How to boost Thai students' motivation

[webfact]

How to boost Thai students' motivation
Jyrki Loima
Special to The Nation

BANGKOK: -- Links between motivation and learning outcomes in Thai basic education have been revealed in recent studies undertaken by an international research group based at Chulalongkorn University.

The research was grounded in the established principle that without motivation there will be no learning. Researchers also assumed that students have a natural interest in their environment as a precondition of learning, and that this interest can be either strengthened or suppressed by schooling.

Researchers first studied 9th graders in several different kinds of Bangkok schools. They classified their motivation as either internal and long-lasting, or external and situation-based. Researchers found that the more space teachers gave to learners, the better were the learning outcomes. The second finding was that teachers' motivation strategies can reduce students' desire to learn, or even make their internal motivation disappear entirely. Third, the reputation of the school had no connection with learning outcomes or motivation.

The second phase of research, from January to February this year, comprised a comparative study of 9th graders in all four regions of the country and by size of school. Learning and internal/external motivation were probed via questionnaires sent to teachers and students at randomly selected schools nationwide. Special attention was paid to three core subjects - mathematics, science and English.

The study ignored test scores, which have a strong external motivating factor but do not correlate with long-lasting learning, and instead concentrated on the everyday learning situation.

Motivation among students was shown to be highest in the South. This trend was evident in all schools, irrespective of their size. Furthermore, teachers in the South seemed able to assess their students' learning progress and status in a more realistic way than elsewhere. This was strongly related to better motivation, which led in turn to better learning outcomes. Institutions in the South displayed "successful-school" characteristics, which go beyond content-based curricula and regard all students as learners.

Another main trend of the data showed that both motivation and learning were higher in small schools (fewer than 500 students), in all regions. Also, overall learning outcomes were better in small institutions, even though some big schools (1,000-plus students) in the South and North also showed good motivation and learning levels. In all these trends, the ability of teachers to assess the students' real motivation and learning was a key factor in enhancing that motivation and learning. Students across all regions said that a caring teacher they liked was an external motivating factor that could replace the missing internal motivation. For cases in which the teacher was not liked, external learning of "some" topics did not take place.

Liked teachers plus high levels of motivation occurred together most often in small schools.

In medium-sized and large schools, teachers tended to lose the attention of the majority of the class as they focused on the more interested students and those sitting at the front of class. On the other hand, teachers seemed to think they could improve students' individual motivation by giving motivational support on a mostly collective basis, for the whole class. However, feedback from students showed that classroom-level motivation was not a strong enough driving factor for even a single lesson - never mind long-term learning outcomes. Such classes showed a high dropout rate of between 10 and 20 per cent of students. It seemed that the students needed, expected and respected more individual motivational support.

To close the regional motivation gap, schools should first focus on the learning context and favour smaller class sizes. These give more space for, and attention to, each single learner and thus foster improved motivation.

Second, we require more research on socio-regional development to discover whether there are local social factors that prevent learning or the motivation to do so.

Third, we now need an ongoing revision of the basic education curriculum, and one that is firmly grounded in research rather than opinions without evidence. The old-fashioned content-based teaching model of "share and transfer information" appears less effective for children embedded in today's interactive digital environment. Instead of passing on information in a one-way interaction regulated by the curriculum, teaching should be a responsive and interactive process.

Fourth, suggestions for improvements come from students' experiences. If a lesson was teacher-centred and there were 30-40 students, there was less than 30 seconds time spent on each student. In such circumstances it should come as no surprise if students lose situation-based interest and hence emerge without learning outcomes.

Finally, the meaningfulness of schooling also matters. If students (who aren't stupid) become convinced early on that the information given in lessons has no relevance for their lives, there will be no learning of practical skills. Here, teaching methods are a significant factor. Switching the mainstream teacher-centred lesson model to a student-centred learning event would deliver a giant leap for country's education performance. This could be via effective, research-based training for both trainee and working teachers.

Visiting professor Jyrki Loima co-planned, conducted and supervised the motivation and learning research project in the Faculty of Education, Chulalongkorn University, with Drs Vibulphol, Nenthien and Kaewdee.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/opinion/How-to-boost-Thai-students-motivation-30270717.html


-- The Nation 2015-10-13

[realenglish1]

Motivated ? Certianly not so to think " out of the box" They are motivated to think as a collective Tow the line so to speak

Thailand will never meet world class status until and when they start teaching students to think on their own PERIOD

[asdecas]

Motivated ? Certianly not so to think " out of the box" They are motivated to think as a collective Tow the line so to speak

Thailand will never meet world class status until and when they start teaching students to think on their own PERIOD

That would be 'toe the line', realenglish1

[AlQaholic]

Well, they needed a research to find this out when all other studies all over the world has shown precisely the same thing for the last 30 years or so? Hence Montessori....student centered learning.

Edited October 13, 2015 by AlQaholic

[fred Kubasa]

They have tried the rest so a daily ass kicking is the only answer !

Edited October 13, 2015 by fred Kubasa

[Lupatria]

How to boost Thai students' motivation?

Give them free iphones and unlimited call time!

