include move up from dental assisting, make more money to support my family, work in a field where I can help people, work in a field that has hours that allow me to have a family. Some have responded that they have raised their family, supported their husband's career and are now ready to pursue their dream. Others have responded that the choice of dental hygiene is a stepping stone before applying to dental school. So, there are many different motivations. I believe that a majority of our students who are "mature" bring a lot of life experience and they are internally motivated to do what it takes to complete the program successfully.
In my experiences, most adult learners are returning to school due to a loss of their previous career (logging, etc) or departure from the military.
Some others, of course, are looking to advance themselves our of a "dead-end job" to a career field that offers more growth potential as welll as money.
There are various motivating factors with adult learners, of course, but these seem to be the mmost wide-spread.
Lawrence,
How do you leverage these motivations to help students stay on course?
Jeffrey Schillinger
I think one must remind them why they made the decision to return to school-whether to satisfy a yearning of their own, a change of career, or to satisfy another important figure in their life- offer encouragement and point towards the ultimate goal and the rewards that will be forthcoming.
I have my students make a schedule on a calender.
When they do this they find that they actually have a couple hours in the day that can be utilized to do their school work.This makes for a great way to balance work, school, family and have a little time for themselves too.
Pauline,
Great plan. I used to do that for my students when they were about to take online classes for the first time. It was interesting how many students would only plan a few hours for each online course. I this'd to get them to plan eight hours per course.
Jeffrey Schillinger
In the school I teach at most adult learners have either lost their jobs and have become displaced workers or are trying to find a better paying job by gaining new skills.
Lori,
This is true for many career college students. What do you do in class to help leverage these motivations?
Jeffrey Schillinger
i think the main motivation for people to go back to school is to better their employment.
Adult students return to school; for many reasons. They want a change in their career, make more money, health issues can make them need a new career. I have seen a lot of my students coming back because they are getting a divorce and need to support their family. These students have a hard time but are in a big need for an education. It is important to work with them as much as possible.
Katie,
What are some of the more common challenges facing your recently divorced students?
Jeffrey Schillinger
The experience at our school has been predominantly "economic" over the past few years, and definitely changes as the "economy" of the region changes. Our students range in age from 18 to 65, and the motivations of the students seems to range as widely as the ages. The more "older" students that we have, the more, it seems, there are those motivated by the need to change careers, perhaps because of lay-offs in other fields. We also get many of those who have "always wanted to do this", and finallly decided to "give it a try".
Many and varied----everything from 2nd/3rd/4th career aspirations to being fed up with the status quo or current job/life, as well as for educational pursuits, to take advantage of educational opportunities such as after serving in the armed forces, and even based upon friend/family recommendation or example.
Natalie,
What are some of the unique challenges your military students present?
Jeffrey Schillinger
Motivating factors for the adult learner stated from Aslanian & Brickell's research is to further an individual's career or to begin a new one.
I feel that adults return to school for various reasons. One reason could be to change careers for monetary reasons. Others however, may just be content with their occupations and just want to learn something new. My personal motivation for going back to school was both to learn something new and to change occupations.
I feel that adults return to school for various reasons. One reason could be to change careers for monetary reasons. Others however, may just be content with their occupations and just want to learn something new. My personal motivation for going back to school was both to learn something new and to change occupations.
Many times the adult learner returns to school because of they want to expand their possibilities of job promotion. There are other reasons such as being laid off from their current job and the need to find employment in a different area of expertise.
