Education / Viewpoint: How classwork can compete with the telly

Data gathered by the Centre for Successful Schools at Keele University reveals that many young people lack motivation and feel under pressure from their peers to shy away from academic achievement.

Pupils start secondary school positive, the centre finds, but by the age of 14 their motivation and commitment are falling away; and though they pick up slightly in the year of GCSE examinations, they are never fully recovered.

Individual schools vary dramatically from this national trend, but the evidence of lack of motivation is disturbing. More than 70 per cent of 13- and 14-year-olds say they count the minutes to the end of a lesson, and 30 per cent think work is 'boring'. By comparison, 30 per cent of 14-year-olds become really interested in work every day. But between 30 and 40 per cent of 14- to 16-year-olds say they 'don't want to go to school'.

A hard core of pupils, perhaps as many as 10 to 20 per cent, are seriously disaffected. Among 15-year- olds, 17 per cent admit to truanting 'often' or 'sometimes'; and among 16-year-olds this figure rises to 20 per cent. About 25 per cent admit that they behave badly 'sometimes or often'.

A crucial element of raising standards is the changing of pupils' attitudes to achievement, yet, with the exception of the first year of secondary education, more than 50 per cent of pupils say other pupils make fun of workers 'often or always'; and more than 50 per cent of 14- to 16-year-olds claim that fellow pupils disrupt lessons every day or every week.

One explanation for the levels of disaffection may be the increased attraction of other activities. More than 80 per cent of 14-year-olds watch more than 14 hours of television a week, and almost 33 per cent watch more than 28 hours - that is more than time spent in the classroom. Pupils in less successful schools watch more television.

By contrast, only 22 per cent of 14-year-olds spend more than six hours a week on homework, and as many as 28 per cent spend fewer than two. Girls watch less television, do more homework and are less likely to have a job.

On one level, it could be argued that perhaps none of this matters. Standards at GCSE have, after all, risen steadily over the past five years. None the less, this country's educational performance still falls well short of our competitors in Europe and the Pacific rim. And it is likely that the pupils who have been turned off by school will figure disproportionately in the crime, family-breakdown and unemployment figures.

So it is urgent to seek changes that will improve motivation. Sir Ron Dearing's curriculum and assessment changes will help. Development of good vocational courses for the 14-16 age group will widen the choices available to young people. And national assessment for 14- year-olds may provide the incentive for schools to give this year group the status it deserves.

The Government should reconsider the extent of its reductions in the amount of coursework at GCSE. The evidence, from the GCSE and the vocational exam boards, indicates that a substantial element of coursework affects motivation positively, by setting a series of short-term, achievable targets. With proper safeguards built into examining processes, there is no reason why coursework should lack rigour.

Two other aspects can contribute to improvement. Extensive additional activities at lunch-time and after school and individual tuition and support help to shift the peer-group culture towards academic achievement.

Information technology could help teachers to devise an individual and challenging curriculum for every pupil. The old problem of low and high achievers suffering because the teacher teaches 'the average child' could become a thing of the past. Similarly impressive research evidence shows that the teaching of thinking skills can have a huge impact.

If the bad news is that the attitudes of secondary school pupils are profoundly disturbing, the good news is that there are practical solutions available if government and teachers are prepared to reach out for them together.

The writer is professor of education at Keele University, and director of its Centre for Successful Schools.