I have been working with a colleague recently who was struggling to motivate students. They were looking to fix 'the problem'. We began unpicking 'the problem'. NB the students are not 'the problem'. The issues that my colleague experienced are the same that we all do from time to time; they don't listen. Work is of poor quality, students don't attend. These are all things that have happened to me in my FE classroom, face to face and online. My colleague said "it's different for you, your turn up"
My students have always turned up. I am that maths teacher that will go to their sports lesson sit on the sidelines waiting for them to catch my eye and then leave. No words exchanged but a knowing look and they will attend next week. I am that teacher that when I bump into you in the canteen I will challenge you for your attendance the previous week. I am that teacher that will ring home and ask if everything is OK if you don't attend as I may have a welfare concern. I care about your maths attendance.
I'm not saying my colleague doesn't care, of course they do, all teachers do. I genuinely believe that as it's not a profession you continue in lightly as it is so demanding. I asked my colleague what had they done about the poor attendance. They said they had emailed tutors, they had set extra online work for those who had missed out. I asked, if they weren't motivated to attend would they be motivated to do work online. My colleague suggested they might send praise cards home for those who do good work online. I think this is a brilliant idea but it won't fix 'the problem'.
'The problem' could be that the learners have a negative mindset. They are not engaged. Years ago, as a college, we removed the first 2 weeks of the scheme of work and looked at having a growth mindset. It led me to the work of Carol Dweck. Her TED talk on believing that you can improve is worth a watch here. The power in giving learners the believe that they can improve in maths is such a buzz. It is honestly why I do what I do.
A lot of what we do in FE maths is to build and re build confidence with maths. Dalby and Noyes (2020) have evidence to support what my colleague is going through is sadly a wide experience "Teachers also find themselves trying to enforce attendance with students exhibiting emotional problems (e.g. anxiety) due to prior experiences of failure." FE maths students believe they have failed maths already. We have to undo that and teach them the power that they can improve.
We set expectations of our students. In the face the face classroom this might be your mobile phone policy. Are they allowed or not? Online this might be cameras on or off? Your norms and your expectations determine the course your students take, if these are too high they may lose motivation. If they are too low students will vote with their feet or their mouse and not attend. Teachers have to find that sweet spot. In an observation I had with a group of games design students (who would rather be playing computer games, than learning maths, wouldn't we all?!) I was praised for my behaviour management. I was staggered, they barely did enough work for me in the session. There was lots of noise that I had to address. I said to the observer, all I did was teach and the lesson fell below my standards.
It was then that I learned I had high standards. We don't we all have teacher discretion and it is that discretion that sets our expectations. It isn't easy for me because mine turn up like my colleague said to me. I have worked hard to get mine to turn up. I spend a lesson getting to know my students. I like to know why they are here and why they didn't achieve a grade 4 before. I love to hear how significant this grade 4 will be for a health care worker who wants to be a nurse and begin that journey together. That is the joy of FE maths.
Years ago I covered a lesson for a colleague, it was a level 2 drama students maths class. We had a lovely lesson. A month later I asked my colleague I had covered for how Bushra got on in her race. My colleague looked blank, she didn't know. I had learned that Bushra races for Team GB in the indoor hurdles and had a funding race coming up. It was then that I learned part of my high standards are finding the motivation for my students and using this to guide them and together we form high expectations for their learning journey.
Sadly I was unable to fix 'the problem' for my colleague who originally asked for help with students lacking motivation. What we learned was that we have different expectations and different standards. Neither of us are right of wrong but 'the problem' can only be fixed when my colleague finds a balance between their expectations and the motivation of their students.
