Young people need a mix of extrinsic motivators and support for their intrinsic motivation.
I have been working with a range of high schools to improve the outcomes of their senior students.
We only have approx. 460 high schools in NZ and simple goal setting is a HUGE opportunity being missed by the Minister and Ministry.
Often schools are very limited rewards for hard-working students and treat academics like it is a sport when only 3 people can be on the podium.
One suggestion I made to Te Aroha College – with a very aspirational Principal in Neil Harray – was a “Scholars Award” of $1,000 for however meets set Year 13 criteria.
This is what he spoke about, at their prizegiving, on the impact so far:
“Tonight we will announce something new for some of our Year 13 school leavers. Last year we used an [absolutely brilliant] external consultant to help us review our achievement and leavers data. As a result of that feedback, we have tried to do something a little different, to lift attendance, engagement and retention rates. This year we introduced a graduate profile across all levels of the school. This is a set of descriptors and expectations that identify how our students connect and contribute to school life.
As you will see, some of our students do amazing things. It is hard to recognise everyone. However we wanted a way to acknowledge those students that have made a difference, have contributed to school life, have set themselves a challenge and have achieved those goals, have great attendance, achieved academically and basically just been a darn great all round student.
So it is with great pleasure that we will present the first ever Te Aroha College Scholars Award.
This award will go to 12 students and they will each receive $1000. These are school funds that have been generated from our International Student programme and put aside for these awards.
These 12 students had to provide 32 pieces of evidence. 22 “must do’s” and 10 individual personal and aspirational goals.
While we want this to be challenging and aspirational for our students, we believe every student in Year 13 will have the opportunity to get this award. As with any new initiative, there have been some teething problems. However, these 12 students have worked hard and set the standard for the years to come.
Imagine in a few years’ time, having close to 100 Year 13 students receiving the Te Aroha College Scholars Award. That is a real possibility, and we have planned for this. We look forward to this year’s current Year 12 students engaging with the graduate profile from the start of the year.”
Image credit: Kubra Arslaner
Republished with permission from the author’s Substack.
…Homeschool!…