One of the most difficult aspects of becoming a teacher is learning how to motivate your students. It is also one of the most important. Pupils who are not motivated will not learn effectively. They won’t retain information, they won’t participate and some of them may even become disruptive. A student can be unmotivated for an array of reasons. For instance, they may simply feel that they have no interest in the subject, or they find the teachers methods boring. Some may simply be preoccupied by external distractions.

When it comes to motivating students there is no one-size-fits-all approach. As individuals we are all different, therefore we are all motivated by different things. Some students are self-motivated with an innate love of learning. Some students are motivated by extrinsic factors such as their parent’s expectations, or the knowledge that they will earn a place on a particular course if they work hard.

Other students are motivated by a desire to avoid failure and will often do what it takes to pass an exam or course, but they won’t choose to go beyond the minimum required as a consequence of their fear of failure. Nonetheless, even students lacking that natural drive can be inspired by a good teacher. This involves making learning fun and encouraging students to reach their full potential.

To understand what the best methods for motivating students are, it is important to know how motivation in the classroom works. James Middleton, Joan Littlefield, and Rich Lehrer have proposed the following model of academic motivation.

First, given the opportunity to engage in a learning activity a student determines if the activity is one that is known to be interesting. If so, the student engages in the activity. If not, then the student evaluates the activity on two factors – the stimulation (e.g. challenge, curiosity, fantasy) it provides and the personal control (e.g. free choice, not too difficult) it affords.

If the student perceives the activity as stimulating and controllable, then the student tentatively labels the activity as interesting and engages in it. If either condition becomes insufficient, then the student disengages from the activity, unless some extrinsic motivator influences the student to continue.

If the activity is repeatedly deemed stimulating and controllable then the student may deem the activity interesting. As such, the student will be more likely to engage with the activity in the future.

If over time activities that are deemed interesting provide little stimulation or control, then the student will remove the activity from his or her mental list of interesting activities.

Based on this model, one of the main challenges for teachers is providing learning activities that are both stimulating and offer students a degree of personal control.

Here are a few more ideas of how teachers can motivate their students:

Get to know your students on a personal level. This will allow you to understand what stimulates them and what they struggle with. Taking a personal interest in students learning will help inspire them to work hard. Moreover, it will create mutual respect between you and your class and minimise the likelihood of classroom disruption.

Give students as much control over their own education as possible. Let students choose paper and project topics that interest them. Assess them in a variety of ways, whether its tests, papers, projects or presentations. This gives students more control over how they show their understanding to you.

Be free with your praise and constructive in your criticism. Negative comments should relate to particular performances, not the individual themselves. Offer non-judgmental feedback on students’ work, stress opportunities to improve and avoid dividing students into sheep and goats.

Do something different. For instance, why not write personalised uplifting messages across your student’s desks in the aim to give them a boost of confidence before an exam. Gestures such as this can help to demonstrate that you genuinely care about the success of your students. You will then become an extrinsic motivator for them as they won’t want to feel as though they have let you down if they don’t work towards achieving their full potential.

George Orwell’s political fable Animal Farm has been voted the nation’s favourite ever school book in new research commissioned for International Children’s Book Day 2021.

The study, conducted by Oxford Home Schooling, asked 2,000 of the nation’s adults which books they most enjoyed reading when they were at school, with Orwell’s classic picked by 25% of respondents. 1984 also came in fourth place.

In second place was Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol with 21% of the vote, followed by John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men (19%).

Orwell and Dickens both appear twice in the top 10, as does William Shakespeare. Romeo and Juliet is the UK’s favourite play by The Bard, ahead of Macbeth.

The majority of the most popular books were written in the 1900s, with just three publications from the 21st century making the top 40. The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, a Holocaust Novel written by John Boyne was the highest rated work from this millennium (published in 2006).

The UK’s top 10 favourite school books are:

1. Animal Farm (George Orwell)
2. A Christmas Carol (Charles Dickens)
3. Of Mice and Men (John Steinbeck)
4. 1984 (George Orwell)
5. Romeo and Juliet (William Shakespeare)
6. To Kill a Mockingbird (Harper Lee)
7. Great Expectations (Charles Dickens)
8. Macbeth (William Shakespeare)
9. Jane Eyre (Charlotte Brontë)
10. Lord of the Flies (William Golding)

Greg Smith, Head of Operations at Oxford Home Schooling, said: “The books we read at school can affect our general interest in reading in later life, so it’s really important that people enjoy the novels given to them.

“Animal Farm is an incredibly powerful story and it’s not surprising to see that people remember it fondly. It also topped our rankings when we ran this study five years ago, showing that its popularity is enduring.

