Motivation to Learn

Please find below some tips and advice for helping your son engage with online learning

Workspace

Research shows that students with a designated work space that’s comfortable will learn more effectively. Let them personalise their learning space. Make sure they have all the materials and equipment they’ll need to hand.

Ideally work at a desk with a straight-backed chair. If this is not possible, work best with what is available.

Establish Rules

Research shows that students will work hard when expectations are clear. Your son is more likely to follow the rules if they have a voice in co-creating them.

Rules might revolve around eliminating “technoference” or “media multitasking.” Teenagers often think they can scroll Instagram on their phone while listening to a teacher on Google Meet however research has shown that technology makes them take longer to finish, make more mistakes and remember less of the material. So ask your son: “What could work here? Maybe your phone stays in the kitchen during lesson time?”

Once you’ve clearly and jointly defined expectations, it’s important to model compliance by following the rules yourself. Be consistent in reacting to broken rules and unmet goals. Use logical consequences and give an opportunity to repair whatever harm has been done, all while remaining supportive and empathetic.

Prepare the night before

Set goals and a schedule for the following day the night before. As you would on any school day encourage your son to check his timetable and what lessons he has for the day. What equipment does your son need? Has the teacher sent any pre work to be done before the lesson?

Follow a schedule

Lack of predictability is often what’s causing the emotions that derail learning, which is why increasing predictability can help. And rules and goals alone aren’t enough.

Teachers can’t control whether kids show up to online lessons tired and hungry, this is why it is important that we make sure our sons get enough sleep, wake up with enough time to eat a healthy breakfast, wash and get dressed ready for the day — a subconscious cue that it’s time to focus — before online lessons begin.

If you are working from home too and your son has other siblings it can help to sit together at the beginning of the day to discuss what each of you are doing that day. It can help boost connection, belonging and autonomy (routine boosts a sense of safety too). It can help children settle and they are less likely to demand your time later.

Up-front investment in other systems pays off in the same way. Instead of just creating checklists and whiteboards or setting timers, problem-solve solutions like these alongside your son to increase their buy-in. Revisit your systems regularly. An example of how that could look: “So I see this checklist isn’t working, and I noticed you were supposed to have 20 minutes to play with the dog and you ended up playing for an hour and not getting the rest of your stuff done. What can we do about that?”

Bolster autonomy in a second way by setting up systems that your son can navigate independently as much as possible. Try keeping a selection of healthy snacks out in the kitchen so they can leave their work space after a lesson ends, help themselves to a snack and return afterward. It’s important to plan for transitions like these, helping your son get organised each day, walking through a schedule and which passwords are where, before expecting them to be self-sufficient.

But don’t go overboard with the scheduling, either. We all benefit from free/unstructured time. Time spent outside and physical activity have both been proven to reduce stress levels and increase a readiness to learn.

Make work meaningful

One of the biggest challenges with online learning is that the teacher is at a remove from the child and a parent can be left without an answer to the question, “Why do I have to know this?” As much as possible, steer clear of the knee-jerk response “because your teacher said so” and take a minute to engage the question. Encouraging students to look for ways that academic content aligns with their personal values. If that fails, try telling a story about an experience of yours that makes the assignment more relatable.

But let’s be real. You can also use a backdoor to make the work meaningful. Even though in a perfect world, we want students to be intrinsically motivated, everyone is just doing their best right now. It’s not the worst thing in the world to use your son’s preferred activities as incentives for completed work. Extrinsic rewards have been proven to support new skill acquisition.

However we have to strike a delicate balance between structure and flexibility: “Parents can undermine motivation if they are overly controlling and create a home learning environment characterised by surveillance, pressure and extrinsic rewards.”

Play to their (and your) strengths

To help things flow more naturally, consider a strengths-based approach. To understand strengths-based education, teachers learn that focusing on what kids don’t do well can cause them to become disengaged, while focusing on their strengths — things they enjoy doing, are good at, and choose to do, increases feelings of competence, meaning and autonomy.

You can start with a strategy dubbed “catch them being good”. You definitely want to say, ‘It’s so great that you used the timer.’ But a strengths-based approach also requires some deep thinking about what engages your son. It’s important that students can express themselves in a “format that fits their individual strengths.” If a teacher has assigned a book report but you know your child will be more engaged in producing a video news story, encourage them to ask. They (and you) can also request homework arrangements that play to your kid’s strengths.

It’s not just student’s strengths that need honest assessment though. Research ties a parent’s belief in their potential to positively impact their child’s learning (called “self-efficacy”) to stronger academic outcomes.

Focus on relationships

A lot of these suggestions boil down to a fundamental truth: There is no better way to give your son a sense of meaning, connection and belonging than to intertwine schoolwork with supportive relationships. Research shows that “students will work hard for their teachers, be cooperative and follow rules and routines if they perceive you to be supportive and caring,”

As you pivot from parent to learning-facilitator and back again, most of us fear our whole relationship with our children becoming about nagging them to do their things. When things don’t go well in the classroom, teachers are taught about how you pull a student aside and how you don’t just reprimand or chastise. You start with a curiosity, like, ‘I noticed this isn’t going the way we talked about? Tell me what is going on.’

Notice her use of “I-statements” and the “say what you see” method. Both are meant to make your son less defensive and more open. Which brings us to two other things teachers are trained to do: Avoid overt power struggles, and, relatedly, keep things light and playful whenever possible.

Since that can be hard to do when you’re tired and isolated, make online learning as social as possible. Encourage teachers’ attempts to bond with your son. If they send a postcard or letter, give your kid a nudge and the supplies to write back. Perhaps setup virtual study dates with friends “to give that shared experience of, ‘My friend and I can talk about the funny video that the teacher posted’ instead of ‘It’s just me in my living room, watching this video.’ Others have gotten creative about finding or maintaining community in ways that are both safe and equitable.

Embrace a growth mindset

Individuals who believe their talents can be developed (through hard work, good strategies and input from others) have a growth mindset. They tend to achieve more than those with a more fixed mindset (those who believe their talents are innate gifts). This is because they worry less about looking smart and they put more energy into learning.”

When a child encounters a lesson they expect to be able to do and can’t try, “Okay, so you don’t get it now, but what questions do we need to send to the teacher?” Adding the word “yet” to the end of a student’s sentence. “I just don’t get it,” can help them establish a growth mindset.

Accept Emotions

The ending of in-person teaching is a life-altering event for teens. As the closures were extended and postponed events became canceled events, teens became anxious, scared, angry, and sad. And, teens may be unable to process or label these emotions. Accept that your sons are feeling very valid and very intense emotions. Then show them how to not react to those strong emotions, how to control emotions when they feel out of control, and how to reduce the intensity of those emotions.

Again, here is where you can be a role model. A parent's ability to manage their emotions is related to how well teens weather stressful situations and how well teens manage their emotions. If you model how to label and think about emotions, you are providing your teens with a guide for how they should label and think about their emotions.

Stay as positive as you can

You’ve got all this right? No problem?

For many of us, life already felt like a juggling act before we heard the term “coronavirus”. Children look to their parents to figure out how to react to new or intimidating situations. If their parents seem skeptical or defeated, then they’re likely to follow suit.”

So motivate them, not just by creating a work space, establishing rules and systems, making work meaningful, playing to strengths, encouraging a growth mindset, and focusing on relationships, but by staying as positive about online learning as you can.

Further Information

For further advice from the Government - click here