Parents and teachers are always looking for ways to increase our children’s motivation, engagement and achievement. Unfortunately, the post COVID world has seen an increasing number of students feeling anxious, distracted or disinterested in the learning process. Perhaps we sometimes feel frustrated that, like the horse in the quotation above, our young people are not eagerly taking up the riches of learning they have been offered.

This week we were very pleased to have Dr Andrew Martin, Professor of Educational Psychology from the University of New South Wales, share with Barker staff his research into promoting academic achievement and how we can encourage our students to develop what he calls ‘academic buoyancy’. Academic buoyancy is the ability to successfully deal with learning setbacks and challenges that are typical in the ordinary course of school life. Dr Martin reminded us that you cannot force success on someone, (referencing the horse drinking quotation above) but you can create the climate in which aspiration for that success is far more appealing. His research and practical resources support our focus on challenge, care and connection for building capacity in our learners.

Dr Martin shared with us his 5 C’s for building motivation and engagement. With his permission I will list them here and add my own tips for parents:

Confidence – take the time to speak with your child in ways that will strengthen their self-belief. Try to avoid solving problems for them but do be there for support and advice as they wrestle with challenges—and continue to encourage them for the ways they are growing through this.

Control – encourage your young person to discuss the things they can control, for example their effort, their strategy and their attitude. Avoid giving airtime to external forces which are the things that are not within their control.

Composure – work with your student to manage moments of anxiety to help them keep all things regarding their learning in perspective. It can be useful to approach catastrophising on a sliding scale. Ask your child to share what they consider could be the worst thing that could happen, then to consider what is the best thing that could happen and then consider the likelihood of the result being somewhere in the middle. This can be a really useful exercise.

Coordination – encourage your learner to plan ahead, embrace organisation and foresee risks on the horizon.

To further support the development of these competencies, parents are reminded that all students have access to an online resource,Study Skills Handbookthat students have access too. Discuss access with your child or contact the school for login details.

We know that relationships are central to excellent outcomes in learning. Using the 5 C’s in our conversations are part of the climate control we want to establish for our students. In our classrooms at school and in the conversations at home we seek to work together to help our children be thirsty learners.

If you would like to read further on this topic, I commend Dr Martin’s book titled: How to Motivate Your Child for School and Beyond.