(And this is happening ALL across the country !!)
I can see WHY I have a career and why ‘The Big Picture’ manages to make the huge impact that we do with students across the UK.
Nearly 4000 student Facebook fans can’t be wrong !!!
There are two BIG factors that concern me right now about our education system that are causing students to be more demotivated.
These two factors are helping students get more demotivated.
I’ll explain:
1. EMA – Education Maintenance Allowance
The reason we go to school is because of these long term motivators … our desire to…
No-one ever went to school for the sake of it and it is not always going to be enjoyable – it just isn’t. BUT, it is a damn sight more enjoyable NOW than in the days when I went to school, just trust me. However, contradicting this is the fact that students are less engaged than they used to be !! This is not a FACT but it is true (as I have no data to prove it).
BUT we then introduce a short term motivating factor called ‘money’ which is the government’s way of saying ‘please go to school’ and ‘please work hard’ and I’ll pay you for doing so.
This message is so confusing…
For some students the message it’s delivering is “You’re better off being poor because you’ll get EMA benefits over other students, so you might as well do nothing, be poor and just get the benefits instead !!” – imagine what kind of culture that builds?
2. FEAR – Not allowing students to make mistakes
I’m going to presume like most people that YOU learnt most in your life when ‘things went wrong!’
Q. Is that true for you? It’s definitely true for me,
The time you changed most was when you ‘had to’ not when you ‘wanted to’. The two reasons people change are normally…
… and the most powerful of these is desperation because it’s a threat that you ‘have to… do whatever you have to do …. or else’.
So, basically what I’m saying is that we’ve learnt most through making mistakes. That’s how everybody learns quickly.
Picture the scene then…
This is the teacher fixing the student’s problem. They’re not allowed to fail, at least that is the message that they get. Students, if they are to grow, have to find their own answers not answers we give them.
Let’s face it, you wouldn’t give a starving Africa food handouts indefinitely: you have to, at some point, give them the tools and the knowledge for them to grow their own food, not feed them !!
It’s the same for education.
BUT, in school… If they haven’t got the answers, we give them the answers.
BUT, In life… People don’t want the answers, they want the tools to find them for themselves.
So, you can see, something has gone wrong.
My job is to give students THOSE tools that they need for life not just the ANSWERS to life. My job is to let them make their mistakes and fail… not deliver them a ‘life’ with all of their answers, because… I don’t have them.
Q. Why would you need a degree when you don’t need one ?
A. You don’t !!!
An article in ‘The Guardian’ talks about how ‘high achieving students are spurning the debt and further education of university in favour of employment’
Let’s face it – we don’t need to do stuff we don’t need to do. We do stuff we do need to do. At least… that is the theory
So… why is it then that some of us feel like we’re going to university because we ‘ought to’ rather than we ‘want to’?
Nearly three-quarters of 1,180 A-level pupils surveyed by the site said they felt going to university was viewed as a necessity rather than a choice. Over half said that parents contributed to this feeling, while a fifth said pressure from school was to blame. It’s interesting because it means that many of us go to university because we ‘have to’ rather than because we ‘want to’.
There MUST be some confusion in our minds as to whether the value of university is all that it’s cracked up to be because of course, if all we do is end up….
Then you can see, that it would prevent people from making the big leap into university.
So, you can see why some other students are choosing an alternative …
On paper, it looks like a ‘no-brainer’ and in a further survey of university students carried out by the same site, it appears that two-thirds don’t believe they will find work relating to their degree, and one in four feel that on-the-job training or an apprenticeship would have served them better in building a career in their chosen field.
Hardly surprising then that some of these young people are choosing to do what they’re doing. It begs the question in my mind as to whether the same is true for those that are encouraged to take ‘A’Levels etc…?
Because, just because it’s been something we’ve done in the past – does it have to be the right way for the future?
CONTEXT…
This is the $64Million Question…
Teachers are constantly haranguing me for answers and it’s certainly given me cause for thought over the past few years.
I do NOT have THE answer but I do have some observations of what is different today, versus the ‘past’.
I know you can’t generalise, but I do believe that there have been some movements and trends throughout the years:
First…there are ONLY 2 motivating factors that us humans are driven by…
ALSO, you need to know that ‘Avoiding Pain’ is a bigger motivator than seeking pleasure.
SO, what’s changed then?
My observation is that ‘many’ of the ‘AVOIDING PAIN’ motivators (which are so powerful) have either diminished or GONE altogether…
Factor 1 : Religion – going to ‘HELL’, used to be a big thing. Today it is not. Religious shame was a very powerful motivating force in the past to ‘make you do things’ – but, not now.
Factor 2 : ‘Victorian’ dad – this role has softened over the years as the children have taken on an ever bigger role in society and the ‘father figure’ diminished. There was once a time when the father of the house was someone to ‘fear’ if you stepped out of line, but this has changed.
Factor 3 : Corporal Punishment – ‘getting the cane’ was a big thing when I was at school; Mr Goodman (the scary deputy headteacher) was someone to be avoided at all costs. NOW you can’t ‘touch’ a child for fear of being sued and sacked from your post.
