[MUSIC] A question of motivation. Think about motivation in your context. What are the conditions under which you feel really motivated? Think about teaching in a class. What are the conditions that you create in your class that best motivates your learners? The Locus of Control. Firstly, let's look at the internal, or the intrinsic. What is within, or the feeling that our own decisions and actions determine our destiny. What are the internal drivers, that drive our thoughts and our actions. Or external? Or what is the extrinsic? The belief that outside factors, factors that are outside of us that drive our lives and that we have little control of what happens. Let's look at intrinsic motivation a little bit more. When things within us drive our actions and behaviors, our thoughts and our feelings, when we do this, students do not put too much weight on mistakes or bad grades. They're able to maintain a level of self esteem. Regardless of failures or successes, because it's coming from within. They keep a perspective on the perceived failure. But more importantly, they take responsibility for their own actions. Think about it. When things that are within you drive you to do something, it's a more personal attempt, or a more personal context to the achievement. You would look at what goes right and what goes wrong, but also take responsibility because that's generated from within yourself. Let's think about extrinsic motivation, when variables outside of us drive how we behave, act, think, or feel. When students are extrinsically motivated they tend to see the teacher, the task, or external factors as responsible. In many cases when those learners fail, they're more likely to blame something. "Oh, you've done this, that is why I've failed", or "The curriculum was too hard, that is why I failed", because this person's merely looking at all of the external factors that will drive behavior, thinking and learning. They see failure as all-encompassing rather than as a one-off. They see failure as a reflection on their ability and self-esteem. They are more likely to give up, if they don't succeed. And if you think about the intrinsically motivated, you're less likely to give up, because the desire is from within - the desire to achieve, to succeed. Don't you just like this saying? "If at first you fail, try again, fail better." Csikzentmihalyi has this to say about motivation. Look specifically at what he has to say. Examine what may constrain and inhibit the innate learning drive and what may nurture and encourage it. Also, what are the structures, the conventions, the rules or the norms which get in the way of creating a learning environment? And we spoke a lot about this in previous sessions. So, how do we remove the obstacles in our learning context? What are the ways in which we nurture and encourage? What are the variables that inhibit and constrain? A question a belief. I particularly like this quotation, because it positions learners as co-protagonists. Notice that they are not mere actors, but they are co-protagonists with much more agency and much more choice, more active as contributors than merely passive recipients in their knowledge building processes. Isn't that an interesting way to look at learners? Rather than as passive recipients of just knowledge, just receiving and receiving, but co-protagonist, protagonist meaning a leading actor. So, what are the ways in which you position your learners as co-protagonists? How do these same issues and principles apply to you as a teacher? Let's look a bit more carefully at what are the external factors that inhibit or constrain you as a teacher? Governments, change of governments, change in policies that come down from governments that you have to implement. Parents. What are the ways that parents constrain learning, but also you in your teaching? How are parents, also co-actors, in supporting learners with their homework, in supporting them in reading to them? How is it that parents support or sustain the work that you are doing in your classroom to ensure that homework is done, that learners learn? How about the children in your class? Do they all complain and bring you down? "Oh, not another set of homework, more learning to do, this is so difficult." What are the social circumstances? Learners' ability and their attitude. We get some of those attitudes: "But we just don't want to learn, or we're just tired of learning. Or do we just have to do this again?" What are the internal factors that hinder you or constrain you? Self confidence. Your belief in yourself. Your ability to do things. High expectations of learners, understanding individual differences in the class, or learner resilience. Maybe the previous slide of fail, try again. A flexible teaching repertoire - the ability to change, try new things out, try different methods. Of course, let's come back to John Dewey: "The only true education comes through the stimulation of the child's powers by the demands of the social situations in which he or she finds themselves. [MUSIC]
