Motivation and the College Instructor

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Motivation. Is that asking too much?

The first day of class, I had a standard agenda I would follow:

1. Introduce Myself
2. Have Students Introduce Themselves
3. Lead Class in an Icebreaker Activity
4. Review the Syllabus
5. Shock Them
6. Clarify What It Will Take to Succeed
7. Assign a Group Activity
8. Give a Short Lecture
9. Post Assignment for Next Class
10. Dismiss Class

Step 5, Shock Them, was my favorite part.  I would complete the review of my syllabus, start to move on, and then interject, “I almost forgot something.  Did I mention that I won’t be teaching you anything this semester?”  Well, maybe I didn’t shock them, but I think I surprised most of my students.  “Why,” I would follow, “do you think I said that?”  It took some Socratic Questioning, but eventually they got the point.  I wanted them to understand that learning is an active process for which they, not me the teacher, were responsible.  My role, as I explained it, was to facilitate their learning.

Step 6, Clarify What It Will Take to Succeed, was my second favorite part.  Back to Socratic Questioning.  “What do you think it will take for you to get a good grade in this course?” I would ask.  I got all the standard responses – study, do the homework, come to class, take notes, read the textbook, etc.  I often got a few wise remarks that were good for a laugh like “cheat” or “bribe the teacher.”

“Let me tell you a little story,” I would say.  Then I would tell them about a study skills class I taught.  Part of the final grade was based on a vocabulary test.  Only three of the 30 students in the class took that part of their grade seriously.  Only three passed the final vocabulary exam.  I would go on to mention that there were three students in the class for whom English was a second language.  “Can you guess which students passed the vocabulary exam?” I would ask.  They knew it was those three, but they weren’t immediately sure what my point was.  I would challenge then, “Why those three?”  A little more Socratic questioning was sometimes required.  “Do you think learning English as a second language came easily to them?”  “Do you think they had to work hard at that?”  “Why did they work hard?”  “Did they really want to learn English”  “Do you think they were motivated?”

Motivating students is a challenge.  I hoped what I said next helped.  “All you need to get a good grade in this class is motivation,” I explained.  “The bad news, my friends, is that if you don’t have it you may not even pass.”

Commentary

The same is true for adjunct instructors, college instructors in general, for all teachers.  All you need to succeed is motivation.  Motivation to become a subject matter expert.  Motivation to put in the time to prepare.  Motivation to develop your skills as an instructor.  Motivation to care about your students’ success.  The bad news, my friends, is that if you don’t have it you may not even pass.

For more thoughts on motivation