Speakout: Motivating unmotivated students

“I don’t have to if I don’t want to!”
“This class is boring!”
“When am I going to use that?”
“How come you gave me an F?”
“”I’ll come, but you can’t make me do anything.”

MORE teachers than ever are frustrated with legions of students who expect success but are unwilling to work for it. “Fast and easy” has replaced “work and learn” as a motto that guides too many of our youth. Students are missing the idea that it is their responsibility to learn information, practice material, and attend school. They often feel as though they should be adequately entertained. Feeling good has become more valued than working hard. Students of today are much like the character in the comic strip “The Wizard of I.D.” The character applies for a job and is asked, “Do you have any education?” He answers, “No, but I have high self-esteem.” Expectations of entitlement with minimal effort are not uncommon in today’s classrooms.

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There is a direct relationship between motivation and discipline. The hard to motivate are often hard to discipline. Finding tools and strategies to increase motivation can solve many behavioral problems. Although these problems defy simplistic solutions, there are many things that educators can do to reawaken motivation in students who have lost interest and perhaps hope.

Those who are hard to motivate and control often make us wonder why we should bother with them at all when there are so many others who care and want to learn. They make us question the worth of reaching out to them when they often sap our own energy and motivation. In addition, they often push our buttons, make us feel defeated, interfere with other students, challenge our authority, and evoke strong emotions that interfere with reason. Unless we are careful, they can burn us out.

"Being successful at motivating difficult youth requires that our behavior be motivated by the following basic beliefs:

a) All students are capable of learning when they have the academic and personal tools to be successful.

b) Students are inherently motivated to learn but learn to be unmotivated when they repeatedly fail.

c) Learning requires risk taking, so classrooms need to be safe places physically and psychologically.

d) All students have basic needs to belong, to be competent, and to influence what happens to them. Motivation to learn most often occurs when these basic needs are met.

e) High self-esteem should not be a goal, but rather a result that comes with the mastery of challenging tasks.

f) High motivation for learning in school most often occurs when adults treat students with respect and dignity." (Allen N. Mendler)

Emphasizing effort is important. We have a much better chance of getting effort from the unmotivated when we let the student know that she is more important than what she does. Although ill behavior has consequences, student motivation increases when student know that we care more about them than about what they do...The challenge is identifying and communicating the positive aspects of what the student's behavior represents while encouraging more of the same.

Creating hope in students helps a lot. We sometimes fail to realize the power of hope that can be conveyed when someone who is successful makes mistakes, acknowledges those mistakes, and shows what they have learned. If students point out an error that you made in your instruction, thank them for noticing. If you have been abrupt with a student, apologize. Find opportunities to share your less-than-perfect side with your students. They will appreciate you more, as you are a living proof that success comes from learning from the mistakes you make.

Respecting power contributes as well. Students feel respected and are likely to behave in a motivated way when they are asked for their opinion and when there is tangible evidence that their opinion influence classroom events.
Building relationships is another key to motivate students. The reality is that students are trying to figure out how they fit into the world. When a trusted adult takes time to share how he or she handled similar kinds of situations, most students really appreciate it.

Express enthusiasm. Research tells us that our expectations of success for others often influence the degree to which they actually achieve. Simply said, when we expect success, we are more likely to get it...we can exert strong influence on the behavior of others through the degree of optimism and enthusiasm that we convey.

All educators must be concerned about those students who become so discouraged that ultimately give up...We certainly compete with so many variables and voices that discourage students and often make them want to give up -- unsupportive parents, violence, drugs and alcohol, a cultural attitude of fast and easy, and intense peer pressure. Our students need us to have high expectations, apply consequences that teach them when they make mistakes, and affirm who they are.

They need us to not give up on them, especially when they are giving up on themselves. We must daily remind ourselves of the enormous influence we can have in changing our students' lives by awakening them to the possibilities on what a deeper understanding and awareness of the world around them provides.

As an educator, always remember, when you touch a child, you shape a destiny.

Teresita I. Capitulo
Master Teacher I
Capas West Central School
O’Donnell, Capas, Tarlac