Education has so many objectives: learning for learning's sake, attaining basic academic skills, finding oneself, understanding the diversity of people, appreciating arts, and discerning citizenship responsibilities, to list only a few. All of these objectives are important, but do they become forces of motivation for most students?

UNMOTIVATED STUDENTS
Teachers are right: Many students fail to learn because they are not motivated. Students do not understand how what they are asked to learn relates to their future. What intrinsic factors might motivate students to approach each day with some purpose and enthusiasm? Could it possibly be a glimpse into work and careers? Could it possibly be that scary thing called "life after school"?

Schools rarely effectively present careers and work as the meaning or the purpose for students spending so much time there. How important is this omission in the education we provide our children? Perhaps the better question is how important is it that we give them the support they need to realize happiness in adulthood? Most will agree that when one is happy, satisfied, and fulfilled in the work he/she does, one has a chance for long-term happiness.

The most important decision that a student can make for long-term happiness is one that students are often ill-equipped to make. The result is that students are perplexed, not understanding the relevance of school, unmotivated in their studies, frustrated in their decision-making, and possibly unhappy in their adult working life.

LACK OF RELEVANCE AND MEANING
Perhaps the missing link in the education of elementary and secondary students is career exploration, career education, and informed decision-making — what the world in which our children will eventually live has to offer them for a lifetime. A curriculum of studies and related activities developed to span career awareness from the early elementary grades, career studies in middle school, and better informed career decision-making in early high school would provide the missing link.

This curriculum would need to be developed and delivered by the brightest and most enthusiastic teachers in close cooperation with representatives from business and industry. The curriculum and activities must be developed and delivered with zeal and thoroughness, as if this study is the most important program of studies within the school's programs.

Properly developed and delivered, this career-focused curriculum could provide students with that missing clue as to why they are in school. Would a purpose of learning not lead to increased student motivation?

UNINFORMED DIRECTION
Most parents and educators advise students in the top third of their class that a four-year college is the education route they should pursue. Statistics also show that students in the middle of the class standings, some not even having been prepared through college-prep course work, are advised to go to college. Why do so many secondary

Presently, students are being advised in their high schools to take the next step, which is to get more education — more education without clear direction as to what kind or why. Since students leave the secondary education arena with little information relative to careers or jobs, they can only follow the advice given them to get more education. This lack of direction or focus often leads to frustration, disillusionment, dropping out, or selecting generic majors leading nowhere.

On the other hand, a comprehensive, well-delivered curriculum in career awareness/education would motivate students to work toward a defined career goal with more enthusiasm and with increased motivation.

THE SOLUTION
In elementary, middle, and secondary schools where students are taught career awareness, what the work world is all about, and where each might best fit based on interests and skills, students will be motivated to learn because they can understand the relevance of what they are learning.

Students moving through the progression of the career-education curriculum will know about careers and jobs in the world of work. They will know about work requirements, environments, salaries, and availability. They will know their own interests, innate traits and academic skills, and how these relate to career interests. They will have the data necessary to make a more logical, realistic decision as to their future.

And, most importantly, every student will have learned what education route — technical college, four-year college, or university — will lead to the career that he/she has decided best fits his/her aspirations, abilities, skills, and financial means. No longer will the decision be what post-secondary education institution to select, but rather which institution offers the educational route that leads to the career or job each prefers.

Motivation and relevance can solve many of the educational problems found in Georgia's schools today. By providing students the tools to make important decisions about their futures and by supplying the information students need to select a direction for their lives, educators can help the spotlight focus on high achievements and student success. Students will be motivated to learn when they perceive that what they are learning in high school will have value for their lives beyond high school. Students, along with their parents, will make suitable decisions about education after high school if they have adequate information on which to base decisions. Are the educators in Georgia prepared to meet this challenge?

Georgia's technical colleges and institutes have forged strong bonds with business and industry throughout the state. I stand ready, as do the presidents of all of the 33 institutions in Georgia's technical college system, to lead our schools in working with every K-12 district in our local areas to help meet this challenge.

James Bridges
President, Valdosta Tech