Motivating your students

1
Motivating your students and yourself

• Desmond Thomas,
• University Of Essex

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Recommended reading

• Bolton, R. 1986, People Skills, New York
  Touchstone
• Dornyei, Z. 2001, Motivational Strategies in the
  Language Classroom, Cambridge
• Goleman, D. 1996, Emotional Intelligence, London
  Bloomsbury
• Long, R. 2005, Motivation, London David Fulton

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Why concern ourselves with student motivation?

• Motivation is the single most important factor in
  any sort of success (Edmund Hillary)
• According to this view, external factors such
  as teaching techniques, skills resources are
  not enough
• We know nothing about motivation. All we can do
  is write books about it (Peter Drucker)
• This writer seems to be suggesting that trying
  to understand human motivation and its
  consequences is no easy task.

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More views on motivation (1)

• Desire is the key to motivation, but it's
  determination and commitment to an unrelenting
  pursuit of your goal -- a commitment to
  excellence -- that will enable you to attain the
  success you seek. (Mario Andretti)

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More views on motivation (2)

• Motivation is a fire from within. If someone else
  tries to light that fire under you, chances are
  it will burn very briefly. (Stephen R. Covey)
• There is only one way to get anybody to do
  anything... That is by making the other person
  want to do it. There is no other way. (Dale
  Carnegie)

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More views on motivation (3)

• No one does anything from a single motive.
  (Samuel Taylor Coleridge)
• Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is
  what keeps you going. (Unknown)
• I have come to the conclusion that my subjective
  account of my motivation is largely mythical on
  almost all occasions. I don't know why I do
  things. (J. B. S. Haldane)

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Some initial thoughts

• Motivation can mean different things to different
  people. These include
• Self-motivation (Andretti, Hillary)
• Persuading and encouraging others (Covey,
  Carnegie)
• In education we need to consider the two types of
  meaning by asking
• How can we help learners to motivate themselves?
• What interventions can we make to increase their
  motivation? How can the teacher make a
  difference?

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Maslows hierarchy of needs

• Different levels of motivation important at
  different times

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Extra level unattainable needs?

• Possibility of negative motivational
  consequences
• Focusing on a dream that is never fulfilled (eg
  winning the lottery)
• If I cant be famous/hailed as a genius then Im
  not going to bother!
• Insisting on having something you can never get

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Emotional Intelligence

• Self-awareness, impulse control, persistence,
  zeal and motivation, empathy and social deftness
  qualities that mark people who excel (Goleman
  1996)
• Bouncebackability (Ian Dowie)
• Optimism as the great motivator and a predictor
  of academic success
• These qualities can be learned (taught?)

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Attribution theory

• Two core aspects of motivation are students
  self-esteem and the process by which they make
  sense of what happens to them the attribution
  process.
• Attribution theory describes these processes and
  their behavioural and emotional consequences.

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The attribution process

• When learners fail they might become demotivated
  by putting it down to
• Internal reasons I didnt study hard enough, Im
  not good enough
• External reasons The questions were unfair, The
  teacher didnt prepare us, The grading system is
  unreliable, The teacher doesnt like me, There
  was too much noise in the exam room, There wasnt
  enough time to revise

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Motivational strategies for teachers

• Success training setting realistic goals,
  raising confidence and self-esteem etc.
• Highlighting discrepancies in thinking (cognitive
  dissonance)
• Challenging/confronting with evidence
• Reframing alternative explanations for lack of
  success
• Encouraging self-monitoring of progress
• (Long 2005)

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To which we could also add

• Awareness-raising of expectations and behaviour
• Giving structured and meaningful feedback
• Encouraging responsibility/independence
• Helping to highlight develop specific skills
• Referring to another source of help

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Boltons 6-part confrontation model

• Prepare (time, place, opening script)
• Deliver 3-part assertion message
• Ive noticed that
• I feel that
• The result is
• 3. Silence
• 4. Reflective listening to defensive response
• 5. Re-asserting/recycling the process
• 6. Focusing on an agreed solution

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Motivating yourself

• Look after number 1
• Set realistic goals taking time and other
  constraints into consideration
• Invest time wisely at the beginning of the year
• Set up a really good record-keeping system
• Use positive strategies even after a reversal
• Get help talk to colleagues course convenors
• Get help refer students to LTU tutorials etc