Expectations, identity & goals. A study of student motivation and learning on the assistant nurse training program in adult education

Abstract

Abstract This paper discusses expectations, identity and goals of students on the assistant nurse program in adult education. This particular program is a compacted version of the secondary level assistant nurse training program in Swedish secondary schools. The meaning of the program is to give people a quick qualification to people who need it in order to enter employment in the healthcare sector. The program is financed by the Swedish employment agency that employs educational contractors to run the program. The data in the study was taken from a questionnaire that 35 students filled in, who are currently engaged in the program. Two interviews were also done in order to create a bigger picture of the experiences of the students. The reason for this study was to examine the expectations and goals that students have on the program and see how it has an effect on identity. The Swedish employment agency has expectations for the people given an opportunity to do the program. This study examines if the students expectations and the Swedish employment agency’s expectations are in accord with one another. Keywords: Motivation, self-efficacy, identity, expectancy-value theory, intrinsic/extrinsic values, expectations, goals.