Enthusiastic Reader > Recent Status Updates

"In the nineteenth century children needed to be protected by child labor laws against exploitation by owners of mines, factories, and sweatshops"

"At the motivational level, each child should be encouraged to reach as high as possible, but with full knowledge of the demands and opportunities involved."

"Perhaps the best solution is to separate the issue of career knowledge into two components, one cognitive, the other motivational. At the cognitive level, which includes knowledge about jobs as well as the skills and preparation for them, it pays to be well informed and realistic."

"Clearly this disjunction between knowledge and reality is disturbing. Sooner or later one might expect disillusionment to set in when the bubble of inflated expectations bursts. How can young people be prepared to look at their future careers more realistically?"

Apparently we do a REALLY good job of letting students know they ain't gonna get rich doing what we do XD

"Finally, income estimates were wildly inflated—about the only realistic figures were those of students who planned to become teachers and who ranked themselves at the bottom of the expected pay scale."

"Students in general seem to have unrealistic career expectations and to underestimate the educational requirements for those careers. Many say that they expect to become lawyers or doctors without expecting to go beyond four years of college."

"Many teens, even by the end of high school, hold strangely incongruous ideas of what they might do when they grow up: 'Well, I think I will be a psychiatrist. Or perhaps a model—unless I become a stewardess—I like to travel a lot' is representative of how many adolescents think about their future prospects."

"Skills and abilities that help a young person to advance academically may not always be the same as those needed for personal fulfillment... Educational expectations and GPA—which are positively related to enrollment in more selective colleges—show a significant NEGATIVE relation to overall life satisfaction."

HOWEVER the survey was done while these students were in college; higher challenge = higher stress?

"First of all, paths taken one year after high school are by no means final. Some students will leave college before graduating, and others who are now working will decide to earn postsecondary degrees. In this respect, the flexibility of the American system of higher education is ideally suited to provide second chances and a diversity of options."

"This focus on higher education is justified because colleges now prepare the majority of young people for entry into the labor force. At the same time, it should be recognized that no matter how important, the choice of a college is only one aspect of this transition."

"This evidence shows that the availability of resources and the unique manner in which those resources are allocated by individual high schools greatly influence each school's mission, which in turn influences the postsecondary experiences of its students."

"Middle Brook's orientation and rich personnel resources appear to have created a strong network of adult support for its students."

"When asked whether they went to school personnel for advice, Middle Brook's students were more likely to say that they went to two or more adults in their school, whereas Del Vista and Grove students were more likely to report going to only one or no adults within their school for advice."

"Middle Brook emphasizes creating close relationships between students and school personnel, relationships that focus not only on academic achievement but also on civic and creative development. The relatively low ratio of students to school personnel allows Middle Brook the resources to build such relationships."

"Given that schooling is involuntary, a shared sense of purpose between adolescents and adults may be an integral part of fostering engagement in school."

"Students who have clear aspirations for the future but are unclear regarding the education and training they need to reach them find occupational activities worthwhile but tend to view academic activities as irrelevant to their goals."

"Individually assigned work may include demanding assignments that require sustained intellectual effort... This work allows a student to set clear goals and to match challenges with skills—conditions that make enjoyable involvement more likely."

"The classroom activities that facilitate flow experiences are those that are well structured, where students are given adequate opportunities to demonstrate their skills and knowledge as autonomous individuals."

"The findings concerning the somewhat competing dimensions of intellectual challenge and positive affect raise the question of whether academic classes can be experienced as both demanding and enjoyable."

"Unstructured activities appear to invite students to daydream, whereas students find greater engagement in individual work and group work, which are usually more structured."

"Despite claims by some educators and researchers that group activities are the key to effective education, our data suggest that neither individual nor group work is superior in all instances. Both probably offer their own advantages and potential to stimulate learning."

"This finding supports what mindful educators have long observed: Learning is inherently a matter of doing."

"It begins to appear, then, that students find school activities either challenging or enjoyable, but not both.

One activity with positive reports in terms of academic press (i.e., academic challenge, rigor, and relevance) as well as more affective and motivational measures was individual work, a mainstay among classroom activities."

"The amount of unstructured time students have in American schools is startlingly high, especially in comparison to other countries where time in high schools is not nearly so flexible. In Japanese high schools, for example, students have no study halls or free periods, tend to eat lunch at their desks, and use the library only after class hours."

"How do different types of classroom activities affect the daily experiences of high school students? How do classroom experiences differ by school subject and course placement?"

"Family support was significantly associated with students' moods in schoolwork.... students feelings of salience were significantly associated with family challenge... students who described their families as supportive reported better moods in school; students who said that their families noted accomplishments and expected them to do their best reported being more focused on career-relevant goals."

"homework estimates confirmed the perception that high challenge in the family is associated with more time invested in homework."

"Because completing homework is largely a matter of planning ahead and exercising self-discipline in postponing other activities, we expected that adolescents who perceive their families to be more challenging... would be doing more homework."

"Thus, respondents from the high-support families, more than others, were optimistic and open to experience... These respondents felt stronger motivation, whether intrinsic, extrinsic, or social."