Педагогические науки/3.Методические основы воспитательного процесса

канд. філос. наук Халезова Л. В.

Севастопольський інститут банківської справи

Української академії банківської справи

Національного банку України

Motivation in and out of the classroom

Practically every modern concept and document signed by the representatives of EU says about the need of forming the leadership qualities in students. The goal is clear. What methods to choose? How to keep students motivated not only to study but to live to the full?

Sometimes motivation to be successful in life helps to work harder on yourself than you do in your job. Sometimes motivation to be successful in life helps change this life and start doing what you are really meant for. Sometimes motivation to be successful in life helps categorize what “success” means to you personally: financial independence, possibility to help others or on the contrary possibility to manipulate the others.

Most of our students are still teenagers, so they need to be assisted in identifying their main goals in life and how to achieve them.

I am going to give you several pieces of advice on how to work with your students in the class and mainly out of the class.

There are many useful sites students may find interesting for forming their leadership qualities. But to start with the teacher will need to somehow “narrow” their choices. Of course, there will be a series of discussions dedicated to the main topics (Intercultural communication, Motivation, Millionaire thinking, Ways to success, etc.). So the first discussion in the series might be dedicated to the topic “Who wants to be a millionaire?” and “Why do you want to be one?” Discuss the reasons: is it because students want to be happy, or is it because they want to reach out and help others. In the end, ask each student to set a goal to become a millionaire not for the money but for the person he/she will become.

The next step might be a research work about why so many rich people give money away. Ask your students to prepare a talk about Andrew Carnegie or Warren Buffet. While searching for the information they will anyway read about the life, experience, quotations, that later will be useful for students’ own lives.

Modern research results of which were published in American journal Emotion shows that jealousy for a career maker tends to be a more positive characteristic. The most important point is to choose a “correct” object or idol. If you have chosen a correct aim that you can actually reach, you will be able to make clear monthly, weekly, daily plans.

The next important step in motivating your students to change would be teaching them the idea of noticing every little aim and target they have already achieved. Nowadays they can download and install a program iDoneThis [1] on their PCs. As it says on the site: “Reply to an evening email reminder with what you did that day. The next day, get a digest with what everyone on the team got done. It's that simple. No hassle, no micromanagement. Get stuff done, and celebrate it with your team”. This humble program will ask questions about what has been done this or that day. Students will only need to stop, reflect, and write about their day. The next morning, iDoneThis team will email students a digest that shows everyone's accomplishments from the day before to kick off the new day. This will help them not only to analyze the activities they have done but also find at least 3 things to be grateful for EVERY NIGHT!

One of techniques that might be helpful in a teacher’s job is to ask students if they know WHY they want this or that, what their burning desire is and what motives they have to take the necessary action.

The teacher could also introduce students to the technique of visualizing. A lot has actually been said and written about this technique (if it is new for you, it will be nice if you watch the film “The Secret” in which this method is well described). As to the theme of “Millionaire thinking” the students might be asked to think about if they are worthy being rich and if they deserve it. Ask them to make a plan and think properly of their actions and behaviours. This could be another fruitful topic to make a group discussion. What will be appropriate to the students as representatives of a new generation? What will they do now what their parents and grandparents would never have done? What are the reasons of this behaviour? Has the moral changed? Is the moral important in modern world, economics, and politics? At this stage the teacher’s job is to persuade the students that the actions and behaviors need to be ethical, practical and down-to-earth. “Live in harmony with your core values!” should become their motto.

Returning to the visualizing students may be asked now to combine the techniques they already know and think about the path to their dream. Is this path to become a millionaire possible? Is the outcome desirable? As a teacher you may give learners several extra ideas and questions to think them over: How will you KNOW when you have reached your target? What your disciples should remember is that there has to be a clear picture of what they really want when they ARE the ones they want to become: will they go wild shopping, or travel to Tibet, or sponsor a shelter for homeless animals?

The next step will be discussing TIME MANAGEMENT. The task for your learners will be to break the path to their success into small achievable steps and use the time wisely! We all have the same 86.400 seconds a day, so ask students to make a "to do" list, prioritize it, do the most difficult first, move undone things to next day, start from the end and work backwards, then break down into monthly, weekly, daily, hourly tasks. And one of the most awaited moments for young people might be the idea of celebrating every humble completed step on their way to success. They should remember to keep the dream fueled, dare to make decisions and ALWAYS learn from their own mistakes!

The words of Oprah Winfrey will help you and your students to achieve any aim: “Don't focus on success, focus on significance and success will come automatically!”

Literature

1. URL: https://idonethis.com/