We, who are drawn to be educators, are sometimes inspired by movies and television shows that depict overwhelmingly fulfilling educator and students’ (teaching and learning) relationships.
Often it is love (of teaching and learning) at first sight.
Occasionally, after a brief struggle, the educator and the students become a team and they learn more than they could have ever imagined, and it changes their lives forever.
However, movies and television are not real life. It can often be quite a prolonged challenge to motivate students, especially in classes with challenging subject matter or those that require the students to exhibit above average participation, vulnerability and trust.
(Below) is an article that discusses this subject and offers suggestions on how to overcome it for educators of different age groups and stages of the students’ development.
How to Help Kids Who Don’t Want to Learn
Lucy Dale “www.theclassroom.com”
While teaching can be a rewarding profession, working with children who resist learning can cause frustration and stress, as well as prevent children who do want to learn from doing so.
However, it is possible to teach children resistant to your methods. You have the power to help kids who don’t want to learn; to do so, follow a straightforward process.
Identify the behavior. Though it may appear that a child is acting out to annoy you, there usually are patterns to the student’s behavior. Analyze the character and frequency of the child’s problem behavior to decide whether the child is shy, scared, heckling you, talking to friends or other problematic actions. By understanding and describing what the child is doing, you can best address the issue. You might keep a written record of serious misbehavior.
Identify the cause. This will not always be possible; however, a child undergoing traumatic events in his personal life is more likely to act out. Because of this, many schools know about divorces and other family traumas that might affect children. However, it is important to treat these matters sensitively and privately.
Consider your responses. No matter what the child’s problematic behavior, stay calm and cool and address him as a friend. Be authoritative. However, avoid being aggressive or seeing yourself as the victim, which is an ineffective approach to the student and also will harm your relationships with other students in the class.
Change your approach to the child during class. If you normally call on the student often and he answers aggressively, don’t call on him for several turns; similarly, if the student never speaks, try putting students into small groups to urge him out of his shell. Make eye contact with the student and give positive reinforcement for contributions.
Talk to the child after class. In cases of extremely bad behavior, you may need to speak to the child and/or her parents after class. In these cases, it is important not to be aggressive. Approach the meeting as an opportunity to reformulate your attitudes toward the class to make it the most positive experience possible.
Use external aids. When children have severe problems or dangers in their home life, ranging from divorce to suspected child abuse, you should not address them alone. Instead, alert your school’s principal and social worker, who can decide whether to contact the authorities and, if so, who to contact. In some cases, extremely unmotivated children have suffered at home, making it difficult for them to engage in their schoolwork; when you get impatient with them in class, keep in mind that you might not know the whole story.
Social interaction shapes personality development, according to Danish psychoanalyst Erik Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development. From birth, a child creates an emotional repertoire tied to her perceptions of her world’s safety. Fear of new experiences battles with exploratory instincts, and the winner depends on whether a child feels safe. Teachers who know how to apply psychosocial development in the classroom create a safe environment where each child feels appreciated and comfortable exploring new knowledge and relationships rather than letting fear inhibit learning.
Preschool: Hardy Personality
Step 1
Create projects that allow children to take charge of their learning process. Incorporate children’s’ interests and ideas into classroom activities to send the message that their input matters to you.
Step 2
Give children many small choices within acceptable limits. Compliment good choices within earshot of peers and parents, keeping it simple and authentic.
Step 3
Talk with a child privately about poor choices. Ask questions to encourage cause-and-effect thinking about the problem, alternate choices, and how she can solve the problem now. Focus on guiding her to a solution, not on criticizing her as a person.
Step 4
Know the difference between misbehavior and an exploratory misfire. A child learns by experimenting, so do not punish a child for trying something that did not go as planned. A simple, “Oops! That didn’t work out like you planned, huh? How can you fix it?” teaches a child that there is life beyond a mistake.
Elementary: Achievement and Peer Relationships
Step 1
Include children in setting classroom rules and discuss what it looks and sounds like when everyone is following those rules. Make a list of classroom duties, and let students take charge of these jobs to help the classroom run smoothly.
Step 2
Model empathy to teach children to be sensitive to the needs of others. Role-play different situations with children and discuss how they want to be treated when they are in like circumstances. This encourages them to think beyond themselves.
Step 3
Demonstrate frequently that learning from mistakes and moving forward is more important than perfection. Teach children that they should never laugh at, ridicule, demean or ignore someone who is having trouble socially or academically, but rather offer help and encouragement.
Step 4
Focus on recognizing successes. Leave the mistakes of the past in a vat of oblivion, and help children build confidence in what they do best.
Step 5
Provide choices rather than one static assignment, which allow children to express their understanding at the level and in the mode where they can best shine: art and music projects, multimedia presentations, written reports, oral reports, etc.
Adolescence: Identity and Self-Esteem
Step 1
Monitor your teaching practices for unintentional bias. Teacher education professor Nancy P. Gallavan asserts that higher expectations of students who most share similarity to the teacher’s background and personality affects self-perception, self-esteem and confidence to become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Notice whether you are grouping or favoring students by gender, race or socioeconomic status, and take steps to correct any inequities.
Step 2
Expose students to many career choices through reading in history and literature, guest speakers and field trips or job shadows. Allow students to explore options, such as jobs, education and family without reference to culturally influenced gender expectations.
Step 3
Help students identify their own strengths and weaknesses. Marcus Buckingham’s Strong Life Test can help pinpoint these areas. Encourage students to develop confidence and focus goals on their strengths. Be explicit about the strengths you see in their work and personality.
Step 4
Educate students in practical family living skills to increase confidence and self-sufficiency. Training in basic cooking, finance management, hygiene, home care and simple auto repairs (such as changing a tire) will greatly improve a student’s preparation to handle the curves that life throws at him.
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It has become a cliche when an educator indicates that during a school year that they believe that they learn far more than their students.
The facilitators of Planet Improv mean that phrase from the bottom of their hearts because they understand that no two students are the same or are motivated or demotivated by the same thing.
It is our responsibility, given the unique educational environments and the challenges to students’ lives that have emerged over that past few years that we keep learning to be the best educators we can be.
Because that’s what our students deserve.