A two-fold analysis of Value Creating Learn- ing

Abstract

Value Creating Learning (VCL) is a pedagogical method, based in entrepreneurial learning, that aims to spark the intrinsic motivation in students by making them par- ticipate in real missions towards external recipients outside their own group, class, or school. In the mission of ”Attefallshuset” the teachers at an upper secondary school in the Gothenburg region wanted to evaluate a progression of VCL missions. The pro- gression lies in the level of foreignness that the external recipient had to the students, and thus how arduous the students experienced, and perceived, it to make and have contact with the external recipient. Through empirical research, the aim of this thesis was to see if a progression would ease the students’ feelings and attitudes towards working with more foreign external recipients. Another aim of this thesis was to the- oretically, and critically, analyse VCL in order to better understand its educational implications and students’ perception of it and their learning. Results from the quantitative data showed no statistically significant difference made by the progression. However, the results from the qualitative data showed that the progression seemed to change the students’ attitude of the external recipients, as well as to improve student-to-student feedback. Two critical investigations of VCL were also carried out, one about the educational functions of VCL in relation to the concept of Bildung. The other one investigates if VCL fits all students and VCL’s relational capacity, analysed through resonance theory. There were three main conclusions. The first was that progression in VCL seemed to ease the interaction with external re- cipients and generate a better climate for student-to-student feedback. The second was that the students generally overcame a feeling of being nervous when they in- teracted with external recipients, which led to that the students felt more self-secure and acquired a higher degree of self-efficacy. The third was that the teacher have to put careful attention to the group dynamics and the personality of the class when deciding the level of external interaction in a VCL mission.