CONTEXT…

This is the $64Million Question…

Teachers are constantly asking me for answers and it’s certainly given me cause for thought over the past few years.

I do NOT have THE answers, but I do have some observations of what is different today, versus the ‘past’.

I know you can’t generalise, but I do believe that there have been some movements and trends throughout the years:

First…there are ONLY 2 motivating factors that us humans are driven by…

1. Avoiding Pain – things we want to get away from.
2. Seeking Pleasure – getting more of the things we want.

ALSO, you need to know that ‘Avoiding Pain’ is a bigger motivator than seeking pleasure.

SO, what’s changed then?

My observation is that ‘many’ of the ‘AVOIDING PAIN’ motivators (which are so powerful) have either diminished or GONE altogether…

Factor 1 : Religion – going to ‘HELL’ used to be a big thing; today it is not. Religious shame was a very powerful motivating force in the past to ‘make you do things’ – but, not now.

Factor 2 : ‘Victorian’ dad – this role has softened over the years as the children have taken on an ever bigger role in society and the ‘father figure’ diminished. There was once a time when the father of the house was someone to ‘fear’ if you stepped out of line, but this has changed.

Factor 3 : Corporal Punishment – ‘getting the cane’ was a big thing when I was at school; Mr Goodman (the scary deputy headteacher) was someone to be avoided at all costs. NOW you can’t ‘touch’ a child for fear of being sued and sacked from your post.

Factor 4 : Poverty – this is becoming a thing of the past. Most people have heating, lighting, water, clothes, food and all of the mod cons (phones, tv’s etc…). When I was a kid, this was not the case; we even had paraffin heaters and home-made beds/clothes. Life in general is loads easier. Heating, washing your clothes, cooking and cleaning your house is now cheaper and a whole lot faster.

Factor 5 : Personal Responsibility – in my view, I believe that kids do less ‘jobs’ than they used to. They have more leisure time and less chores. There is no responsibility placed upon young children in preparation for their future years. My own feeling is that ‘jobs’ are good; they help kids appreciate the ‘value’ of things.

Factor 6 : The Internet – the dawn of the internet has now meant that kids can do less ‘thinking’ to complete tasks etc… this breeds laziness.

Factor 7 : Pressure from OFSTED and SATS - this pressure has meant that teachers want the results ‘more than the kids’!!! How mad is that? In my view, we should let students ‘fail’ more often to help them understand the value of success.

Factor 8 : Grown-ups are too often giving answers rather than asking questions – this is a big factor that is largely misunderstood. You don’t have to ‘think’ when someone gives you an answer, but you do have to ‘think’ when you answer a question. The process of thinking is ‘learning’ and takes effort. Grown-ups are often poor listeners and poor questioners; this means that you ‘talk at them and tell them stuff’, rather than letting them find out for themselves.

That’s it. My 8 factors that have contributed massively to making students less motivated and ‘hungry’ than they used to be…

It’s the reason why I have a ‘career’…!!

These WILL change your life – I should know – they changed mine !!

When you think about it….

Whatever we do as students, or anything else for that matter, the idea of a New Year’s resolution is all about growth, and there’s only 2 areas that resolutions are ever focused on… FACT.

1. Growing your mind.
2. Growing your body.

That’s it…

So when people talk about being healthy, or making money, or seeing more of their family, or going out more, then you know it has something to do with one or both of these things.

OK. So to make life easy, I’ll give you 4 things to do that cost NO money at ALL that nutritionists and health experts tell me to do.

GROWING YOUR BODY – HELPING YOU TO LOOK AND FEEL GOOD

1. Sleep for 8 hours – WHY? Because sleep is the time when your body replenishes and rebuilds. This cannot be done in the gym or on the sofa!! 7 hours is not enough – FACT – even though you know someone who only has 6 hours per night and they seem fine etc… This is not about survival, this is about being at your best.

2. Chew your food – WHY? Your body’s energy levels are only as good as what it gets from you. The body likes food that is as small as possible because it takes less work and energy for your body to process. The less energy it takes, the more it gives you! This means you won’t be tired at 4 o’clock in the afternoon and yawning!!!

3. Exercise for 30 minutes every day – WHY? Expending energy builds energy!! It also makes you FEEL good and look good, improving your confidence etc… This exercise, preferably aerobic but maybe just walking, whatever it is, will keep you in great shape physically and mentally.

4. Drink a small glass of water every hour – WHY? If Your body is depleted by water by just 2 % it will have 20% less power to concentrate. The reason you don’t notice is because you’re always dehydrated!! When you’re born you are 98% water, when you die < 50%!

