{"id":5059,"date":"2013-02-02T21:56:17","date_gmt":"2013-02-02T21:56:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/eltchat.org\/wordpress\/?p=5059"},"modified":"2013-02-02T21:56:17","modified_gmt":"2013-02-02T21:56:17","slug":"motivating-teachers-those-responsible-for-motivating-learners-an-eltchat-summary-121212","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eltchat.org\/index.php\/2013\/02\/02\/motivating-teachers-those-responsible-for-motivating-learners-an-eltchat-summary-121212\/","title":{"rendered":"Motivating teachers, those responsible for motivating learners &#8211; An #eltchat summary (12\/12\/12)"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p><em>This summary was written by Chris Wilson and kindly reproduced from <a href=\"http:\/\/www.eltsquared.co.uk\/motivating-teachers-those-responsible-for-motivating-learners\/\">his blog<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"content-1487\">\n<p>On December the 12th a group of teachers gathered round their computer and mobile device screens to take part in an eltchat. Some of them where enjoying teaching, going into every lesson feeling highly motivated. Others came in need of motivating. The following text is a summary of that chat. But first I\u2019d like to share a little video that always motivates me.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div><iframe loading=\"lazy\" id=\"fitvid801972\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/eaIvk1cSyG8\" height=\"240\" width=\"320\" allowfullscreen=\"\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3>Right back to the chat.<\/h3>\n<p>The chat started with some introductions and welcoming from various people. @Wiktor_K was very honest about his need for some motivating.<\/p>\n<p>Fairly soon we launched into what motivates people.<\/p>\n<h2>Motivating Factors<\/h2>\n<h3>Money<\/h3>\n<p>There was some discussion over the motivation of\u00a0Money.\u00a0It\u00a0certainly wasn\u2019t the main issue discussed but it did appear from time to time.\u00a0@theteacherjames pointed out \u201c<em>I think money is \u00a0a red herring. Of course we need to be paid fairly, but there are many other factors in motivating people<\/em>.\u201d Perhaps he was thinking about this video\u00a0on why carrot and stick motivation of\u00a0salary isn\u2019t always\u00a0the best way to motivate people, which\u00a0@JGakonga shared<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div><iframe loading=\"lazy\" id=\"fitvid894633\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/u6XAPnuFjJc\" height=\"240\" width=\"320\" allowfullscreen=\"\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>@buckyacademics wondered if getting paid too much can even be negative! \u201cSometimes more money can lead to lack of motivation \u2013 you get too comfortable\u201d (I\u2019m not sure I want you to tell my boss that!)<\/p>\n<h3>PLN<\/h3>\n<p>Fairly early on people started to rave about their PLN and how it helped motivate them.\u00a0@Marisa_C said \u201c<em>You are my motivation I think\u00a0<\/em><br \/>\n<em>&#8211; having a great PLN is good for the soul<\/em>\u201d \u00a0Which @Noreen_Lam agreed with!<\/p>\n<p>@Vmorgana\u00a0shared her thoughts about the difference between a PLN and a Staff room \u201c<em>that\u2019s why I love having a PLN, sharing is not so easy in a school staff room, I\u2019ve often experienced the opposite<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>#Eltchat<\/h3>\n<p>@SieAnnan remarked that \u201c<em>I think eltchat often motivates me to make changes for the better<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>A collaborative staff room<\/h3>\n<p>@Shaznozel mentioned \u201c<em>I miss a staff room atmosphere in Greece, love the UK s\/room buzz<\/em>\u201d I\u2019m sure it\u2019s not just the UK that has a great buzz though.<\/p>\n<p>@Noreen_Lam agreed and from her comments, her staff room sounds great \u201c<em>Support &amp; enthusiastic\u00a0<\/em><em>co-workers help motivate! Build on each other\u2019s energy, share ideas, praise,<\/em><em>recognition\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<h3>Leadership<\/h3>\n<p>Leadership was an issue that came up again and again as an extrinsic factor that can help motivate teachers.