“However, it’s also interesting to see other works creep up towards the top of the lists. We’ll have to see whether Orwell can complete a hat-trick in years to come, or whether a new favourite will emerge!”

Boris Johnson’s government is considering extending its schools breakfast programme beyond the current deadline of July, the children’s ministers has confirmed.

Funded by the Department for Education, the programme aims to support children in disadvantaged communities by providing access to free healthy breakfasts during the on-going Covid-19 pandemic.

Vicky Ford confirmed that the government is “considering options” when pressed on the issue by Labour’s Emma Lewell-Buck in the House of Commons yesterday.

Lewell-Buck, MP for South Shields, asked: “The Government’s current school breakfast programme only provides for 7% of schools that meet the Government’s deprivation criteria and it ends in July.

“Pre-pandemic, up to two million children were starting their school day without a breakfast.

“My School Breakfast Bill would extend and scale up provision via funds from the soft drinks levy – please can she ask the Chancellor to implement my Bill and get breakfast in the Budget?”

In response, Ms Ford said: I completely agree that a healthy and nutritious breakfast sets a child up for a learning day. We have extended the programme until July of this year and are considering options for breakfast provision beyond that date.

“We are engaging with the market to help develop those options and we expect to be able to say more very soon.”

The school’s breakfasts programme was revised in Autumn 2020 to ensure that more disadvantaged pupils, across both primary and secondary schools, have access to a free and nutritious breakfast.

Schools are offered breakfast delivery grants and deliveries of healthy food to ensure all children who need it can access breakfast, at home or at school.

The programme is run by Family Action and Magic Breakfast, two UK based charities focused on providing practical, emotional and financial support to those who are experiencing poverty, disadvantage and social isolation across the country.

The hugely popular Educating Greater Manchester has returned to television screens across the UK.

It is the fifth series of the BAFTA award-winning British documentary Educating, broadcast on Channel 4. The documentary follows previous instalments in the Educating series including Educating Essex, Yorkshire, East End and Cardiff. The fifth series was filmed at Harrop Fold School in Little Hulton, Salford.

The new 2020 series revisited Salford for a second time – the first time the Educating series has returned to the same school.

Filmed as a fly-on-the-wall documentary, the series provides a warm and honest exploration of what life’s like for students and their teachers at Harrop Fold, a secondary school at the heart of a changing community on the outskirts of Manchester.

The programme was filmed continuously across the 2018 school year, before the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, and provides a closer look at the daily lives of students at school. The series also follows the hard work of the school’s staff, led by Headteacher Drew Povey.

Cameras capture the drama of teenage life within school, following numerous student characters to give viewers a true insight into life in a modern British school.

From bunking off and prank phone calls to leadership debates and therapy animals, the series will have you laughing, crying and reminiscing about your own experience of life at school.

You can watch the new series by clicking here.

Teachers should focus on praising children for good behaviour rather than telling them off for being disruptive, according to a study.

Pupils are more likely to focus in class and concentrate on their schoolwork if they are commended rather than reprimanded, according to research published in Educational Psychology.

Researchers in North America spent three years monitoring 2,536 children aged between 5 and 12 at schools across three US states.

They examined the number of praise statements teachers gave out, compared with the number of reprimands – which they termed the praise-to-reprimand (PRR) ratio, and the impact it had on pupils.

In half of the classrooms, teachers followed a behaviour programme in which students are told the social skills they should be showing in lessons and are rewarded for using them.

Teachers used their typical classroom management practices in the other half of the classes.

The research findings suggest that in the classes with the highest PRR, pupils spent 20 to 30 percent longer paying attention to the teacher or their task, compared with those where the PRR was the lowest.

Dr Paul Caldarella, the academic from Brigham Young University who led the study, said: “Unfortunately, previous research has shown that teachers often tend to reprimand students for problem behaviour as much or more than they praise pupils for appropriate behaviour, which can often have a negative effect on classrooms and student behaviour.

“Praise is a form of teacher feedback, and students need that feedback to understand what behaviour is expected of them, and what behaviour is valued by teachers.”

“Everyone values being praised and recognised for their endeavours – it is a huge part of nurturing children’s self-esteem and confidence,” he added.

Schools in the Welsh county of Ceredigion are to stop using plastic milk bottles.

The measure comes as part of the local councils plans to reduce it’s single-use plastic usage, with more than 400,000 plastic milk bottles used in the county’s schools every year.

It is also looking to introduce non-polyester uniforms in a bid to become plastic-free.

“It would be great to come up with a solution to get rid of all plastic bottles going through our schools,” said local councillor Elizabeth Evans.

