A Comenius1 school development project- the value of motivation in the teaching-learning process

1. Go to the
sections:
The logo
MOTIVALUE
IMPROVING MOTIVATION AND
ATTITUDE TO LEARNING
A Comenius 1 School Development Project
financed by the EU
Tables of Contents in
English, Slovak, Swedish, Italian,
French, German and Czech The partner
schools
This project was carried out with the support of the EU Commission in the framework of the Socrates/LLP programme.
The content of this project does not necessarily reflect the position of the EU, nor does it involve any responsibility
on the part of the European Community.

2. Realschule
Istituto Magistrale Statale Althengstett – Germany
“Elena Principessa di Napoli” www.rs-althengstett.de
Rieti – Italy
www.epnrieti.it Soukromá podřipská střední odborná
škola a střední odborné učiliště, o.p.s.
Roudnice nad Labem - Czech Republic
www.podripskaskola.cz
Lycée Polyvalent
Xavier Mallet
Le Teil – France Stredná
www.ac-grenoble.fr/xmallet Umelecká Škola
v Prešove – Slovakia
www.zsus-po.sk
Laröds skola
Helsingborg – Sweden Main
www.helsingborg.se/kunskapsstaden/larodsskola page

3. What is MOTIVALUE?
Some students are successful, others find it difficult to
get good marks; many factors contribute to school
success, many are personal, others are social; at
school, anyway, you can do…school activities.
Teachers from six European schools asked
themselves what they can do to improve school
success.
The main problem they indicated is motivation to
studying, which has been decreasing in the last
years. So they decided to work on that.
Main
page
MOTIVALUE 3

4. How did
MOTIVALUE start?
Teachers met at a Comenius Seminar (The Learning
Teacher Network) and started a School
Development Project financed by the European
Union in the Socrates (now LLP) Comenius 1
Programme.
The title they gave to the project is the acronym of
“the value of motivation”.
Main
page
MOTIVALUE 4

5. What were the aims
of MOTIVALUE?
The project aimed at enhancing motivation in the
learning process, helping students to be more aware
of their expectations, their goals, their learning
styles.
The teachers worked in teams (national and
international) to find strategies, apply them in the
classes, reflect upon the results.
The project lasted 3 years. Main
page
MOTIVALUE 5

6. The logo
Students from the partner schools were invited to
invent a logo for MOTIVALUE
Each school presented one logo, then the
international team chose the one presented by the
French school.
Main
page
MOTIVALUE 6

7. The logo: who created it
The MOTIVALUE logo was worked on by 2 classes
of vocational students with the help and guidance
of their Applied Arts teacher. The students wanted
to insist on the spirit of optimism, in fact they
wanted to include an arrow moving upwards and to
the right, but the idea was abandoned for technical,
graphical reasons. Main
page
MOTIVALUE 7

8. The logo: its symbolism
The blue circle symbolises the Earth and the
colour was chosen in order to convey a sense of
peacefulness and reassurance.
The stars represent the partners involved
(7 schools). They are on the left and are
ascending towards the sky and towards the right,
which symbolises encouragement and optimism.
The movement in that direction implies progress,
a movement towards the future. Main
MOTIVALUE page 8

9. The logo: its symbolism
The group of students accentuates the idea that
everything is possible since the stars depart from
their silhouettes / figures.
The vertical bar adds a slight dimension of rigour
(in the positive sense of the word: precision,
exactness), and also of willpower and
determination, as well as a methodical approach
to work. Its colour orange was chosen as being
complementary to the blue of the Earth. Main
MOTIVALUE page 9

10. MOTIVALUE
Our experience
All we have discovered about
carrying on a Comenius 1 project
Main
page

11. Our experience
The first Project Meeting
At the beginning of a Comenius 1 School
Development Project you have already stated the
main goals in the application form, but the first
Project Meeting is the moment when you have to
transform the goals into actions to be carried out in
classes: it takes time and effort, but at the same time
it’s rewarding. Main
page
MOTIVALUE 11