[attrayant]

Well, they needed a research to find this out when all other studies all over the world has shown precisely the same thing for the last 30 years or so?

Next study: Leading horses to water yields inconsistent drinking results.

Children are sponges and will soak up information at a young age. Let them explore, experiment and discover unfettered by the shackles of a traditional military-style education.

[Surasak]

Having seen 3 new mothers bring up their child both male and female from birth and more, MHO is that parents are very represive towards the child. All have been restricted from self expression. How can a child be free to explore its surroundings when the mother is almost constantly removing things the child takes an interest in. As for this practice of the child, be it one or two, sleeping with the parents up to at least ten years and sometimes more, just further restricts the chils independance. Much as I appreciate in some cases there is insufficient space in the house for a room of their own, communal living should not mean the child sleeps in the same bed as its parents for years.

[Shaunduhpostman]

This may sound cynical, but articles like these really seem to be more as PR for the rest of the world than anything else. There is quite a disconnect between what the research is focusing on and what is actually happening on the ground in Thailand. The function of these articles is just lip service to the international community. They cannot admit the long standing realities in education and the entrenched attitudes and tendencies in the society that make this research look rather like a charade.

In a country that has always been in authoritarian mode, people's motivation, beyond motivation to appear to be in line, is the last thing you can ask. Anyone who is too motivated is going to be cut down, seen as an upstart and the cause of loss of face fand/or a threat to those who can't compete. It isn't about anybody's motivation except a ceo's or a boss or any other overseer in this kind of a society. In fact, your success and even survival depends on your not knowing anything, on your ability to forget and defer to your superiors.

That there is a culture of favoritism and corruption that renders real achievements irrelevant is the issue. That is the real motivation killer and it doesn't matter what kinds of programs you want to cook up for the schools, they aren't going to work past a certain age, past the age that kids learn that its a done deal, that it is about who you are or how much you can pay, not on your abilities or achievements. In any case, If people running the schools and education programs have problems with motivation themselves, it isn't going to happen.

[lostinisaan]

This may sound cynical, but articles like these really seem to be more as PR for the rest of the world than anything else. There is quite a disconnect between what the research is focusing on and what is actually happening on the ground in Thailand. The function of these articles is just lip service to the international community. They cannot admit the long standing realities in education and the entrenched attitudes and tendencies in the society that make this research look rather like a charade.

In a country that has always been in authoritarian mode, people's motivation, beyond motivation to appear to be in line, is the last thing you can ask. Anyone who is too motivated is going to be cut down, seen as an upstart and the cause of loss of face fand/or a threat to those who can't compete. It isn't about anybody's motivation except a ceo's or a boss or any other overseer in this kind of a society. In fact, your success and even survival depends on your not knowing anything, on your ability to forget and defer to your superiors.

That there is a culture of favoritism and corruption that renders real achievements irrelevant is the issue. That is the real motivation killer and it doesn't matter what kinds of programs you want to cook up for the schools, they aren't going to work past a certain age, past the age that kids learn that its a done deal, that it is about who you are or how much you can pay, not on your abilities or achievements. In any case, If people running the schools and education programs have problems with motivation themselves, it isn't going to happen.

A good one. It seems that it's more important to have a "functioning Boy Scout Marching Team", than a functioning educational system.

You only have to take a look at the most toilets and you know what's going on. Window-dressing of the finest art.

[notmyself]

The education system in Thailand beats, often literally, any inquisitiveness that resides in a child to a pulp. Lack of motivation is not the problem but rather a symptom.

[Emster23]

"Motivation among students was shown to be highest in the South." I wonder if this could be due in part to more Muslims live in the South? I would offer a generalization that Islam tends to value learning more that the form of Buddhism practiced in Thailand.

Seems absurd that had to do research to find out that motivation is strongly related to learning. And one of the surest ways to squash that is to see questioning as a form of "acting out" by trouble makers. Just watch a couple of teen, one showing the other how to use a new model. Questioning, hands on experiences, relevant to their lives, fun.... elements missing in typical formal educational situation in Thai schools.

[sawadee1947]

Well, they needed a research to find this out when all other studies all over the world has shown precisely the same thing for the last 30 years or so?

Next study: Leading horses to water yields inconsistent drinking results.

Children are sponges and will soak up information at a young age. Let them explore, experiment and discover unfettered by the shackles of a traditional military-style education.

right. And also improve the education of the teachers. Otherwise it will not work.

[Traveling Sailor]

Motivated ? Certianly not so to think " out of the box" They are motivated to think as a collective Tow the line so to speak

Thailand will never meet world class status until and when they start teaching students to think on their own PERIOD

Well said! However, the largest motovator was not even mentioned in the research.

It is the NO FAIL Policy. Get rid of that and introduce "shame and loss of face" for not passing. Then watch the test scores improve. Very simple, actually.

[DogNo1]

There is an ungodly amount of information regarding every conceivable issue regarding learning motivation available on the American Educational Research Information Center (ERIC) archives. Google it. Refer to it. Granted, motivation is embedded in a cultural context but the archives are huge and cover many cultural conditions.

[mike324]

"No Fail Policy" works wonders right!

[metisdead]

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