How can I switch on a reluctant child to learning?

“Quite often we come across children who seem reluctant to want to learn, you know why that is? I think it's quite straightforward. I think they're bored, I think they're not being challenged.

I think the learning's not interactive enough and above all, I don't think they're having fun.

And, if you've ever had an opportunity to sit down with a student that seems reluctant to want to learn and ask them why, I think the criteria that they say is very straightforward - they want to have fun and they want to have humour, and I know that could be different for everybody but I think the learning needs to be bold and exciting.

Intrinsic Motivation

I think we need to develop creative and lateral thinking. I think we need to build on previous learning, but we do need to challenge them and give them the opportunity to explore, reflect and discuss what is actually happening, and above all I think there are two really important criteria that we need to start developing within our students.

One is are they intrinsically motivated to want to learn? And the second one is do they have high levels of self-esteem?

And when you look at motivation, we look at the WIFFM? effect - i.e what's in it for me? If our children, our students, can't see what's in it for them they will never get there.

So, if they believe they can't get there, instantly they'll be demotivated.

Other things such as equality – is it equal for every child in that class? Are there routines set up? Are we giving them opportunities for them to voice their own opinions?

But, above all is it challenging, and have they got some control in their learning?

OK to Get It Wrong

There are two other criteria that I think are important.

One is the relationship that you have with your students. If you have the right relationship, they will want to do anything for you and the second thing is the fear, the fear of failure.

I think we need to eradicate fear. We need to allow children to have a go and to develop a culture where they know it's okay to get it wrong - we can learn from getting it wrong.

Self-Esteem

The other one is self-esteem. Do they belong to the class? Do they feel they belong to you? Do you have higher expectations and aspirations? The safety element, is it still there?

They've also got their own identity. Do we know that, and do we use it? Are we challenging them?

And above all are we celebrating successes?! No matter how small.

The Success Criteria Circle

Now, why is that so important - because of the success criteria circle.

If we've got a positive self-image, we then get positive attitudes. If we get a positive attitude, we get positive expectations which lead into improved behaviours which follow on to improved performance which goes back to the positive self-image.

The self-esteem cycle then continues to grow, and our children develop self-esteem.

You put motivation and self-esteem together and the children start learning to flourish, and of course then we can transfer that back into making our lessons creative.

Making Sense of Learning

So, are we using their senses - can we hear it, touch it, taste it, smell it and feel it? Is the learning exciting? Are there actions involved in it and is there humour? Are we allowing the children to talk? Is it real for them? Can they genuinely understand it? Can they make sense of it? And are we using a range of styles to teach them with?

But above all, are we enjoying it?

Learning Tools

You know we need to start thinking about a range of learning tools that we can, for instance strip it, a really simple tool which is brilliant for anything with instructional writing, chronological order.

Give them strips of paper and give them colours as well. Get the learners to write individual sentences on individual strips of paper. Give them the opportunities then to move them round into the order that they want and imagine then, every now and again, giving them a mini strip with a conjunction on it and say “Okay, put this between two sentences, now let's start joining them together”.

Skills Transfer

We can teach the skills in a more innovative and exciting way and, above all we can transfer their learning from being unconscious incompetence all the way up to unconscious competence, where they can use their skills, they learn from one lesson and transfer it into another lesson without even thinking. They then become motivated learners and want to learn for themselves because they see the success that they are getting."