All young people today know how important an education is, yet a
considerable number still have no education or job. As a result, all
the Nordic countries have various measures and projects aimed at
getting young people with no education into training. In order to
succeed, the projects and various measures should work with the youths’
inner motivation and keep in mind that all marginalised youths face
very different challenges, says Noemi Katznelson, Associate Professor
and head of the Centre for Youth Research at Aalborg University
Copenhagen. She is one of Denmark’s leading experts in marginalised
youths.
“The young person’s own motivation is crucial for whether they
succeed in getting an education, and today’s youths know very well how
important an education is. All young people have a high degree of outer
motivation for getting an education. But many marginalised youths lack
an inner motivation, and it is necessary to support this kind of
motivation,” says Noemi Katznelson.
She is involved in a range of research projects studying the
obstacles and solutions to getting marginalised youths into education
and jobs. She is also the co-author of several books on young people’s
motivation and learning, and was invited to speak at a Nordic
conference on the fight against youth unemployment on 25 March 2015,
hosted by the Danish Ministry of Employment and the Nordic Council of
Ministers.
Here Noemi Katznelson proposed that the Nordic countries make
working with young people’s inner motivation a central part of any
future measures aimed at helping marginalised youths getting an
education.
“You can get far by making young people study, but motivation is
young people’s driving force. It has been proven that young people’s
motivation is very important, and there is a need to work with the
quality of that motivation.”
A critical eye on the term motivation
She recommends a critical examination of the term motivation. Many
think of motivation as an individual skill. As a result, previous youth
measures have focused mainly on finding out which kind of education and
jobs young people are motivated by. We need to get away from that kind
of thinking, says Noemi Katznelson. Motivation is more like a sum of
experiences. Knowledge and relevance can be motivating, for instance,
when a young person sees that maths skills are the key for moving
forward. Relations can also be motivating. Some young people might be
motivated to take part in an educational programme if they meet nice
people in that programme.
“Motivation is a complex entity, and it is important that experts in
the field work with different aspects of this with different
youths.”
Five profiles of marginalised youths
Measures aimed at getting marginalised youths into education and
jobs must not treat all young people as one homogenous group. They are
very different and this should be mirrored by the way you work with the
youths’ motivation, says Noemi Katznelson. She illustrated to the
conference the large differences between marginalised youths by
presenting five profiles:
I just can’t stand the pressure: A new group of
marginalised youths who have professional skills but are
psychologically vulnerable and feel the expectations placed on them are
so big that they perhaps drop out of several youth training schemes.
They only see limitations inside themselves.
I am not used to studying: Has been an unskilled
worker and must overcome obstacles when it comes to further
training.
I am used to manage by myself: Has absent parents,
perhaps with abuse, and manages on their own from day to day. Perhaps
sleeps over with friends and is a competent problem solver in the short
run but lacks educational aim.
I just want to be normal: Has perhaps been admitted
to psychiatric care and has a deep longing for normality and dreams
about education and work with no basis in reality. This leads to
failure and divisions.
Tattoo artist or lumberjack?: Very unclear about
education and identity. Challenged by the fact that an education is
more than just a gateway to work. It is also the answer to the search
for an identity and meaning.
She sees three tendencies which are creating increased polarisation
among youths. Measures and projects aimed at reducing youth
unemployment must understand these and confront them in order to
succeed:
- Most youths get more backing from home than before, and youths who
lack this backing are finding it even harder to manage. - Increased vulnerability because of increased individualisation and
an explosion in expectations among youths where being perfect becomes
the norm. - Young people live like youths for longer than before, and it
becomes even more difficult to see young people who are not managing
the demands of adult life and they become marginalised as a
result.