12. Our experience
The first Project Meeting
Everybody has to “tune in”, share the goals in detail,
find a “common language”, think about how
everything can actually be put into practice within
their own school and THEN take decisions which
will affect their school life.
Main
page
MOTIVALUE 12

13. Our experience
The first Project Meeting
We started by telling the others about everyday reality in
our schools keeping in mind the topic of the project,
then everybody submitted their proposals to the
others.
One of the proposals was adopted and adapted, going
through it sentence by sentence, almost word by
word, with teachers thinking about how their student
and colleagues would react to it: the result was the
“smiley” questionnaire. Main
MOTIVALUE page 13

14. Our experience
The results of the
questionnaire
It took quite a lot of work to put the results of the
questionnaire in the six schools together, but in the
end they encouraged us to go on: school remains an
important point of reference for our students. We
discussed the results with the students taking part in
the project, so at the end everybody was aware of
the general atmosphere in the classes. Main
page
MOTIVALUE 14

15. Our experience
From the questionnaire
to the Portfolio
We tried out a tool, a model for class discussion, but, as
students were not involved personally, they tended not
to be committed. Therefore we changed it and
produced the Personal Portfolio of Motivation, which
appears to work well.
It contains the points we had highlighted at the
beginning as being the areas requiring attention: long
and short term personal goals, personal learning styles.
MOTIVALUE Main 15
page

16. Our experience
the Portfolio
of Motivation
We decided personal goals are very important for
students. They should get used to setting and
regularly revising their goals; teachers should guide
them through discussions. During the dialogue with
the teacher the student commits himself to reaching
realistic short term goals and /or explores the
reasons why he wasn’t able to do it. Parents can be
involved in the process, too. Main
page
MOTIVALUE 16

17. Our experience
the Portfolio
of Motivation
Another important part dealt with in the Portfolio is
the personal learning style.
Students wrote down their results of the ILS
questionnaire, which enabled them to become aware
of their own learning styles. They also noted down
their strengths and the way they can compensate for
their weaknesses. Main
page
MOTIVALUE 17

18. Our experience
The sets of lessons
The obvious consequence of our work on motivation
was to tailor our teaching to what we had discovered.
We produced guidelines for teachers to prepare sets
of lessons taking into account different learning
styles. Again they were revised after experimentation
to make them clearer and easier to use. You will find
sample lessons in English and in the national
languages in the dedicated sections. Main
page
MOTIVALUE 18

19. First Year
The year of investigation
We produced investigation tools to be used in the
project by each national group.
We agreed about their content, format, and the
procedure to follow when submitting the
questionnaires.
Main
page
MOTIVALUE 2006-07, first year 19

20. The year of investigation
the tools
The survey we produced is about students’ general
attitude towards school, their short and long term
goals. Survey International Results
We decided to use an already existing on-line
questionnaire on learning styles: the North Carolina
State University
Index of Learning Styles Questionnaire by Barbara
A. Soloman and Richard M. Felder. Main
page
MOTIVALUE 2006-07, first year 20

21. The year of investigation
the positive
teachers` involvement and dedication to the project,
triggered by the meaningfulness of the topic and the
opportunity to work together with colleagues from
five other countries;
interest aroused in the students especially for the
learning style questionnaire; they were eager to know
more about themselves as learners and discuss about
their learning environment; Main
page
MOTIVALUE 2006-07, first year 21

22. The year of investigation
the positive
the investigation tools gave us precious information
which allowed us to define a common strategy for
the years to come;
the project let teachers start a process of cooperative
reflection upon their teaching style, roles in the
classes, needs of the students;
Main
MOTIVALUE 2006-07, first year page 22

23. The year of investigation
the positive
it let students start a process of reflection upon their
attitude towards school, personal goals, learning
styles;
it increased teachers` and students` awareness of their
role in the teaching – learning process;
it enhanced teachers` team work at national and
international level.
Main
MOTIVALUE 2006-07, first year page 23

