LC

[Naomi Fisher @naomicfisher]

‘They Just Don’t Care’

I’m seeing lots of posts bemoaning that the Year 11s just don’t seem to care about their upcoming GCSEs. They aren’t motivated or worried about their speaking exams starting in two weeks time and nothing seems to make a difference.

This is exactly what would be predicted by the science of motivation. Motivation can come from the inside or the outside (or a mixture of the two). Standard schooling works on a principle of controlling children’s motivation. From the moment that children start school, adults are working to motivate them through rewards, sanctions, grades and approvals. They tell children that what they want to do is less important than what adults want them to do. They make them learn things which have no purpose to them, because they will be ‘important later on’.

This changes the purpose of learning. Young children learn because they want to find out and they are driven to explore the world. They ask questions because they are curious and want to participate. It’s hard to stop young children learning, and their learning is very individualised and frequently messy.

Adults try to make this linear, to make them follow a formal process. This isn’t how children naturally learn, and so they have to be controlled in order to do what is required. When we take away their choices and instead give them stickers and certificates to make them do what we want, then we turn learning into an exercise in compliance.

Now they aren’t learning because they want to find out, they are learning because they are being told that they have to. They don’t read because they love stories, they read because they have to do 15 minutes every night to tick it off. They are helpful because they might get an Achievement Point, or a 'Caught Being Kind' sticker.

The research shows that over time, this will damage their internal drive to learn and this is exactly what we see. They don’t ask why any more, they ask what will be on the test. They don’t choose a topic because they are interested, they choose whatever they think will be easiest. And over time, the stickers and stars lose their sparkle. It’s easy to control a five-year-old with a sticker, but 15-year-olds will laugh in your face.

When we focus on the cognitive science of learning, it’s easy to miss that the science of motivation is as important. Experimental studies on how adults learn often don’t even address this issue, because adults have some level of choice in what they do and that is assumed.

For children and teenagers, it’s different. They often have no choice at all. What they want to learn doesn’t matter. Understanding the science of learning is futile if the learner doesn’t want to know. Cognitive science doesn’t apply to forced learning. What the learner thinks, matters.

It’s easy to blame teenagers, or their parents, or even the pandemic. It’s deeply frustrating when you are trying to help people who just don’t care. But what if this is actually the predictable result of our education system?

We ignore the science of motivation and our young people pay the price.

[Ian Cushing @ian_cushing]

some comparative reading for all those pre-service/early career teachers given a mandatory copy of Teach Like a Champion to adhere to 🙃

[LC @LAC5086]

@RuT_College have you sent emails to your enrolled students about starting on Monday? My young person has not received anything and is now worried 😟

[Dave McPartlin @dave_mcpartlin]

THE CALL

Imagine having a really important interview that you’ve prepared years for and you badly want to ace. You’ve worked as hard as you could and have committed your life to it.

Imagine every night going to bed, wondering if it’ll be the next day. But it doesn’t come that next day, the next month or even the next year. The pressure builds and you start to jump when the phone goes between 10am-12pm every day, ready to drop everything for the interview to start.

Imagine knowing that when it finally does come that there’s a good chunk of luck involved and it’ll depend on who interviews you on that day and what they happen to focus on and see.

Imagine praying for one of the good interviewers but you end up with one of the bad ones, who doesn’t listen and has their own agenda but there’s nothing you can do about it.

Imagine it leaves you in pieces and everyone know it’s not fair, but, so be it, and all that will now come your way.

Imagine knowing that that you can’t tell anyone the outcome of the interview, and you have to carry that around, on your own, for what feels like forever.

Imagine what that does to a person.

Imagine a better way.

[LC @LAC5086]

@Thinkingschool2 I left because of the system for sure. Other adults where I worked were supportive. The system was not.

[LC @LAC5086]

@PhilipPullman Ah well, nevermind. Thanks for replying 👍🏻

[LC @LAC5086]

@PhilipPullman I came across a book by another author in which you have written a foreword, however I didn’t note the title, any chance you could tell me the title of the book? I’ve searched the web to no avail!

[LC @LAC5086]

@PhilipPullman Well I picked up a book which was left on a seat at Heathrow, white cover, black title, and I got as far through the foreword where I think you wrote that it was the last book by this author. Stupidly I did not even take a photo of the cover… I hope that’s enough clues!

[LC @LAC5086]

@babytalkandplay @MichaelRosenYes @LauraHAllain We LOVE them thank you 💜

[Sustrans in London @SustransLondon]

We had a brilliant surprise when we met Harvey, the gorgeous school dog at @FairholmePS What a treat. He gets everyone out walking and running around! It was great to talk to Mrs Kaura about how Harvey is part of the school family. 🐕 @SarahJ_Berry @catherine_max

[Autistic Girls Network @AutisticGirls_]

For schools:

If you have a pupil with ARFID (Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder), please listen to their parent who will have had to research this condition thoroughly.
They have to because most people - including some health professionals - haven't heard of it.

[LC @LAC5086]

https://t.co/8QrWENTDY6

[David Cahn @DavidN_Cahn]

Short blog on why I decided to help a young boy pile duplos on a sofa.

"Play is play, even if they are autistic"

https://t.co/hw2uRYlqTD

[LC @LAC5086]

@Kathryn7899 Happy Birthday- hope you’ve had a lovely day

[LC @LAC5086]

@TGS_Girls when Y10 attend school for their LFD test on Monday 6th Sept - are they required to wear school uniform?

[Isleworth & Syon School @IsleworthSyon]

It is with deep sadness that we announce the death of our much-loved and highly respected serving colleague, Ray O’Neill, who died peacefully on Saturday 10 April 2021. Read our tribute and leave a message of condolence here:

https://t.co/uKGYPs1EtR

[LC @LAC5086]

@MrsHoopDiddy @stammer_teacher That is a winner! 🤣

[LC @LAC5086]

@HounslowHways Is this a brag post? I see stinging nettles overhanging the pathway. Not anything close to a job well done IMO.

[LC @LAC5086]

Department of Education: Fair Grades for all - Sign the Petition! https://t.co/n5n3lQ0am2 via @UKChange

[LC @LAC5086]

Petition: Cancel HS2 and use the money for the NHS and local economies, post Covid-19. https://t.co/u7vMBkMYAZ