Some things that I do to motivate them at the beginning of the course are:
- Talk to them about the money they can earn. The automotive business can be a lucrative business. Repair shop owners can make a lot of money, but so can the technicians who perform the daily repairs. By letting the students know about the end financial result, I feel they will be more motivated to perform in the classroom. While money is not usually the highest motivating factor for most people, I feel based on the age range of my students, it is for them.
- Let them know about the pride you can gain from repairing a vehicle. Prior to teaching, I worked for 20 years as a service technician at a local dealership. This allowed me to work exclusively on one brand of vehicle. I enjoy telling people that if you see that brand of vehicle driving around the North Shore, I’ve likely worked on it. By telling my students this, I am sharing my pride with them. Hopefully, they will also want to gain that same sense of pride.
Some things that I can do during the course include the following:
- Take the class on field trips. Being new to the automotive trade, many students really have no idea what goes on behind the scenes. By organising trips to repair shops, trade shows, dealerships and even tool stores, I can keep them motivated be giving them new insight; the opportunity to say “Yes, that’s what I want to be doing”. Additionally, a planned field trip gives them something to look forward too.
Bringing in guest speakers. Having a new voice to listen to can provide a brief change of pace, something new and refreshing to refocus the students. The guest speaker can then provide their own reasons for entering the automotive field and let the students know what motivated them. Perhaps the speaker can address why they have pride in what they do. This in turn might give the students new intrinsic motivation
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