I agree that testing agencies make money and that tests drive behaviour but I think the fault lies with education ministries across the world and, in democratic countries, education ministers are elected by us so we muct bear part of the blame!

With my colleague Guy Claxton we have tried to describe a view of education and schooling which is more expansive, more likely to engage with learners and to motivate them:

Book Educating Ruby: what our children really need to learn

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Educating-Ruby-Children-Really-Learn/dp/1845909542

and here

Technical Report Redesigning Schooling -2 What kind of teaching for what kind...

Hope this helps

Bill

I recommend

Jeanne Lizama My experience is that students are willing to lay down hard work, but they expect that what they are learning is relevant for the life they live and see for the future. I can’t force motivation on my students. If what I am teaching or what I am facilitating the students to explore, is not understandable, if it is not tied to their needs or interests, how kan I expect motivation. This is not a new phenomenon. Even Plato was worried about this 2500 years ago (Laws book II). He proposed that if school was not recognizable, was about what could be used in the everyday real world and did not show actual longterm benefit for the people involved, we could expect that the youth would unleach their rage on their own community. My teching is therefor a never ending dialogue with my students to find out what they are concerned about and interested in. I also try to awaken their qurioucity by opening doors to possiblities they have not yet though of. Eva Daae Kversøy

Motivating students to learn

One of the most difficult aspects of becoming a teacher is learning how to motivate your students. It is also one of the most important. Students who are not motivated will not learn effectively. They won’t retain information, they won’t participate and some of them may even become disruptive. A student may be unmotivated for a variety of reasons: They may feel that they have no interest in the subject, find the teacher’s methods un-engaging or be distracted by external forces. It may even come to light that a student who appeared unmotivated actually has difficulty learning and is need of special attention.

Here are five effective ways to get your students excited about learning:

1. Encourage Students:

Students look to teachers for approval and positive reinforcement, and are more likely to be enthusiastic about learning if they feel their work is recognized and valued. You should encourage open communication and free thinking with your students to make them feel important. Be enthusiastic. Praise your students often. Recognize them for their contributions. If your classroom is a friendly place where students feel heard and respected, they will be more eager to learn. A “good job” or “nice work” can go a long way.

2. Get Them Involved:

One way to encourage students and teach them responsibility is to get them involved in the classroom. Make participating fun by giving each student a job to do. Give students the responsibility of tidying up or decorating the classroom. Assign a student to erase the blackboard or pass out materials. If you are going over a reading in class, ask students to take turns reading sections out loud. Make students work in groups and assign each a task or role. Giving students a sense of ownership allows them to feel accomplished and encourages active participation in class.

3. Offer Incentives:

Setting expectations and making reasonable demands encourages students to participate, but sometimes students need an extra push in the right direction. Offering students small incentives makes learning fun and motivates students to push themselves. Incentives can range from small to large giving a special privilege to an exemplary student, to a class pizza party if the average test score rises. Rewards give students a sense of accomplishment and encourage them to work with a goal in mind.

4. Get Creative:

Avoid monotony by changing around the structure of your class. Teach through games and discussions instead of lectures, encourage students to debate and enrich the subject matter with visual aids, like colorful charts, diagrams and videos. You can even show a movie that effectively illustrates a topic or theme. Your physical classroom should never be boring: use posters, models, student projects and seasonal themes to decorate your classroom, and create a warm, stimulating environment.

5. Draw Connections to Real Life:

“When will I ever need this?” This question, too often heard in the classroom, indicates that a student is not engaged. If a student does not believe that what they’re learning is important, they won’t want to learn, so it’s important to demonstrate how the subject relates to them. If you’re teaching algebra, take some time to research how it is utilized practically for example, in engineering and share your findings with your students. Really amaze them by telling them that they may use it in their career. Showing them that a subject is used everyday by “real” people gives it new importance. They may never be excited about algebra but if they see how it applies to them, they may be motivated to learn attentively.

I agree with the motivation has to be relevant. As a school system at the high school level I see a lot of pandering to student feelings instead of taking time to build solid relationships. Solid relations between teacher-student is a big motivational factor. However, if you compare the privileged world to the other countries, the level of expectation is lower in the free world. As I browsed through textbooks looking for reading levels, the reading level of text in the free world has lowered substantially. We are educating without making sure the elementary basics are in play. I see more students qualifying for Special Needs because although skills are introduced, it is an expectation that the students learn the skills. When I look at a mainstream high school student that cannot read a three-syllable word and does not qualify for services for whatever reason, I begin to worry. I live in an area where it is not the student's responsibility to learn, it is the teachers. At the high school level, there is little parental support. I praise the parents that remember students still need help through high school. They are few and far between. I want all my parents to be involved to the degree it annoys me. I know that that thought process is not the norm. But, I know that the parent is involved with his or her child. I know that student has a greater motivation for success whether the work is relevant or not to him or her. I am tired of seeing kids at 21 out of work or not in upper educational programs. I am tired of seeing some of the homeless uneducated enough to maintain a job, (any job) due to lack of education.

Learning process is simply based on encouragement...