I gotta take a step back and think this through; I gotta know it's true (Black Stone Cherry)

Photo by x ) on Unsplash

The student leadership team in the OSG Hamilton Campus has asked me to address their assembly.

They have two topics that they'd like me to discuss - motivation and their value of the week responsibility. Plus some introduction to who I am.

Here goes:

I love that you've chosen motivation! 

What's the most important skill a school can pass on to its students?

You may be sitting there thinking it's creative thinker; problem solver; collaborator; effective communicator; being ethical and empathetic.

Although they are all important, I'd argue, the most important skill a school can pass down to its students is the ability to motivate themselves. So much comes down to how much self belief and zest we have for things.

So thanks for that topic!

My thinking is that I'll link the two - motivation and responsibility.

Being motivated is about making the right choices and asking the right questions.

My motivation rises hugely if I can see meaning and purpose in what is ahead of me. I suspect our students are the same and I think the closer they get to graduation day the more motivation they have because they see a finish line and a job on the other side.

The trick is to have the motivation earlier and maintain it along the way.

[Sidebar: some introductory words about me - when I was 12 I knew I was going to be a teacher. Along the way, even though I failed many times - I had to repeat my Year 11 year for instance, I wanted to get a masters degree in English - and my belief never wavered, even when I was turned down twice for a place at Teachers' Training College. My motivation levels and dedication to my goals were high. Just saying]

You probably know this, but motivation levels move along a continuum from at one end -'extremely motivated' along to 'not motivated at all' at the other end.  

OSG teachers and CAs are most likely all around the 'heavily motivated' end.  They front up, they volunteer and they stay the course.

How students match up to that continuum is their individual decision. Yes, decision. Not that motivated now? That can be changed.

The most powerful questions are the questions you speak to yourself. What drives you?

We're not all built the same way. What motivates me may not motivate my students. For instance, I am not motivated by extrinsic reward. Well okay - I am a bit, but no teacher became a teacher to make money.

Instead, purpose aligned with developing and using my skills drives me intrinsically.

It's all about choice and your ability to self-direct yourself (or in other words - take responsibility for your learning). See what I did there with responsibility?

Here are some crucial questions that only you can answer:

• What choices do I have?
• What choices have I made?
• Which choices am I glad I made?
• What choices would I like to do over?
• What choices do I have from now onwards? 

Here are a few more as we head into our planning for 2023 and beyond:

• What am I learning?
• What could I learn?
• What skills do I have?
• What skills could I develop?
• Where do I want to be?
• How am I going to get there?

I can't answer those questions for you. 

But you can - if you are motivated to do so that is!!

I see Warren every weekend, he makes a living as a fisherman (Cassandra Jenkins)

Photo by Manasvita S on Unsplash

Discussions at home recently have had me thinking about what motivates me. I notice 'motivation' has been a regular topic in this blog over the years but I've mainly concentrated on what motivates students - not what motivates me. So here goes with my top 5 (they are in random order as I thought of them):

• A sense of purpose - I need to know/feel that what I am doing fulfils a purpose. This is to me a basic human need. I'd like to think that we are all wanting to achieve something worthwhile while we live on Planet Earth.
• Fresh challenges - I need to feel that I am continuing to grow as a professional. My length of time spent in schools has never exceeded five years. I crave fresh challenges. Reinventions if you like.
• The serving others/ leading others combo is very seductive - I need that combo. I tried to step back from it once and within a short amount of time I was itching for a wider leadership role. According to my LinkedIn friends, it's just me.
• I need to know my skills are being utilised to the fullest. When they are not, I get itchy feet.
• I like to get proper recognition for good work (but this is a nice to have, not a must have).

That about sums up what motivates me and it's pretty clear, isn't it, that for many reasons, I thrive on intrinsic motivation. 

It's motivation baby, tell me what you thinking, I'mma give it motivation. Yeah uh yeah, it's motivation (JTM)

Photo by Cristofer Jeschke on Unsplash

My Teacher Inquiry was revisited today (looking at the motivation of students) for the first time for a while.

Happily, I made some progress by reading three Edutopia articles and starting my student questionnaire via Survey Monkey.

First, of course, I had to join Survey Monkey - that took time, what with filling in profiles, verifying emails and what not. And sort of dented my motivation a tad.

Once that was all done, I started populating a survey. I have dozens of questions to pose but now I need to sift through them and edit/prioritise them somewhat.

In between doing this I became a little distracted by emails pinging (it's so hard to avoid reading the snippet that pops up for a second in the right bottom corner of the screen and fatal if you click on it), taking a couple of phone calls, locking up the school, and seeing staff who needed to discuss tomorrow's relief with me.

It's tough keeping on track sometimes.

My next challenge to overcome is to eek out some more time to continue the process. I have the motivation, but the habit has not embedded itself yet.