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Being listened to @SueAnnan \u201c<em>I think teachers need to be listened to by management too<\/em>\u201c<\/li>\n<li>Being respected<\/li>\n<li>Being allowed to experiment @buckyacademics \u201c<em>If management are willing to\u00a0<\/em><em>let you experiment and invest in CPD, that\u2019s motivating<\/em>\u201c<\/li>\n<li>Rewarding extra effort @Marisa_C \u201c<em>The problem with motivating Ts is not just about money #ELTchat\u00a0it\u2019s poor leadership which does not reward for the extra mile we take\u201d<\/em><\/li>\n<li>And knowing your school isn\u2019t going down the pan all seemed to be factors @Wiktor_K \u201c<em>Confidence \u2013 knowing where\u00a0<\/em><em>company\u2019s been and where it\u2019s going, &amp;amp; own role in the process. That\u2019s\u00a0<\/em><em>motivating, lack thereof \u2013 scary<\/em>\u201c<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Professional development<\/h3>\n<p>@jankenb2 \u201c<em>Developing a greater understanding of the underlying philosophy of your subject domain is hi\u00a0motivating, like EFL, EAP or children<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n<p>@Wiktor_K phrased it in selfish terms saying that his desire for self development motivated him.<\/p>\n<h4>Conferences (and webinars?)<\/h4>\n<p>There were a few mentions about going to conferences but no really quotable tweets unfortunately! Ah well.<\/p>\n<h4>DELTA\/Ma<\/h4>\n<p>@buckyacademics \u201c\u00a0<em>I agree! DELTA was extremely motivating to me. Always questioning why and striving to do better<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n<p>@adaptive learning \u201c<em>Getting my MA online was the best career move I ever made. I had a high learning\u00a0<\/em><em>curve, but it\u2019s opened huge opportunities<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n<h4>Teacher training<\/h4>\n<p>@Louisalix86 \u201c<em>I find teacher training\u00a0<\/em><em>mega-motivating as have to keep on the ball. Can never rely on old stuff.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>Students<\/h3>\n<p>@hartle started us of with \u201c<em>the main thing that motivates me is still my stds after all these years<\/em>\u201d Which many people agreed with.<\/p>\n<h4>Seeing a difference in students lives<\/h4>\n<p>@theteacherjames\u00a0commented that when he feels his job is making a difference, that is motivating.<\/p>\n<h4>Motivated students<\/h4>\n<p>@MarjorieRosenbe commented about students who are interested \u201c<em>Also something to be said for\u00a0<\/em><em>having a captive audience to tell stories to. Motivating when they listen\u00a0<\/em><em>&amp; respond<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n<h4>Parents<\/h4>\n<p>Shaznosel\u00a0brought up something which I hadn\u2019t really considered.\u00a0When\u00a0parents thank you \u201c<em>Being appreciated by parents and ss is what I live for as no time for chat with colleagues<\/em>\u201d It was an interesting\u00a0twist after people like\u00a0@theteacherjames had been complaining about being a\u00a0glorified baby sitting service.<\/p>\n<h3>Volunteering<\/h3>\n<p>@louisalix68 commented that her volunteering really motivates her \u201c<em>I have 1 free tutoring session\u00a0<\/em><em>per week, mega motivational when kids turn up voluntarily after school and we\u00a0<\/em><em>see grades go up!<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>What leads to demotivation?<\/h2>\n<p>of course the other side of motivating factors is that there are things which can be demotivating and make teaching classes very hard<\/p>\n<h3>Poor leadership<\/h3>\n<p>@theteacherjames described it as \u201c<em>Absolutely. Poor leadership is a major cause of demotivation across a variety of occupations.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n<p>@Marisa_C made the comment about leadership \u201c<em>Have you \u00a0noticed how bad\u00a0<\/em><em>bosses all have very nice lives, cars, pools, holidays and Ts can barely make\u00a0<\/em><em>ends meet in some contexts\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<h3>Being over controlled<\/h3>\n<p>@Noreen_Lam \u201c<em>Demotivating\u00a0when mgmnt\u00a0over-control &amp; don\u2019t give Ts freedom 2 expt, b creative, develop selves &amp; teaching<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n<p>@Davedodgson \u201c<em>Personally, I find pressure to adhere to certain principles\/tests demotivating<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>Being abandoned<\/h3>\n<p>@Davedodgson talked about being abandoned when problems arise \u201c<em>Lack of support (from colleagues and school) when dealing with problems is an issue<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>Not getting paid or being underpaid<\/h3>\n<p>Wiktor_K described it as \u201cMoney is not key \u2013 but in hard times little money translates to fewer opportunities, and less motivation, right? #eltchat\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Where as @pacogascon\u00a0talked about reduced purchasing power for his classes being a factor.