This article was produced for the "Challenges" section of Omalius magazine #27 of December 2022.
Success. The goal itself is daunting and sometimes even paralyzing in a context where having a degree seems like the grail you can't live without. "The problem of failure is not new: in the first year of higher education, it concerns about half of the students and this rate has been stable for the last 60 or 70 years," recalls Marc Romainville, head of the university pedagogy service at UNamur. "But 60 or 70 years ago, only about 10% of young people went on to higher education. Today, more than 50% do. So we can't remain indifferent to this phenomenon. Several decrees provide for universities to devote part of their financial resources to helping students succeed, particularly in the first years. These measures seem all the more necessary as French-speaking Belgium is one of the only regions in the world to have such a system of free access to higher education: with a secondary school diploma in their pocket, young people can enrol in any higher education course - with the rare exception of certain artistic courses, engineering studies and now medicine, for which there is an entrance examination. "Universal access to higher education allows for a scenario where some students proceed by trial and error, with the idea that there would be a sort of test year to discover one's path," comments Laurent Schumacher, vice-rector for education at UNamur.
Staying on track or choosing your path
For many, the very question of the type of education does not arise. You have to "do the unified one". This is a given in a society that values university studies and sees them as a de facto guarantee of a job and a good future situation. "Higher education is not in itself professional. They essentially give you a methodology to keep learning. The logic of immediate use of skills is much stronger in other types of education" comments Laurent Schumacher.
"However, there is an idea in society that a student coming out of the general humanities should enrol by default in the long type of higher education. A fraction of students thus embarks on studies that do not make sense to them: at the end of the first year, the results sometimes betray the extent of the misalignment between the skills and aspirations of the student on the one hand, and the expectations of the training organisers on the other," he continues. Various measures to promote a satisfactory transition between secondary school and university, such as tutoring and the 'Passports to the Baccalaureate', have been introduced by UNamur over the years. But from a collective point of view, it is the representations linked to certain professions that must also evolve. "The issue of 'role models' that allow people to identify with certain people is important: lawyers and doctors are well-represented figures in society, unlike other professions that are just as necessary," stresses Laurent Schumacher.
Law? Psycho? Bio? Many students also encounter difficulties in choosing a discipline. "The choice of subject colour is often made more on the basis of an affinity with a secondary school subject rather than with a view to a future career," continues the vice-rector for education. This logic leads to misdirections that deserve to be corrected as soon as possible, which is what the ReBOND programme proposed by UNamur and the Namur centre allows: aimed at students who are considering stopping their first year in the first few months, this individualised training and reorientation programme offers them the opportunity to make the most of the second semester to get off on the right foot.
Our methods
Of course, even if well oriented, a student may encounter difficulties in his or her course, particularly due to methodological flaws. Based on twenty years of experience in methodological support for students, the MOOC "Aim for success" set up by UNamur has offered several modules since 2020 dedicated to time management and procrastination, active work on the subject, memorization, autonomy, but also emotional management. "The aim is to help young people adapt their learning and working methods to the demands of higher education," says Charlotte Sine, techno-pedagogue, and MOOC coordinator. This online course thus aims to enrich the "hidden curriculum" of students, a sociological notion that refers to the skills implicitly required by the institution, but which people are not actually trained in.
"The idea is to be able to equip them while keeping in mind that there are no turnkey strategies, no tricks," says Charlotte Sine. Learning is indeed a complex process: the main challenge is to know oneself well and to identify the best methods for oneself. The MOOC, which has been a great success, has registered some 20,000 registrations in two years, not only in Belgium but also in France and Quebec, since this online course is accessible to all and free of charge. "There are students, but also secondary school pupils, as well as secondary school teachers - up to 10% of those registered - who wish to accompany their pupils in this learning process," stresses Charlotte Sine.
Parallel life
Finally, university success depends on certain material conditions: student insecurity, which is known to be on the increase, can obviously be an obstacle. "More and more students have a professional activity to finance their studies," notes Laurent Schumacher. "But obviously, the days are only 24 hours long. Combining the workload and the mental load between studies and professional activity is not always obvious. The assumption that the student is 100% on his studies is less and less true: it is the unfortunate corollary of a happy dimension, that of the universal access system. Students facing difficult socio-economic situations can turn to UNamur's Social Unit. It intervenes at the request of the student and its mission is to accompany and support him or her and to intervene, among other things, financially. In addition to the need to work, some young people are also confronted with delicate family situations in which they have to play the role of logistical, administrative or psychological support. "The university is aware of these difficulties and tries to find the best arrangements with these students. The teachers are often the first to relay the difficulties encountered by their students, thanks to the culture of proximity that we have at UNamur," emphasises the vice-rector for education. The health crisis has undoubtedly accentuated these difficulties, as it has exacerbated the problems of mental health, concentration and the pace of work for some young people. "We found ourselves faced with cohorts that had not had a real work rhythm for some time. But what could be compensated for in the context of compulsory schooling is more difficult to hide in higher education," Laurent Schumacher emphasises. Beyond the repercussions of the health crisis, the ecological crisis and the war in Ukraine have recently raised the question of meaning more sharply: the meaning of studies, the meaning of a profession, the values to be defended or challenged at the very heart of its failures and successes. A questioning that the university, through its teaching, must also accompany.
