First of all, thanks to everyone who commented on my previous post.

Indeed, the notion

of looking at motivating high school students is daunting. Over the last week or so (while
camping amidst the mosquitoes in the Okanagan), Ive read a great deal and reflected a great
deal and in the midst of my research I have discovered, as The Courage to Teach also points out,
that we must begin with ourselves.
Alfie Kohn states that it is not really possible to motivate anyone, except perhaps
yourself (How to Create Nonreaders). He then goes on to explain that all a teacher can really
do is work with students to create a classroom culture that will foster learning and a desire with
the students to be motivated. Indeed, this assertion that I cannot motivate students was
refreshing and lifted a weight off my shoulders. As educators, we cannot be burdened to
motivate people. Instead, we ought to focus on the creating, or re-creating, circumstances for
students to rekindle their love of learning that schooling (or other factors) may have driven out of
them.
Having this perspective then allowed me to look at those circumstances which led to
students tuning out or becoming unmotivated to learn (or do anything as Amanda pointed out
and I, too, have experienced this troubling phenomenon among senior students). This is where
reading Mindset and Time to Re-think School Award Ceremonies was particularly insightful.
From early on in their lives, children are exposed to the idea that there are particular standards
and that there are rewards for those who are gifted in being smart or athletic or musical, etc.
Christian schools, too, fall in this trap. Often we highlight a childs gift as being an
extraordinarily important; often this is done beyond any other ability. While we believe that we
are finding a talent that God has blessed them with, we often do so to the detriment of their
overall learning. What happens, according to Carol Dweck, is that we set them up to compare
themselves to others and when they are no longer the best in their particular area they no
longer continue working on the skills necessary - and learn from the mistakes that will
undoubtedly come their way to improve themselves and they will actually lose their confidence
in their talent(s) (Mindset 175). Rather than praising a students/childs talent, we need to praise
students for what they accomplish through practice, study, persistence, and good strategies
(177). Students need honest and constructive feedback for that is the only way that they begin to
learn well. Moreover, it is crucial that we continue to set high standards. Students need to be
challenged (all of them including the high-achievers). Studies have shown that when challenged,
students thrive. To turn back the lens on myself, as an educator, Dweck asserts that when
teachers are judging them, students will sabotage the teacher by not trying. But when students
understand that school is for them ... they do not insist on sabotaging themselves (201). That is
not say that this wont be without its challenges. However, by setting high standards, coming
alongside students and learning with them, we begin to re-kindle the passion of learning within
our students and, perhaps, ourselves.
With a proper mindset (to borrow Dwecks term), we then come back to that core piece of
Christian teaching: community. Van Dyk explores the ideas of the collaborative and cooperative

classroom in our course text The Craft of Christian Teaching. By creating a community where
learning is encouraged and the goal is to enable students to become disciples of Jesus, we
remove the negative effects of the competitive-based classroom. Study after study is showing
that competitive environments simply do not work (see Daniel Pinks video and Rick Lavoies
video; Dweck also explores successful companies that do not promote internal competition).
Tristan de Frondeville reiterates these ideas in this article.
So what does this all mean on a practical level of teaching in a small high school? Alfie
Kohn provided some excellent suggestions which provide students the tools and opportunity to
become motivated. Van Dyk also has some general principles which will prove to be helpful.
Keeping in mind the critical idea that motivation comes from within and that my task is to do my
best to have an environment for that motivation to learn to flourish, here are some ideas that I
will seek to implement in my courses for next year:

Before launching into group projects or discussions, have students reflect on what it was
about them that allowed them to have a great group experience in the past (this was
inspired by Parker Palmer)
Involve students in generating the types of projects that they will do in some units;
moreover, we will then generate the rubric for such projects
Incorporate more learning centres which are catered to specific interests that students
have
Have class meetings to discuss issues and ways of dealing with them
Have students generate what constitutes meaningful feedback on assignments (from both
peer and teacher)
Use social media to have students give feedback during or shortly after class
Talk about fixed and growth mindset and do scenarios which illustrate the limitations of a
fixed mindset

Overall, I feel much more confident going into a new school year. This research has been
fascinating and much of it has echoed what existed within some part of my mind. Mindset has
some great stories that I hope to share with my students in the fall.

Other sources not linked to within this post but very useful as well
Mindset website
7 Solutions for Educators Who Want 21st Century Students to Tune In
Student Driven Learning
The Flow Experience

Ten Steps to Better Student Engagement