The educational system is inherently biased towards those student for whom grades and achievement are meaningful. When we consider those students who function at a "B" or even a "C" level, there is a sub-group who are intellectually capable of functioning at a higher level. The reasons these students may under-function are varied. In some cases they may even benefit from additional services. That being said, I am wondering about what people do within the classroom to encourage students who may not yet be motivated by grades.
Well, first and foremost, we need to make certain that what the students are learning is meaningful to them and also in accordance with their needs. Furthermore, we as teachers should listen to our students and be passionate and enthusiastic enough to get our demotivated, disinterested, or disengaged students involved in the learning and teaching process.
I am a big fan of learning styles, Bloom's Taxonomy, and multiple intelligences. The learning theory I created regarding using numerology as a way of categorizing (for lack of a better word) students into their natural inclinations, talents, and ways of learning fits nicely in the classroom, as well as in general life. Obviously, much more research must be done and there are ways to subject my theory to the scientific method. People are unique individuals, yet we try to pigeonhole them into collective groups, which certainly has not been working as effectively as it could. We need a different way of assessing students from the beginning—before they even enter the formal classroom, which is not the main problem. If we start right out identifying their natural learning style, types of intelligences they gravitate to, and personal interests (which usually would follow their inherent abilities), we would have children who excelled at subjects for which they could make a living and be less stressed in the process.
By the way, the new demographic for suicides is 5-8 year olds! Now doesn't that say something?!
Kelvin, my first impression on this matter is the seeming implication that those students who are not motivated by grades are the odd ones. I would wager that those are the students who have it right. The aim, I think you will agree on account of your own vocation and associated lifestyle, is to strive for meaningful learning rather than to strive for a grade of this or that letter. Right? Having said that, when I find students to be sort of drifting away, I seek to ask them for help in unpacking examples in class. I ask them for their input, learn their names, and congratulate them on apparent insight into the problems we are handling in class. This usually has good results in my experience. There is an immediate feeling of buy-in, plus we are engaged in making the material real and relevant. And that speaks to everyone. Hope this helps.
Eugene
Eugene, thank you for your answer. In reality, I do not believe that the so-called unmotivated are always a minority group. I do think that all too often we who are in the position of teaching only use methods that engage us. Or, perhaps worse, we are so focused on content that education is a process of data moving from the teacher's computer to the student's computer without engaging either. With this in mind, I appreciate Sheila McNamee's article "RELATIONAL PRACTICES IN EDUCATION: TEACHING AS CONVERSATION" which she has posted on ResearchGate. Her article and your comments lead me to paraphrase a previous clinical supervisor and suggest "there are no poor students, only teachers who do not yet know how to connect with the student."
I agree with your assessment wholeheartedly and regularly lament the tight-wire that I am forced to walk between content and conversation. The more assessment gets jammed down my throat, the more this becomes problematic. Such is the process of change I suppose.
One of the ways to divide students into groups is to accomplish the task of dividing the work on everyone within the common goals as well as motivating the students by making the evaluation of the work progressively each step depends on what precedes it until the completion of the work fully
I highly recommend:
https://visible-learning.org/
It’s focused more on primary/secondary but I think part of the trouble is that the tertiary sector really gets left behind when it comes to pedagogy. There is a common belief that university students will have (or, at least, should have) transcended the need for any motivational support. “It’s the dog-eat-dog world now, kids!” All that drivel! Primary and secondary teaching is miles ahead. It’s not a competition, obviously!
The Study Skills Handbook (4th Edition) by Stella Cottrell is an excellent book and one of the few focused on higher education which makes things clear without being too patronising. It’s written for students but I’d still apply some of its exercises in class to “grease the wheels” for academic output! Activities are short, concise, easy to follow and highly productive.
There exists numerous ways to motivate students. One of them relates to the Theory of Reinforcement by Skinner. As he outlines it, certain behaviors can be strengthened by rewards and such behaviors include working towards good grades. By giving them rewards such as praise, recognition, gratification especially for secondary students and tokens like stars, stickers or stamps for primary pupils when they make efforts to learn can get them motivated.
However, that said, I am not a teacher whose aim is to work for grades. There needs to be a proper understanding of concepts found in the curriculum. To achieve this, a cross- curricular approach should be encouraged with pupils at the heart of the learning process, which means, a learner-centered approach should be used. I prefer the Constructivist approach which focuses on Inquiry-based Learning and instilling curiosity in students. This makes them more engaged in the class and hence become active learners.
Constructivism is great also because it favors the child himself/herself to constructing his/her own learning. We teachers are merely facilitators of learning. So, they retain much more information and in this way, can help you make them get good grades.
This approach works better in the long term. Trust me.
You have to know about the psychology of the students as students always have different interest and differ from each other. So if deal equally will disturb them. By knowing about their interest its will become easy to engage them accordingly.
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