<p>Children lose their motivation to study if they do not connect with what is being said. Ali Khwaja explains how to reinstill the motivation<br /><br /></p>.<p>When you bring something in front of a baby, he is immediately interested and may want to grab it. When he grows little bigger, he is all over the place, investigating, exploring and experiencing everything within his reach. Every child is born naturally curious. He uses all his five senses to find out about anything new that he can see, hold, touch, taste or feel. Often parents have difficulty holding him back. They get embarrassed when they take him out and he starts grabbing anything new that he sees.<br /><br />What does this prove? Every child wants to learn. He does not have to be taught or pushed, he is more than interested in finding out all about the world around him, and to keep expanding his frontiers.Then the child is admitted in school. Within a few years parents have to face the embarrassment of being called by the teacher and told, “Your child is quite intelligent and capable, but just does not work hard. He is not interested in studies, and is too distracted.” What could have caused such a major change in attitude of the child within a few years of getting into schooling?<br /><br />Giving the right platform<br /><br />The answer is obvious – the child has lost motivation, and does not seem to connect with what is being taught to him. His curiosity and exploratory nature remains – but gets diverted into areas other than his text books and studies. Let us accept a time-proven fact: Children have always wanted to learn and will continue to do so regardless of what their elders say or do. If they are bundled into closed classrooms, made to sit in rows without talking, and are expected to monotonously listen, write notes and memorize what is being told to them, then obviously they will lose their motivation and desire sooner or later. In fact as a counselor I am often amazed that we still have a few children who actually have a desire to learn through the text books and classroom lectures!<br /><br />The fact is that if we give the right platform and motivate children to learn the way they are happy to, and also convince them how learning will be useful in life, their enthusiasm and desire to learn will increase significantly. They will take charge of their own learning, and the teacher’s job will become much easier. Let us list down what parents and teachers can do:<br /><br />For Parents<br /><br />* Take your child to a few different schools and allow him to roam around the campus before you finalize admission.<br /><br />* Meet the child’s class teacher along with him; praise his academic and non-academic proficiencies. Avoid mentioning anything negative about him.<br /><br />* When the school week is about to start, discuss what activities and entertainment awaits him in the weekend.<br /><br />* Initially try to drop him off and pick him up personally. Do not be late in picking him up.<br /><br />* Allow him to comment freely about his teachers and other people in school, even if he has negative feelings about them. Empathise with him, and teach him that he has to deal with good and bad people everywhere.<br /><br />* Take interest in his textbooks and the subjects he is studying. Read along with him, and recollect what you had studied.<br /><br />* Explain on a regular basis the connection between each subject and his real life issues. Help him understand that studying is not just to get marks.<br /><br />* Reward him and praise him for his efforts – even if they don’t lead to good results. Celebrate with him whenever he learns a particular concept, gains some insights and picks up a skill. Do not restrict your praise only when he gets good marks.<br /><br />* Talk to him about how Indian students go through rigorous education in wide range of subjects, hence they do exceedingly well at the global level. Talk to him and make him find out more about the prowess of Indian students who have overtaken Western ones and reached great heights – such as Sathya Nadella, Sabir Bhatia, Indira Nooyi, Kiran Mazumdar Shaw.<br /><br />* Encourage him right from primary school days to explore different career options, allow him to dream, dream, dream of a bright future.<br /><br />For Teachers<br /><br />* Ensure you create a warm and welcoming impression whenever new students join your class every year. Children learn much better from teachers who they like.<br /><br />* Explain the significance of the subject you are teaching, how it will be useful to them regardless of what career they take up.<br /><br />* Express to them how passionate you are about the subject, how you genuinely love it, and how you can together learn many exciting things through that subject.<br /><br />* Periodically keep reviewing the significance of the subject taking up each career in turn.<br /><br />* Always answer questions, even if they sound stupid, at least briefly. Ask students to meet you after class if they have further doubts.<br /><br />* If possible give choices to the students what they would like to study in a particular subject, how much portion should be covered. Do a recap of the previous period before moving on, as this will ensure continuity in their minds.