Teachers as Motivators

One of the most fulfilling and humbling compliments a student can give you is that you have inspired him/ her. This piece looks at teachers as motivators and is dedicated to Rien from Haarlem, who was once such a student of the author, and who, in turn, inspired his teacher to write this.

Follow the leader

Naturally you should lead by example, which is subjective. To one person this could mean exhibiting determination, drive and perseverance, while showing passion, paying attention to detail, being enthusiastic and making the material interesting. While to another, it may just be remaining patient, empathetic, being a good listener, a great communicator and a facilitator, who allows the learner to remain as autonomous as possible. To go one step further, it may surprise you to know that you can be perceived as a role-model to your pupils, even if you are oblivious to the fact. Perhaps you have already shown countless learners the light and broken down barriers, increased their confidence and helped them to break out of their shells. Making examples relevant and real to learners is crucial when demonstrating language. An EFL teacher may wish to explain the difference between the present simple vs present continuous, for example, and ask what the student does every morning after waking up as a regular action, i.e. I have a shower versus what he/ she is doing right now, i.e. I am thinking, this will be a lot more memorable and appropriate than giving random, hypothetical examples, which would also alienate the student from this part of the task.

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery

Incredible as it may seem, half the battle is won if there is good rapport between the learner and his/ her educator. It goes without saying that with motivated learners it is plain sailing. Though, you never know how keen they are to learn until you have your first lesson with them. So, the trick is to expect the unexpected. As a rule of thumb, be honest and humble, admit mistakes, be transparent, helpful, kind and available to talk; these are all positive steps in the right direction. After all, this process is largely about trust. Consider the fact that shyness, lack of courage and angst can be caused by lack of praise, fear of making mistakes or of failure, or even bad experiences in the past. As teacher, you are given the opportunity to help shatter these barriers and share, inform and educate without being condescending or over-bearing. When your students like you, they will jump through hoops for you. If they want to impress you, then you must use this to their benefit, so they can achieve as much as possible. Call it karma, but a class may get used to you and your sense of humour, for example, which may rub off on them, and can cause a parrot effect. Interestingly enough, during one lesson, the teacher made fun of the fact that two people’s names kept being confused with one another, then due to the same thing happening again, an identical remark was parroted by one of the students in jest.

Praise a lot and beware of the red pen

During feedback it is imperative to give praise and be supportive. Of course, it must be deserved, though if a student has put in the effort, or tried a more difficult piece of language, for example, then it should not go unnoticed. If you ask the class to give each other constructive criticism (peer feedback) you can facilitate this by asking them to give three positive points and one suggestion for improvement. This can work with presentations, for example. With writing assignments, you can put mistakes on the board without mentioning which student actually made the errors, acknowledging improvements made in their writing and involving the class by getting them to do the correcting as much as humanly possible. You can give away clues by underlining errors, mentioning which kind of mistake needs to be remedied, playing hangman, asking for associated words or giving away other information, such as an example in a different context, to name but a few.

Be careful when using a red pen, as it can be destructive for the learner, rather than feeling like a terrific tool for the teacher. The idea is to help the writer to feel free and uninhibited while giving him/ her useful feedback so improvements can be made. With a sheet of A4 full of remarks written in red pen, it may seem like the writing is poor or worse than it is, and many people tend to pay attention to criticism above and beyond even positive comments. On the other hand, some cultures are used to lots of comments in red pen all over the page, and pupils may be desensitised to it. Perhaps, it would be best not to use one in the first place; the jury is out on this one.

Are you ready for your pep talk?

Charisma is certainly helpful, and you either have it or you do not. Not everybody can speak like a great orator or use humour to great effect. Showing one’s character is perhaps easier for extroverted types, and is certainly an asset in the classroom. Energy and confidence are both preferred attributes that can work wonders, though what about laid back folk? If you get to know your class, they will appreciate the effort and hopefully respect you. The same applies to your knowledge of the subject and things people take for granted, like showing up on time or being well presented. To go the extra mile, pep talks that give the class a reality check can inspire even the most lackadaisical, while outlining realistic goals with clear instructions can only be advantageous. For example, by pinpointing useful websites or techniques for improving certain skills, the students can be empowered to take the bull by the horns and put into practice what you have been preaching.

Let me entertain you

As entertainer, you are constantly playing a part, whether it is putting on accents, singing a song, telling a funny story or sharing something from your own life; you are, like it or not, the centre of attention, providing you can control your T-T-T (teacher-talking time; a CELTA term). Eliciting is vital, as this allows the student to use his/ her brain when it would be too easy to just give the answer away and should be utilised whenever possible. Hence, he/ she becomes empowered and involved in tasks in a more intense and active way. Games, mimes, gestures, improvisation and role-plays are just a few ways to keep things interesting, and sometimes, a chat about what you did in the past week can be useful as an ice-breaker. Although it is not necessary to perform a Robbie Williams song to get the attention of the class, you should try and be unpredictable at least now and then. One such way is when giving out a suggested course outline at the beginning of the course, you can omit the speaking activities, and then, each week there is still something unexpected to look forward to. You can also choose to be a human dictionary or thesaurus without warning, and, especially with native speakers, as a corpus (for using natural language in context) or a source of idiomatic expressions.

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How do you motivate your students?

What is the greatest compliment you have had from a pupil?