A fork in the road

“Alice: Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?
The Cheshire Cat: That depends a good deal on where you want to get to.

― Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland

From talking to other teachers it is evident that motivation of students is a popular topic. This did concern me slightly, after all if it is such a popular topic then have all possible solutions to building motivation been explored? what is left for me to inquire about? I noticed that most advice I had been give related to 'in class' ideas; Stickers, Dance Captain, Performances etc. All great motivates, but then the thought occurred to me

These are all examples of extrinsic motivators  

I couldn't find one piece of advice related to intrinsic motivation.

Intrinsic motivation is the self-desire to seek out new things and new challenges, to analyze one's capacity, to observe and to gain knowledge. It is driven by an interest or enjoyment in the task itself, and exists within the individual rather than relying on external pressures or a desire for reward. 

― From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I think this is where my Inquiry would be most beneficial, its a more complex theory but a stronger form of motivation and while I'm sure there will be no simple straight forward answers I'm excited to see where it will take me.  

Choosing my line of Inquiry

I thought I'd put figurative pen to paper and blog about some of the research I've been doing for my inquiry. Although I started with quite a specific idea and was concerned that I had narrowed my options too soon. After spending a couple of days staring at my computer screen researching motivation (or lack of) I feel the subject is too expansive, and I'm still unsure which way to go. Although I am positive that motivation is a good topic and from my discussions with various SIG's I have enough evidence to support that it will benefit teachers to inquire into this subject, it is where I focus my inquiry that I am struggling to decide. On the one hand most of on-line discussions have been regarding early teen and it does seem that this is when a problem does start to occur.

 Teacher 1 

Tip for teens!! Anyone find that age 13-15 is the 'its not cool to try' phase? Praying it isn't just us but feel like im drawing blood from a stone at times. Any tips much appreciated! 

Teacher 2

I teach secondary school dance so I see a lot of this. Dance is compulsory in our school at KS3 and with the classes being mixed in age and ability motivation is essential.

Teacher 3

Mine is 11-13 age range! Driving me mad

Teacher 4

I grit my teeth for two years between 14-16, and then they are lovely again. 

Teacher 5

 I'm struggling with the older group 16-18 and although they've actually CHOSEN to be doing a btec course they won't try anything! 

However, the discussions I have had with my colleagues are heavily focused on 16+ and students in professional training. It was through this work that my idea to focus on motivation began. I am lucky in that I have a fairly large group of students to try out motivational techniques on, Some of these students are going through a dip in motivation at the moment so it will be interesting to see which, if any, motivational techniques help them although I'm not sure that should factor into my decision? I wouldn't want anyone to misunderstand, the students who I teach are very dedicated and have a passion for what the study, but are lacking in motivation to better themselves outside of college hours e.g. arriving early to conduct a more thorough warm up before the days lessons start, staying behind after college to stretch or applying the amount of hours required to complete build-ups or learn theory. I recently had a group of students entered for teaching qualifications everything was left until the last minute which resulted in a group of very stressed students and an extremely stressed teacher. After the exam I wanted to talk to the students to see why this happened. One student remarked "I just can't seem to motivate myself." This is what interested me, the concept of self motivation and whether there is anything we as teachers can do to help students to find their own motivation rather than always being there to push them along.  I am still unsure as to whether using both age groups will create too broad a topic or if it will help strengthen my inquiry. I do think that there is a difference in the problems that occur in the age groups, when talking to people about motivating early teens it seems to be more focused on 'in class' or 'in the moment'situations

Teacher 6

 I have found with lower school (year 7&8) they need lots of short tasks. If they are given extended amounts of times they will only work productively for about 5 minutes,

Teacher 7

 I think pitching the class right is vital. Set the class a generic/core exercise. For those excelling, go to them individually and give them an extra task/make it harder, for those struggling, help them maybe break the steps down and praise them at each step even if they cant quite reach the generic/core movement. 

Teacher 8

Maybe a cliché but I do find that being positive with them and praising those that work hard and picking up on anything positive they achieve helps.

Teacher 9

I make one of my girls dance captain in each class, it makes them work harder, also if they have been working hard there treat is they can do the warm up in modern under my supervision

I still have a lot of thinking to do and would love any opinion on my line of inquiry and its relevance.

Professional Ethics

Working within any organisation, professional ethics and how they are enforced is an important issue. The private sector presents a challenge itself, as there is no governing body to oversee the way in which the business in conducted, the responsibility of setting standards and maintaining an ethically run business falls the the principal and those in charge of the running of the establishment. I spent some time thinking about ethics and expectations of staff in the workplace, its funny how many ethical principals you use without realizing, but there effects are important, I've made note of a few.

• As a privately run college, teachers are not regulated to hold a qualification in order to be employed. It is therefore the responsibility of the workplace to ensure that all staff have the relevant qualification or experience of their craft to deliver skilled and knowledgeable education at the required level.

• We are contacted for our teaching hours but to ensure a level of preparation and professionalism all staff are required to be present in the building 15min before class starts.

• Physical contact is something that is unavoidable in a dance class, it is the responsibility of the company to make all parties aware that physical contact is used and in what form that will take. I always ask permission of my children/students before I make a physical correct and will use the back of my hand as point of contact if possible.

• Claire Radford makes a valid point regarding safe guarding of students, students are asked to call upon their emotions to help portray stories thought choreography. We ask them to draw emotion from past experiences to help them create the desired effect. This needs to be approached with care and attention need to be given to students reactions and mental state during the class, recalling past memories can bring memories to the surface.

•  As teachers it are job to monitor the mental and physical health of our students. if any student shows growing concern a teacher needs to inform a member of management.