The council is already using paper straws or beakers in schools, stopped using plastic wrappers for paper work and removed plastic cutlery, pre-packed sauce sachets and single-use cups from the civic canteens, reports the BBC.

It has also held talks with suppliers and schools, as well as ensuring water bottle refill points are available in a wide array of council buildings.

Alun Williams, cabinet member for sustainability, told the council’s thriving communities committee people across the county had taken the issue on board, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

A GCSE in British Sign Language (BSL) could be introduced in the UK before the next general election following a campaign by a deaf schoolboy.

The government reversed its decision to delay any new qualifications after Daniel Jillings, 12, and his family, from Suffolk, campaigned for one to be available in time for his GCSEs.

In May, the government said it was “open to considering” a BSL GCSE “for possible introduction in the longer term”, but insisted there were no plans to do so until after the next election, scheduled for 2022, “to allow schools a period of stability”.

Since then, Daniel and his family have raised thousands of pounds through online crowdfunding after they decided to fight for his right to take the exam with his other GCSEs in less than four years’ time.

The family’s lawyers successfully argued that the lack of a BSL GCSE might be “discriminatory and unlawful”, as it is his first language. Ministers may now be forced to make an “exception”.

Ann Jillings, Daniel’s mother, said: “We are not asking for any special treatment, all we want is for Daniel and other deaf children across the country to be given the same opportunities as other pupils.”

In response, School Standards Minister Nick Gibb said: “We will consider any proposals put forward for a GCSE in British Sign Language.” However, he stressed it would “need to meet the rigorous standards set by both the department and Ofqual”.

A high-performing comprehensive will adopt a four-and-a-half day week to create a happier workforce, boost productivity and tackle teacher shortages.

From September, students at Forest Gate Community school in east London, rated “outstanding” by Ofsted, will leave just after midday every Friday afternoon.

The school will remain open until 5pm for supervised study and talks from guest speakers, though attendance is optional, a letter to parents confirmed this week.

Staff will be given training to manage the shorter timetable ahead of the introduction of the new policy at the start of the next academic year. Pay, holiday entitlement and benefits for teachers will remain unchanged, according to the school.

The change comes following a similar experiment at a financial company in New Zealand, where switching to a four day week led to a 20% boost in productivity and a happier workforce.

Forest Gate executive headteacher Simon Elliott said that despite the shorter timetable the school would maintain its high standards and results.

He said: ’We are confident that the introduction of a shorter timetable will not impact on our capacity to continue to achieve among the very best results in the country.

‘On the contrary, with believe happier, less stressed staff who feel valued will help create the type of learning environment to improve productivity.’

A south London school is forcing children to cycle with number plates on their bikes to crack down on irresponsible cycling.

Teachers at Stanley Park High are introducing the scheme so members of the public can report pupils cycling dangerously.

Headteacher Amit Amin wrote on the school’s website: “Students without a number plate will not be permitted to cycle to school or lock their bicycles on school grounds.”

The measure, he said, was being introduced after incidents of children cycling in a way that “endangers themselves and others”.

While the measure will make it easier for the public to report the children behaving badly on their bikes, it is part of a wider scheme being introduced on 1 October aimed at encouraging cycling, which includes subsidised bike lights and maintenance workshops.

However, Charity Cycling UK says that putting restrictions on children cycling “could have a negative effect” on the number of them who choose to ride to school.

Duncan Dollimore, road safety and legal campaigns officer at the charity, questioned why the Carshalton school wanted to “make cycling to school more difficult”.

Mr Dollimore believes schools should focus on encouraging local authorities to adopt 20mph speed limits and traffic calming measures.

Ed Sheeran has spoken out against cuts to music education in state schools, saying he benefited from the tuition he received as a student.

The singer-songwriter, 27, posted a screenshot of an online article on The Financial Times website in which UK Music, an industry lobby, said a decline in music lessons in schools risks the development of successful pop stars like Sheeran and Adele.

Sheeran, who attended a secondary school in Suffolk, wrote: “I feel very strongly about this. I benefited hugely from state school music, as I’m sure many other UK musicians have.

“If you keep cutting the funding for arts you’re going to be damaging one of Britain’s best and most lucrative exports. Anyway, one to think about.”

UK Music has said cuts to state school arts budgets mean budding musicians are increasingly dependent on private school teaching and funding from their parents in order to pursue their talents.

The number of students taking GCSE music fell by 7% last year, and 8% the year before.

A government programme has allocated funds of £98 million for talented music, drama and dance pupils.

But UK Music has argued that rather than encouraging pupils to take up musical instrument lessons, the scheme is likely to “benefit those who have already been identified as exceptionally gifted”.