Enable them to be Motivated

Carrot and sticks approach to motivation will not work if the task is conceptual, creative, requires cognition.
Factors that really motivate  are autonomy, mastery and purpose.

Am I right? Is it OK? Does Daniel Pink say these? I guess so.

Glad to hear. And agree.

But ....
My job is basically teaching people English. Let's define.
People:
Some of my students are little kids, toddlers, many of them are school kids, some are secondary students and there are some adults. The setting is usually one-to-one, small group or bigger groups for the tiny ones.
Teaching:
By teaching I understand a service provided by me, a trained and experienced helper, I promote learner autonomy, as I think it is the student who actually learns, they carry out tasks that bring them closer to the mastery of the language.
English:
English is  a tool. Suppose today's capital is information. This is what we invest nowadays. To gain information we need channels, one of these channels is the English language,  lingua franca.



The way to the proficiency (in English) leads through an endless series of tasks. Given the fact that the world has opened up through web 2.0, oftentimes the goal of learning English can be mixed with the method of learning it. Simply, authentic "classroom material" seems to be quite relevant.

And anyway, I love using real videos, real newspapers, authentic sources, why not? Fun! Only if the student is not discouraged by these of course. For the productive skills (writing, speaking) my favourite tasks are also authentic (make photo slide-shows with subtitles, a video interview, write a blog post, comments, e-mails, etc.)

All sound good and shiny, but to tell you the truth I am not at all successful. My students just seem to refuse to do any homework that is not similar to the tasks they have been doing or used to do at school. Good old grammar drills (transformation, substitution, matching, ordering, etc.)  are OK, but more complex, creative tasks that require an element of planning, organizing, etc. (even writing a composition) seem to be unpleasant chores, which  trigger  procrastination with the majority of my students.

It does not seem to me that they are productive, however they are given autonomy,  they have a purpose (often even a short-term, tangible something), and finally they slow down themselves by not properly completing these tasks, postponing mastery. So how about the three factors promoting productivity?


I have had contemplated so much over this. What is wrong with me? Probably I have communication problems? Maybe I should respect that my students are not as thrilled at the idea of creating online content as I am. Maybe I have such a stupid face?



Then there was the concept of self-efficacy. (It seems to be something totally irrelevant here, but please, do not give up.) Many of my students use their one-to-one classes as a kind of therapy. I always ask them how they are, and consequently they tell me. Sometimes they do not feel fine and then they tell me what the current bug of their lives is. Somehow articulating these issues helps them 'debug' the situation by shaping the feelings, conflicts, the strain they feel in another language. Of course the embodiment of a problem is often the solution of it as well, by expressing themselves in English results in a relief by the end of the class. (Believe me, I do not serve alcohol.)
Going back to self efficacy, many problems around the lives of my adult learners stem from the fact that they are not self-efficient, just cannot believe in themselves. OK, what are the factors that enhance self-efficacy? Modelling, social persuasions, experience and physiological factors. Many times the first two factors are missing (the world is changing fast, there are no models, we live in a pessimistic environment). Physiological things seem  difficult to be altered, consequently the safest way to raise self-efficacy is to collect  a big pile of success  stories. (In our backpacks, of course, always at hand.)

Now I thought, with higher self-efficacy, people get down to more complex tasks with ease. Thus they will make use of autonomy, purpose and mastery. And then the whole thing evolves in an ever-moving cycle. Lovely.

Then I had a look at that backpack we are all supposed to have. By the age of 14 I think most of us may have a nice pile of completed projects in our backpacks. Or? Not really. I took a look at my young teen students, they do not really have anything in the backpack, unless they are sporty kids. Schools here do not really seem to promote project work. At home? Not really either. Most of the kids do not even have to tidy their rooms, they simply have no tasks, only to have considerably good grades at school, where the carrot and stick approach is widespread, complex tasks are avoided, being difficult to evaluate. (Evaluation=giving grades from 1 to 5.) Parents often think their tasks are to give shelter, feed the kids and provide quality clothes and entertainment. They do not feel they should train their children to life, which is basically a series of tasks, it seems to me that they are aware of the fact that one day their kids will definitely have to jump into the ocean and swim, however they fail to teach them how to swim. They hope the child will be able to swim. Little chance, great risk.

So now...
What shall I do?

Shall I keep trying new ways of giving more complex tasks to my students?
Shall I downgrade to using exclusively short, easily administrable school-style tasks?
Is there a way  I cannot see?
Shall I be content with 10% of my students capable of  completing 'fancy' tasks?
Should I shout?
Am I not assertive enough?
Maybe I shouldn't generalize...Probably I should quit using the internet.
Am I  blaming the system of (old)school and parents instead of finding the fault within myself?
Maybe I shouldn't smile until Christmas?


Hmmmm.... grrrrr...

Help me PLEASE!!!!