GROWING YOUR MIND – DEVELOPING YOUR MIND AS WELL AS YOUR BODY

1. Say ‘WHY NOT?’ – WHY? People always say “Yes” or “No”, but this is a ‘closed minded approach’, because it means you’ve already decided. When you say “Why not?”, this lets things into your life and opens your outlook…it’s totally changed my world and allowed some MASSIVE opportunities to flourish.

2. Take a genuine interest in other people and say “Tell me more” – WHY? Let’s face it; you don’t have all of the answers, nobody ever does. But when you say “Tell Me More”, this way you get to find out loads of things for free and you’ll make more friends and more money ( I should know!!)

3. Accept what is and accept yourself… WHY? People normally try to be ‘Superman/Superwoman’. They want everything to be ‘just fine’ so they tell themselves that things are fine when they’re not and even pretend to others that this is the case.

4. Be honest with you and your friends. Learn to like ‘YOU’ for who you are. If you feel sad – be sad. If you’re happy – be happy. Let it out, express yourself, be honest with yourself and others – there is still a place for diplomacy !! – but stop trying to be someone you’re not. No-one has a perfect life. This doesn’t happen.

5. Avoid negative disempowering language – WHY? It makes you FEEL negative and negative people sap your energy. Turn everything you say into a positive. This is NOT about being cheesy or false. It’s about having fun and feeling good.

Q. Do any negative observations seriously help anyone (aside from constructive feedback)? If you make people feel good, they’ll want to do the same with you and spend time with you!!! This is dead powerful. Avoid words like I hate, or I don’t like – it makes you and others FEEL negative, e.g. “what I really like about Jon” vs “What I hate about him”, “What I really like about this” vs “What I really don’t like?”, “This could be good” vs “This is rubbish”.

I wouldn’t recommend you say these things, BUT teachers always like something in their armoury.

These are some ideas I stole from a forum on the TES

“This is boring… !!”

1. “Yeah but, not as boring as detention…”
2. “Bored are you?  Let me check my ‘bovvered drawer’ (search in drawer) ‘nope, that’s empty”
3. “Good!”
4. “Maybe it is, but it needs to be finished by the end of the lesson so that you can go out to break.”
5. “Then make sure you learn it thoroughly…it’ll be even more boring if you have to revise it for a resit”!
6. “I didn’t realise you like me so much. Four lessons a week isn’t enough for you but hey, if you want to make it five during your lunch break, then I guess there’s not a lot I can do about it except be flattered”
7. “Nope…..YOU are bored. There’s a difference.”
8. “What is that hideous noise? … Oh it’s you.”
9. “I’m sure you’re trying to tell me something, but I’m not sure what.”
10. “What has 2 thumbs and doesn’t give a crap? (gestures at self with both thumbs and a smile !)

The ONE and ONLY thing I have learnt in 2009 that has reinforced my belief and fervour in what I do…

DON’T BELIEVE WHAT PEOPLE TELL YOU…. AND DO YOUR OWN THING!

Some teachers told me with ‘The Big Picture’ …

1. You’ll have nothing to talk about!!
2. You can’t charge schools money for what you do.
3. You’ll never work with more than a classroom of students at a time.

BUT, it’s funny because…

1. I’ve now got 5 different talks all lasting 2 hours including ‘The Big Picture’, ‘The Big Picture Pt II’, ‘The Big Leap & Pt II’ and also ‘The Bigger Picture’.
2. I do charge schools for what I do even though it started out being FREE.
3. I now work with up to 350 students at a time.

Then it got even better. They told me…

1. You won’t be able to make what you do long lasting.
2. You won’t get schools to ‘repeat buy’ what you do.
3. The students will soon get bored of what you do.

Well…

1. The material and learning we have goes throughout the whole year. We have PSHE material that develops students in the form of lesson plans and school assemblies that teachers use all year round.
2. Schools are not only ‘repeat buying’ but they’re also investing in multiple year groups all at once. They hire us for Year 7’s, 10’s and 11’s all at once and then follow up with Year 8’s, 9’s and 6th Formers. We have nearly 40 schools that have committed to multiple year groups this year alone; last year it was ZERO !!!
3. The students are following ‘The Big Picture’ in growing numbers. We now have nearly 1700 members of ‘The Big Picture Keith Warren’ and also have a new group formed (BUT NOT by me) it’s called the “Keith Warren has been to my school” !!!

So, what’s next in 2010 ?

* Target numbers of schools x 225
* More FREE teaching resources for schools
* Edit and publish the 3 books that I’ve written
* Run a Big Picture festival in Stockport with 100’s of students
* Develop the Facebook page to 7000 students!!
* Film inspirational advice for students about careers to go onto ‘YouTube’
* Load up inspirational films and quotes to help students get focused
* Personality profiling to help students learn more about themselves
* Managing Money – A program for students AND “How to make a $Million Quid?”