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On the previous page I asked the question "To what degree are our lecturers experienced and have proven success in the workings of the 'real world'?"

Is this important?

On the previous page I also stated "Try stopping somebody who wants to learn. It is much more difficult than teaching somebody who doesn't want to learn."

Everybody needs to learn whether they realize it or not, or whether they want to or not. As a teacher sometimes our first task is to build motivation within our students. This is usually not too difficult once they can see the relationship and benefits of the learning to them personally. However, stopping or even slowing down highly motivated learners, without discouraging them, that's often much more difficult!

In order to achieve teacher registration I had to participate in several clinical supervisions (last one videoed) under real teaching conditions. The supervisor had to be a practicing registered High School teacher. I will always remember the very first comment that she uttered "Wow, the students are so enthusiastic to learn". Quite frankly it wasn't what I expected to hear, but what a great first comment after my first very nervous clinical supervision. Their enthusiasm was really no credit to me, but at least it did indicate that they had confidence in me.

Why was my supervisor so surprised? Because she was used to teaching in a public high school where students so often need to be encouraged to learn. They often have very little intrinsic motivation, their motivation is mainly extrinsic. I was teaching Electronics at a Technical & Further Education College (TAFE). My students backgrounds ranged from unemployed school leavers who were looking for a job, people working in associated industries, to one mature aged student who was the owner/manager of a large electronics company and wanted to be a better manager by having a better understanding of the industry.

Because the students could see a direct relationship between the syllabus and their needs or aspirations, motivation was never an issue. However, I do believe that my background and experience in the industry, and my ability to answer their questions related to 'real' industry situations did encourage their enthusiasm and confidence that I could meet their needs. Often containing and managing their enthusiasm to learn at a pace that was consistent with the overall ability of the class was more of an issue.

Re: "To what degree are our lecturers experienced and have proven success in the workings of the 'real world'?" I believe that ongoing learner motivation is certainly related to the learner's continued faith that their mentors do posess the knowledge and skills necessary to succeed in the real world.

We do need to address attitudes like; "Those who can, 'do', those who can't, 'teach', those who can't teach, 'lecture' in universities". The facilitators of learning in our elite learning institutions must have proven credentials in all areas including a proven successful track record in industry or working within their discipline.

Through the process of clinical supervisions I came to understand how important student motivation is to learning but more importantly how important their motivation is to making us better teachers. Because the students are so demanding we quickly come to recognize the deficiencies in our preparation and performance, and are forced to continue the process of ongoing improvement.

Many High Schools are attempting to bridge the relevance gap, and also the issue of transition from school to work. For instance RAND:
"Work-based learning -- a planned program of work experience linked to school -- is gaining popularity. What do students learn in these programs? Are workplaces effective learning environments for young people? To explore these questions, RAND researchers are studying work-based learning in four different types of programs in Los Angeles, with an emphasis on the student's perspective and experience." ..... "we hope to contribute to defining program quality and to better understand how work-based learning provides opportunities for students to acquire knowledge, skills, and abilities that will enhance their future success".

Many university students already work while studying. Does their employment in industry help to address any of the issues below? What if all students were to be employed in industry while studying?

• improve the focus and relevance of their enthusiasm to learn? Perhaps bring about a shift for those whose motivation is extrinsic (rite of passage) to more intrinsic and 'healthier' reasons for their motivation.

• drive our universities to become more responsive to real world needs?

  • Some lecturers currently do have working relationships with industry through research and this is excellent. However, should all lecturers be required to have served in industry for a minimum number of ... years before receiving tenure? Should regular periods working in industry be a requirement of tenure?

• improve the quality, depth and relevance of student questioning and therefore improve the performance of our lecturers?

• improve the relevance of general learning in universities?

• improve the transition from study to work, and perhaps help enhance development of industry?

The questions above are not pre-empting a suggestion that all university students should work while studying. What I am trying to establish is whether we need to tighten relationships between industry and universities, and whether there are mutual benefits for learners, institutions of learning, and industry from doing so.

Continued...

Phillip Rekdale
Education Consultant
Jakarta, Indonesia

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