Student Motivation
There are many aspects of this dimension - as each and every student and class is different to the next. Linking closely to Pedagogical Content Knowledge, if we don't have the tools to teach then we don't have the tools to motivate our students to learn.
|
|
Sadly, teaching has a stereotype that involves a teaching standing at the front of a class, delivering instructions to all students - in exactly the same way (Loughran, 2014; Ewing, 2014). However, each and every classroom has a wide variety of learning styles and student intelligences, seen below. It is vital for an educator to analyse each situation in order to get full motivation from their students and finally greater achievement levels. As Loughran (2014) explains, an expert teacher is able to put their own learning into practice, in different subjects, with multiple learners at the same time. Understanding that their are many ways to teacher outside of the stereotype goes a long way to increase student's creativity and knowledge in order to assist them develop necessary skills to succeed in the future.
In understanding this, research also shows that with a strong teacher-student relationship comes a greater value of school, learning focus, participation and educational aspirations (Martin, 2014). His research also showed that this relationship reduced anxiety and disengagement. |
"Differentiating does not mean providing separate, unrelated activities for each student but does mean providing interrelated activities that are based on student needs for the purpose of ensuring that all students come to a similar grasp of a skill or idea.” (Good, 2006)
In doing this we keep students motivated and engaged to continue their learning. Being an expert in this area allows teachers to get the best out of their students. Differentiation also helps with creativity and leads to the development of life skills that assist in becoming a functioning member of society. Teachers need to have the knowledge of how each student learns and implement this into their learning programs (Morgan, 2014; WIllis and Mann, 2000). |