Five questions to Anne Faton, head of the medical-psychological unit at the UNamur
What does your department offer in terms of support for success?
I would say that everything we do is in helping students succeed. First, there are the consultations concerning reorientation: we encourage students to think about careers rather than training. Then there are the psychological consultations: whether the student has family problems, eating disorders or is subjected to violence or harassment, this is necessarily an obstacle to success. We also have specific stress management consultations and medical consultations. Health promotion activities are also organised in collaboration with the students with a view to reducing risks (alcohol consumption, consent, etc.). All these services are free of charge.
Has demand increased since the health crisis?
It is much higher. We had up to 30 people on the waiting list during the covid crisis. And the demand is still very high: every day, when we follow up about 300 students a year, we receive two to three new requests. We see more applications from boys, but also more applications from foreign students. Probably because there was a lot of talk about mental health during the health crisis and it is perhaps now considered more 'normal' to consult a shrink.
Your service also supports students with special needs.
Yes, we support students with a disability, a learning disability or a disabling illness by setting up a PAI (individualized support programme). In 2015, when we started, we had 30 requests: today we have 200, because this support is better known. As it is set up from primary and secondary school, there is also a desire for continuity in the arrangements.
Do you think that university studies specifically generate pressure?
What is characteristic of university is the volume of material: the task is enormous... and it is becoming increasingly so.
What can facilitate success in relation to this specific constraint?
Two things. Firstly, finding a balance between work and leisure: the student must realize that stopping and relaxing is not a waste of time, but rather a way of recharging his batteries. Secondly, the relational aspect, the networks. Having contacts and setting up collaborations with other students is an essential factor for success, which was in fact undermined during the Covid.
Learning and emotions
"A whole series of studies now link emotional factors to cognitive abilities, such as the ability to memorise, to concentrate and more generally to engage in studies," explains Line Fischer, a researcher at UNamur. A student with excellent intellectual abilities can therefore find himself failing for reasons linked to poor management of his 'academic emotions'. "I call 'academic emotions' the emotions that originate in different learning situations," explains Line Fischer. "What will be decisive is a student's ability to manage his or her emotions for the benefit of the goals he or she has set for him or herself, and in order to manage these emotions, one must first be able to recognise and name them.
Unpleasant emotions and disengagement
There are two main types of emotional regulation strategies: on the one hand, behavioural regulation strategies (e.g. seeking more information about the subject under study to feel confident, going for a run to clear one's head), and on the other hand, cognitive regulation strategies, which concern the way one thinks about the emotions felt. These strategies can be more or less effective depending on the situation, the context, the student, etc. "For example, a student who fails an exercise may "catastrophise" the situation by saying to himself that he sucks, that he has always sucked, and so on. Or they may start blaming themselves or the teacher. These kinds of strategies may well increase the unpleasant emotions rather than decrease them. Too much unpleasant emotion can quickly lead to failure. "If the emotions linked to learning are too unpleasant and too intense, there is a risk of avoidance and disengagement from the content, because learning then becomes too threatening," the researcher stresses.
Learning: taking risks
It is therefore crucial to also rely on pleasant academic emotions, such as interest in the subject being studied, the pleasure of learning or enthusiasm for the content. Indeed, the presence of pleasant emotions in learning (especially in periods such as the blockade) is perceived by students as a confirmation that they have a good working method or that they are well oriented. Conversely, the absence of pleasant emotions makes them doubt these points. As Line Fischer points out, it is impossible to suppress all the unpleasant emotions associated with learning, since learning requires sacrifice and effort. So it's all about balance. "Learning means taking a risk, changing old ways of thinking to adapt to new knowledge. This is why the teacher must be able to create a climate of security to encourage learning. In fact, we know that in secondary school, dropouts report complicated relationships with teachers as one of the main reasons for dropping out.
