Lack of Motivation in Students (A Guide to Compassionate Teaching)

A student does not feel motivated to study, to come to school even. Why? Because at an earlier age they understand only compassion and love. They are not after competition and achievement. At a later age though, the competition acts as their motivation. However, this motivation too is shallow and thus there are inner conflicts.

Thus, we propose that teaching needs to be compassionate in nature. Morever, that which is taught should be nothing else but that which inspires compassion, love and harmony.

That is the only route through which the problem of lack of motivation to study, even to live, can be erased. A student, or a learner of life, would know that life stands for nothing but an inspired journey towards bettering oneself to devotionally serve others. They would experience the kind of liberation and strength one feels in such a journey. They would want to go to school, want to wake up, want to study, and grow.

To this end, we can start with the following practices in any given classroom:

1. Observe how a student is feeling, and validate their feeling and offer them empathy, wherever and whenever you can. Empathy would be something like ‘I know how it feels ___, ‘I can understand how you must be feeling ..., ‘I would have felt this way too if ___ etc.

2. Appreciate a student when they get something right, as well as appreciate their good qualities.

3. Make them feel secure and supported, when they get something wrong, or when they feel weak or low in any way.

We can go to a classroom, and teach a lesson with the above given three points in mind. Another person can observe and record the quantity and quality of participation of students in such a classroom.

Then, although it is not needed and is obvious, but for the data sake, we can teach another lesson in the classroom with the sad-to-say typical way of strictness and coldness by a different teacher. Another person can record the qauntity and quality of pariticipation in this classroom too.

Finally, we will compare the difference in the records, and reach our obvious conclusion. Much more than the conclusion though, we must tell the class about our experiment, and explain to them the difference between compassionate teaching and non-compassionate teaching, and how much the value of compassion matters in life.