Tackling the Motivation Crisis by Anderson Mike;

Author:Anderson, Mike;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Association for Supervision & Curriculum Development
Published: 2021-08-02T00:00:00+00:00

A Mindset of Teacher as Lead Learner

In the factory model of education, teachers are seen as bosses—overseers who dole out tasks and then ensure that these tasks are completed. It's the teacher's job to get kids to do stuff that they probably don't want to do. Or to look at this in a more positive light, it's the teacher's job to inspire and motivate. Remember, though—if the teacher is doing the motivating, the energy is coming from the wrong place.

We don't just want to energize students in the moment (this class, this unit, this semester, this year), we want to help them on their journey toward being lifelong learners who have the mindsets, skills, and strategies to accomplish their goals and reach for their dreams. This requires a shift in our role. It's now our job to set the conditions, create the environments, and help design learning tasks where students' learning can flourish. We need to make sure that classrooms are safe and supportive environments. We must build positive and supportive relationships with our students so we can guide and coach them well.

There's an important shift we may need to make as we consider the role of teaching content as well. When I made this shift myself, it helped change everything.

My first year of teaching, I was excited to teach science. I had taken a great college class all about hands-on science teaching, and I was eager to bring excitement and enthusiasm for science to my students. One of the units we worked on that first year was about weather and air pressure, and for some reason, I decided that Bernoulli's principle was something everyone needed to learn. (In case you're rusty on Bernoulli's principle, it's about how fast-moving fluids create areas of low pressure. It's why the tarp on a truck billows out when a truck is driving on the highway, and it's why the shower curtain moves in toward the running water when you turn the shower on.) We did all kinds of cool demonstrations. We held two pieces of paper up and blew between them to watch them move together. We made paper airplanes. We stuck straws in cups and blew across the top of the straw with another, spraying each other with water. When I asked, "What's Bernoulli's principle?" 4th graders would chant, "High-speed winds create an area of low pressure!" I made this the password required for leaving and entering the room. I told all of them: "When you come back and visit me next year, I'm going to ask you about Bernoulli's principle, and you'd better remember!"

The next August, I was setting up my classroom, and sure enough, some of these students who I had the year before popped by for visits. "Hey! How are you all doing?" I asked eagerly. "What's Bernoulli's principle?" Guess how many students remembered? One—Justin, a student who later would go on to win an episode of Jeopardy! (I think he already knew Bernoulli's principle before I taught the science unit.

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