Abstract
The purpose behind wanting to read the research study “What do they really want? Student voices and Motivation Research” by Daniels and Arapostathis was to see what students had to say regarding their own participation, or lack of, and try to find ways I could incorporate student voices into my class curriculum. Since the beginning of my career as an educator, I have always worked with a population that was labeled a “struggling learner” but from what I read I would redefine some of those students as reluctant rather that struggling based on the definition given in the research.
The researchers define the term reluctant learner as a “student who possesses the ability, but chooses not to participate in school learning experiences.” (Daniels, 2005) The data for this research was collected from students who attend a small alternative high school. The criteria used to determine which students were considered possible participants was a low GPA combined with a proficient state tests scores in English Language Arts and mathematics. These 9th to 12th Hispanic grade boys from low socioeconomic background did not reflect the demographics of the community but were an overrepresentation of young Hispanic males. From the pool of 116, only 9 students even qualified through the criteria set. From those 9, only 4 were randomly chosen to participate.
The researcher used a “grounded theory” approach to begin the collection of their data. The used a combination of student interview and researchers observations to base finding on. When interviewing, researchers presented each question in the same order each time. Follow up interviews were not collected from the students. Observation data was based on 10-20 hours of observing students behaviors. Both were conducted during school hours in the school environment. All of the data presented reflects each students own “voice” to maintain authenticity.
The findings presented were based directly on the information provided by the students in the study and supported by previous research studies. One of the most interesting finding was that the students did not refer to nor did they blame their social environment for their educational disengagement. Rather, they put the responsibility onto the classroom teacher stating that they were responsible for creating a classroom environment that would engage students. Another interesting finding was that students were more willing to perform a task when they are both interested in it and see the value within it for themselves. External factors such as fear of failure, low grades or detention did not impact their decision making process. It was the intrinsic worth and high interest level combined that motivated them to engage. A final finding was that the students felt teachers could change student levels of engagement if they did find ways to connect to student interest levels.
The conclusions resulted in the researchers finding that students felt a need and a want to have a voice in their learning and this will lead to improved engagement, which will then lead to student achievement. Intrinsic motivators are more valuable to students than those external rewards or punishments set by teachers and schools.
I found the student opinions interesting to read. Over the years I have struggled to identify with, and connect to and understand this particular group of students. I question the ability to generalize these students’ statements to all reluctant learners because the participant pool was too specific and narrow. I would like to read other research similar to this conducted with a variety of different ethnic, racial and socioeconomic student groups in order to compare the student responses. Reading this article as had me more focused on how I can generate feedback from my own students and incorporate those findings directly into the curriculum.
The researchers define the term reluctant learner as a “student who possesses the ability, but chooses not to participate in school learning experiences.” (Daniels, 2005) The data for this research was collected from students who attend a small alternative high school. The criteria used to determine which students were considered possible participants was a low GPA combined with a proficient state tests scores in English Language Arts and mathematics. These 9th to 12th Hispanic grade boys from low socioeconomic background did not reflect the demographics of the community but were an overrepresentation of young Hispanic males. From the pool of 116, only 9 students even qualified through the criteria set. From those 9, only 4 were randomly chosen to participate.
The researcher used a “grounded theory” approach to begin the collection of their data. The used a combination of student interview and researchers observations to base finding on. When interviewing, researchers presented each question in the same order each time. Follow up interviews were not collected from the students. Observation data was based on 10-20 hours of observing students behaviors. Both were conducted during school hours in the school environment. All of the data presented reflects each students own “voice” to maintain authenticity.
The findings presented were based directly on the information provided by the students in the study and supported by previous research studies. One of the most interesting finding was that the students did not refer to nor did they blame their social environment for their educational disengagement. Rather, they put the responsibility onto the classroom teacher stating that they were responsible for creating a classroom environment that would engage students. Another interesting finding was that students were more willing to perform a task when they are both interested in it and see the value within it for themselves. External factors such as fear of failure, low grades or detention did not impact their decision making process. It was the intrinsic worth and high interest level combined that motivated them to engage. A final finding was that the students felt teachers could change student levels of engagement if they did find ways to connect to student interest levels.
The conclusions resulted in the researchers finding that students felt a need and a want to have a voice in their learning and this will lead to improved engagement, which will then lead to student achievement. Intrinsic motivators are more valuable to students than those external rewards or punishments set by teachers and schools.
I found the student opinions interesting to read. Over the years I have struggled to identify with, and connect to and understand this particular group of students. I question the ability to generalize these students’ statements to all reluctant learners because the participant pool was too specific and narrow. I would like to read other research similar to this conducted with a variety of different ethnic, racial and socioeconomic student groups in order to compare the student responses. Reading this article as had me more focused on how I can generate feedback from my own students and incorporate those findings directly into the curriculum.
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