<br /><br />* Give inputs to the students on the topic being taught, by referring beyond text books: give them web-links, general books on the topic in the library, models, and explore how they can learn more outside the school at the practical level.<br /><br />* Encourage students who want to contribute to the learning through their own exploration or knowledge acquired outside.<br /><br />* Keep talking positively to them about various career choices, how opportunities are increasing laterally, and they need not get too anxious about competition. Discuss with them unusual or sunrise careers beyond the traditional ones.<br /><br />* Try to bring experts to talk to the students, those who are knowledgeable about the subject, or whose career involves expertise in that subject.<br /><br />* Never put down or question the extra-curricular activities the students love. In fact try to connect them with the subjects.<br /><br />* Use if possible, or at least encourage the students to use their sources of entertainment as means of learning – selected TV channels, websites, blogs, WhatsApp groups, Smart Phones.<br /><br />Using simple tips<br /><br />Despite best efforts there will be some students who will be resistant to learning or following discipline. Simple tips can be used to make them understand why rules are important. For example, I often tell students that everyone in India has to drive on the left side of the road. I ask them what will happen if someone rebels and wants to drive on the right side. <br /><br />Then I tell them that if they go abroad later in life, they will have to drive on the right side of the road, in countries like USA. What will happen if they go there and say that since we are Indians we will drive on the left? These types of brainstorming and group discussions do bring down resistance and children become more tuned towards following syllabus, norms.<br /><br />Lastly, it is important that we sympathise with students who are bright but find they are not fitting into the education system, who feel constrained and frustrated. Listen to them, gently reflect their emotions, empathise, and then talk about how they will learn to cope with the procedures till they are old enough to get out of school or college. Even an average student who is self-motivated and understands the value of academics will perform very well and find his niche in today’s fast expanding world of innumerable careers and bright opportunities.</p>
<p>Children lose their motivation to study if they do not connect with what is being said. Ali Khwaja explains how to reinstill the motivation<br /><br /></p>.<p>When you bring something in front of a baby, he is immediately interested and may want to grab it. When he grows little bigger, he is all over the place, investigating, exploring and experiencing everything within his reach. Every child is born naturally curious. He uses all his five senses to find out about anything new that he can see, hold, touch, taste or feel. Often parents have difficulty holding him back. They get embarrassed when they take him out and he starts grabbing anything new that he sees.<br /><br />What does this prove? Every child wants to learn. He does not have to be taught or pushed, he is more than interested in finding out all about the world around him, and to keep expanding his frontiers.Then the child is admitted in school. Within a few years parents have to face the embarrassment of being called by the teacher and told, “Your child is quite intelligent and capable, but just does not work hard. He is not interested in studies, and is too distracted.” What could have caused such a major change in attitude of the child within a few years of getting into schooling?<br /><br />Giving the right platform<br /><br />The answer is obvious – the child has lost motivation, and does not seem to connect with what is being taught to him. His curiosity and exploratory nature remains – but gets diverted into areas other than his text books and studies. Let us accept a time-proven fact: Children have always wanted to learn and will continue to do so regardless of what their elders say or do. If they are bundled into closed classrooms, made to sit in rows without talking, and are expected to monotonously listen, write notes and memorize what is being told to them, then obviously they will lose their motivation and desire sooner or later. In fact as a counselor I am often amazed that we still have a few children who actually have a desire to learn through the text books and classroom lectures!<br /><br />The fact is that if we give the right platform and motivate children to learn the way they are happy to, and also convince them how learning will be useful in life, their enthusiasm and desire to learn will increase significantly. They will take charge of their own learning, and the teacher’s job will become much easier. Let us list down what parents and teachers can do:<br /><br />For Parents<br /><br />* Take your child to a few different schools and allow him to roam around the campus before you finalize admission.