<\/p>\n<p>@Marisa_C gave us some insight into the situation in Greece when she informed us that \u201c<em>Money is really important \u2013 locally hourly rates have hit bottom \u2013 so Ts need to work extra to survive\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<h2>How can we create a motivating environment<\/h2>\n<p>Perhaps the most controversial idea revolved around Profesional\u00a0development. there was a general acceptance that us ELTchatters\u00a0value CPD and enjoy learning more about teaching. However, there seemed to be a general recognition\u00a0of teachers who don\u2019t, don\u2019t try to progress and generally try to, as @davedodgson put it,\u00a0\u201djust do the job.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>@theteacherjames\u00a0wondered if setting an expectation of doing some Professional Development and asking teachers who don\u2019t to leave would cause a transformation.<\/p>\n<p>This led to some discussion of what form of CPD and as @marisa_C pointed out, it isn\u2019t always costly.<\/p>\n<p>Intrinsic, extrinsic or no real difference?<\/p>\n<p>There was some discussion about the difference between\u00a0intrinsic and extrinsic motivation with @MarjorieRosebe\u00a0asking what the balance was. @theteacherjames offered some ideas for each \u201c<em>Intrinsic \u2013 self expectations, pride, professionalism. Extrinsic \u2013 PLN,\u00a0<\/em><em>societies perceptions of ELT<\/em>\u201d @Noreen_Lam asked if we could separate them and @Wiktor_K commented that both were needed and that there was a difference between an immediate burst of motivation and longer term motivation.<\/p>\n<p>@TimJulian60 set up a Facebook group for his teachers to share ideas and resources with each other and saw great results.<\/p>\n<p>There was also talk about the need for Goal setting by management and reward for achieve those goals by @Marisa_C and @Davedodgson.<\/p>\n<p>@hartle mentioned that working as a freelance was more motivating for her.<\/p>\n<p>@DaveDodgson mentioned that Leading by example (no specification over whether it needs to be Senior teachers or\u00a0peer teachers)<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>Final notes<\/h2>\n<p>I haven\u2019t included every tweet posted and I\u2019m sorry if I didn\u2019t include your tweet. Sometimes someone else said the same thing but in a snappier way, sometimes I just missed the tweet and other times the tweets were completely irrelevant, didn\u2019t engage the topic and were generally trying to distract people from the topic.<\/p>\n<h3>What tips would you give for staying motivated?<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This summary was written by Chris Wilson and kindly reproduced from his blog. &nbsp; On December the 12th a group of teachers gathered round their computer and mobile device screens to take part in an eltchat. Some of them where enjoying teaching, going into every lesson feeling highly motivated. Others came in need of motivating.&hellip; <br \/> <a class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/eltchat.org\/index.php\/2013\/02\/02\/motivating-teachers-those-responsible-for-motivating-learners-an-eltchat-summary-121212\/\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5059","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-summary"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eltchat.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5059","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eltchat.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eltchat.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eltchat.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eltchat.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5059"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/eltchat.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5059\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eltchat.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5059"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eltchat.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5059"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eltchat.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5059"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}