Teacher’s Guide to Motivating Students at School
There are various elements that influence student motivation at school. The learning environment, student-teacher relationship, materials, learning styles and many other factors affect how a student feels about learning.
This has become more evident during the pandemic where students experience major disruption to their learning. The shifts in learning schedule has led to massive learning gaps and dip in motivation. However, all is not lost. Students are resilient, and teachers can use these simple strategies to reconnect and encourage learning to take place.
1. Establish Relationship
“Kids don’t learn from people they don’t like,” said the late Rita Pierson in her famed TED Talk. Countless research points to the importance and effectiveness of positive relationships both in the classroom and in the workplace.
It is helpful for teachers to build strong relationships with their students. This doesn’t only improve engagement in the classroom, but potentially improves learning outcomes too. Students are more likely to pay attention and respond to teachers they feel comfortable with.
Teachers can build good relationships with students through simple ice-breakers before lessons. Doing something fun together puts students at ease and helps them feel less apprehensive about learning. Studies have also found play-based learning to be effective.
It is also important to be inclusive during classroom activities. This can include asking students to make little decisions about how they would like to be assessed, or which topic they would like to cover first.
Noticing students’ preferences can also help teachers engage students better. Little meaningful gestures like remembering a student’s favourite colour or birthday can go a long way. When emotional and safety needs are met, students are able to focus better in the classroom.
2. Set Goals
Goal-setting may seem a little daunting if a teacher alone sets them. When teachers include students in the goal-setting process, students feel more empowered and accountable in achieving them.
Teachers can help students set individual goals and come up with a way to track them. Remember that goals need to be SMART: specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-bound.
When a clear vision is set, students are more likely to take responsibility for their own learning journey and feel more motivated to achieve their goals. Goals that are too vague or intimidating can have an adverse effect on student motivation.
Start with small achievable goals, then move on to more difficult ones. Having some quick wins in the beginning can motivate students to achieve more.
3. Celebrate Milestones
When a goal is too big or takes too long to achieve, students may experience burn out or give up midway. Therefore, it is important to determine milestones and checkpoints so that students can see their progress as they achieve small targets. This encourages them to keep moving forward.
Celebrating milestones help affirm and cheer students on. It creates a positive environment and nurtures growth. It also helps students feel seen and understand that their efforts are recognised.
Teachers can do this through weekly check-ins. Depending on teacher availability and class’ receptivity, teachers can choose to announce achieved milestones or conduct progress discussions one-on-one.
4. Give Meaningful Feedback
Giving feedback to students helps them identify what they are doing right and what they can improve on. Merely offering general praises like “Good job!” boosts student confidence for a moment but does little to help them in the long run.
Be specific on what they did well, then move on to areas where they can make changes to do better. Make sure that these suggestions fall within a student’s capabilities.
Timely feedback is important too as students can remember better and make immediate changes. This helps them move in the right direction and makes progress more evident.
Teachers can also help students discover themselves through free online tools, or attending motivational talks or workshops to upskill themselves. Self-awareness helps students identify skill gaps and work smarter towards achieving their goals.
When teachers build a solid relationship and optimal environment for learning, students will be able to thrive and progress. This can motivate them to take learning into their own hands and become more accountable for their own education.