24. Second Year
The year of action
We implemented the strategy we had defined in the
first year:
A Portfolio of Motivation in seven languages
was produced and experimented in the schools.
Guidelines for sets of lessons taking into account
learning styles were provided, and also guidance
for documenting them. Main
page
MOTIVALUE 2007-08, second year 24

25. The Portfolio
of Motivation
The International project team of Motivalue produced
and tested this tool to improve motivation in their
students. It is the result of our work on the theme
over a period of two years, debating, analysing and
clarifying what we needed to reach our aims.
It contains four main parts which represent points to
start with to understand what a person wants to do in
her/his life: long term goals, short term goals, personal
learning styles and decisions taken with the help of
teachers. Main
MOTIVALUE 2007-08, second year page 25

26. The Portfolio
of Motivation
Students found it easy enough to speak about their long
term goals;
Short-term goals were more difficult for them to define,
as we already expected; they needed guidance and
discussions with their classmates: they were reassured
when we agreed that the point would be periodically
reviewed.
The advantage of the Portfolio must be seen in the
process: students STARTED THINKING about what
they do in terms of defining goals. Main
MOTIVALUE 2007-08, second year page 26

27. The Portfolio
of Motivation
Students liked the part about their learning styles: they
showed curiosity and interest in discovering how
they prefer working and what they should
compensate.
When we suggested activities considering learning
styles students were willing to experiment with
themselves and get involved in different ways of
doing things. Main
MOTIVALUE 2007-08, second year page 27

28. The Portfolio
of Motivation
The size of the classes represented a difficulty: we
tried to overcome it by dedicating time to individual
guidance.
The schedule of the project did not often correspond
to the requirements of the school year, so some
teachers encountered difficulties in completing the
activities and trying out the tools we produced: the
problem can be solved by starting activities early in
the school year. Main
page
MOTIVALUE 2007-08, second year 28

29. The Teachers’ Guidelines
for sets of lessons
We wanted to put into practice our work upon learning
styles, and practice at school means lessons, classes,
didactics.
There was no will nor need to revolutionize what
teachers usually do in classes or the way they plan
lessons: what we did in the project was what we
usually do with an added awareness about learning,
and teaching, styles. Main
MOTIVALUE 2007-08, second year page 29

30. The Teachers’ Guidelines
for sets of lessons
We needed a common scheme, so we produced:
 A Learner Type Information Sheet and
 Teacher’s lesson planning guidelines, which is
supposed also to serve as a format for
documenting the experience so as to allow
others elsewhere to reproduce them.
Main
MOTIVALUE 2007-08, second year page 30

31. Third Year
Putting the strategy
into practice
We went on using the Portfolio of Motivation.
The teachers in the different schools shared ideas,
planned, experimented and documented
sets of lessons, which you can find in the English
section and in the national sections.
Main
page
MOTIVALUE 2007-08, third year 31

32. MOTIVALUE
brought about changes!
analysis of the changes determined by the actions
carried out
changes in the way schools are run (some
changed the timetable, some adapted the
curriculum to the needs of the project);
increased involvement of management in the
project;
improvement of working relationships between
staff and management; Main
page
MOTIVALUE 2007-08, third year 32

33. MOTIVALUE
brought about changes!
analysis of the changes determined by the actions
carried out
changes in the way teachers see the planning of
their work;
changes in the way students perceive their
learning (becoming aware of the changes, too);
changes in the way teachers work together.
We started a process. Main
page
MOTIVALUE 2007-08, third year 33

34. The
documentation
Documentation of the experience
Documenting was a key point of the project,
much effort has been made in defining a
standard for participating teachers: we took care
about usability, clarity and accuracy both in the
products and in explaining the procedures.
Main
page
MOTIVALUE 2007-08, third year 34

35. The Mobilities
The partner schools feel that the mobilities connected to
MOTIVALUE have had a very positive impact. They
have been a development opportunity for staff to
share good practice, to improve as professionals, to
understand other educational systems, to broaden
horizons and build relationships. There has also been
an increase in awareness of having a shared European
identity. Main
MOTIVALUE 2007-08, third year page 35