<br /><br />* Meet the child’s class teacher along with him; praise his academic and non-academic proficiencies. Avoid mentioning anything negative about him.<br /><br />* When the school week is about to start, discuss what activities and entertainment awaits him in the weekend.<br /><br />* Initially try to drop him off and pick him up personally. Do not be late in picking him up.<br /><br />* Allow him to comment freely about his teachers and other people in school, even if he has negative feelings about them. Empathise with him, and teach him that he has to deal with good and bad people everywhere.<br /><br />* Take interest in his textbooks and the subjects he is studying. Read along with him, and recollect what you had studied.<br /><br />* Explain on a regular basis the connection between each subject and his real life issues. Help him understand that studying is not just to get marks.<br /><br />* Reward him and praise him for his efforts – even if they don’t lead to good results. Celebrate with him whenever he learns a particular concept, gains some insights and picks up a skill. Do not restrict your praise only when he gets good marks.<br /><br />* Talk to him about how Indian students go through rigorous education in wide range of subjects, hence they do exceedingly well at the global level. Talk to him and make him find out more about the prowess of Indian students who have overtaken Western ones and reached great heights – such as Sathya Nadella, Sabir Bhatia, Indira Nooyi, Kiran Mazumdar Shaw.<br /><br />* Encourage him right from primary school days to explore different career options, allow him to dream, dream, dream of a bright future.<br /><br />For Teachers<br /><br />* Ensure you create a warm and welcoming impression whenever new students join your class every year. Children learn much better from teachers who they like.<br /><br />* Explain the significance of the subject you are teaching, how it will be useful to them regardless of what career they take up.<br /><br />* Express to them how passionate you are about the subject, how you genuinely love it, and how you can together learn many exciting things through that subject.<br /><br />* Periodically keep reviewing the significance of the subject taking up each career in turn.<br /><br />* Always answer questions, even if they sound stupid, at least briefly. Ask students to meet you after class if they have further doubts.<br /><br />* If possible give choices to the students what they would like to study in a particular subject, how much portion should be covered. Do a recap of the previous period before moving on, as this will ensure continuity in their minds.<br /><br />* Give inputs to the students on the topic being taught, by referring beyond text books: give them web-links, general books on the topic in the library, models, and explore how they can learn more outside the school at the practical level.<br /><br />* Encourage students who want to contribute to the learning through their own exploration or knowledge acquired outside.<br /><br />* Keep talking positively to them about various career choices, how opportunities are increasing laterally, and they need not get too anxious about competition. Discuss with them unusual or sunrise careers beyond the traditional ones.<br /><br />* Try to bring experts to talk to the students, those who are knowledgeable about the subject, or whose career involves expertise in that subject.<br /><br />* Never put down or question the extra-curricular activities the students love. In fact try to connect them with the subjects.<br /><br />* Use if possible, or at least encourage the students to use their sources of entertainment as means of learning – selected TV channels, websites, blogs, WhatsApp groups, Smart Phones.<br /><br />Using simple tips<br /><br />Despite best efforts there will be some students who will be resistant to learning or following discipline. Simple tips can be used to make them understand why rules are important. For example, I often tell students that everyone in India has to drive on the left side of the road. I ask them what will happen if someone rebels and wants to drive on the right side. <br /><br />Then I tell them that if they go abroad later in life, they will have to drive on the right side of the road, in countries like USA. What will happen if they go there and say that since we are Indians we will drive on the left? These types of brainstorming and group discussions do bring down resistance and children become more tuned towards following syllabus, norms.<br /><br />Lastly, it is important that we sympathise with students who are bright but find they are not fitting into the education system, who feel constrained and frustrated. Listen to them, gently reflect their emotions, empathise, and then talk about how they will learn to cope with the procedures till they are old enough to get out of school or college. Even an average student who is self-motivated and understands the value of academics will perform very well and find his niche in today’s fast expanding world of innumerable careers and bright opportunities.</p>