Factor 4 : Poverty – this is becoming a thing of the past. Most people have heating, lighting, water, clothes, food and all of the mod cons (phones, tv’s etc…). When I was a kid, this was not the case; we even had paraffin heaters and home-made beds/clothes. Life in general is loads easier. Heating, washing your clothes, cooking and cleaning your house is now cheaper and a whole lot faster.
Factor 5 : Personal Responsibility – in my view, I believe that kids do less ‘jobs’ than they used to. They have more leisure time and less chores. There is no responsibility placed upon young children in preparation for their future years. My own feeling is that ‘jobs’ are good; they help kids appreciate the ‘value’ of things.
Factor 6 : The Internet – the dawn of the internet has now meant that kids can do less ‘thinking’ to complete tasks etc… this breeds laziness.
Factor 7 : Pressure from OFSTED and SATS - this pressure has meant that teachers want the results ‘more then the kids’ !!! How mad is that? In my view, we should let students ‘fail’ more often to help them understand the value of success.
Factor 8 : Grown-ups are too often giving answers rather than asking questions – this is a big factor that is largely misunderstood. You don’t have to ‘think’ when someone gives you an answer, but you do have to ‘think’ when you answer a question. The process of thinking is ‘learning’ and takes effort. Grown-ups are often poor listeners and poor questioners; this means that you ‘talk at them and tell them stuff’, rather than letting them find out for themselves.
That’s it. My 8 factors that have contributed massively to making students less motivated and ‘hungry’ than they used to be…
It’s the reason why I have a ‘career’… !!
These WILL change your life – I should know – they changed mine !!
When you think about it….
Whatever we do as students, or anybody for that matter, the idea of a new year’s resolution is all about growth, and there’s only 2 areas that resolutions are ever focused on… FACT.
1. Growing your mind
2. Growing your body
That’s it…
So when people talk about being healthy, or making money, or seeing more of their family, or going out more, then you know it has something to do with one or both of these things.
OK. So to make life easy, I’ll give you 4 things to do that cost NO money at ALL that nutritionists and health experts tell me to do.
GROWING YOUR BODY – HELPING YOU TO LOOK AND FEEL GOOD
1. Sleep for 8 hours – WHY? Because sleep is the time when your body replenishes and rebuilds. This cannot be done in the gym or on the sofa !! 7 hours is not enough – FACT – even though you know someone who only has 6 hours per night and they seem fine etc… This is not about survival, this is about being at your best.
2. Chew your food – WHY? Your body’s energy levels are only as good as what they get from you. The body likes food that is as small as possible because it takes less work and energy for your body to process. The less energy it takes, the more it gives you! This means you won’t be tired at 4 o’clock in the afternoon and yawning !!!
3. Exercise for 30 minutes every day – WHY? Expending energy builds energy!! It also makes you FEEL good and look good, improving your confidence etc… This exercise, preferably aerobic but maybe just walking, whatever it is, will keep you in great shape physically and mentally.
4. Drink a small glass of water every hour – WHY? If Your body is depleted by water by just 2 % it will have 20% less power to concentrate. The reason you don’t notice is because you’re always dehydrated!! When you’re born you are 98% water, when you die <>
GROWING YOUR MIND – DEVELOPING YOUR MIND AS WELL AS YOUR BODY
1. Say ‘WHY NOT?’ – WHY? People always say “Yes” or “No”, but this is a ‘closed minded approach’, because it means you’ve already decided. When you say “Why not?”, this lets things into your life and opens your outlook… It’s totally changed my world and allowed some MASSIVE opportunities to flourish.
2. Take a genuine interest in other people and say “Tell me more” – WHY? Let’s face it; you don’t have all of the answers, nobody ever does. But when you say “Tell Me More”, this way you get to find out loads of things for free and you’ll make more friends and more money ( I should know !!)
3. Accept what is and accept yourself… WHY? People normally try to be ‘Superman/Superwoman’. They want everything to be ‘just fine’ so they tell themselves that things are fine when they’re not and even pretend to others that this is the case.
4. Be honest with you and your friends. Learn to like ‘YOU’ for who you are. If you feel sad – be sad. If you’re happy – be happy. Let it out, express yourself, be honest with yourself and others – there is still a place for diplomacy !! – but stop trying to be someone you’re not. No-one has a perfect life. This doesn’t happen.
5. Avoid negative disempowering language – WHY? It makes you FEEL negative and negative people sap your energy. Turn everything you say into a positive. This is NOT about being cheesy or false. It’s about having fun and feeling good. Q. Do any negative observations seriously help anyone (aside from constructive feedback)? If you make people feel good, they’ll want to do the same with you and spend time with you !!! This is dead powerful. Avoid words like I hate, or I don’t like – it makes you and others FEEL negative.
E.g. “What I really like about Jon” vs “What I hate about him”, “What I really like about this” vs “What I really don’t like?”, “This could be good” vs “This is rubbish”.
