motivated teaching

Tasmanian Combined Principals Conference

LEADING TODAY FOR TOMORROW

August 9-11, 2017

EdTalk 4

Thursday 10 August

MOTIVATED TEACHING

Dr Joan-Mary Hinds

TCPC 2017 LEADING TODAY FOR TOMORROW ‘Motivated Teaching’ EdTalk J-M Hinds PhD

© Dr. Joan-Mary Hinds August 2017 2

1. THE UNKNOWN X FACTOR - MOTIVATION

In his lengthy work “War and Peace”, Tolstoy discussed what makes for victory in battle. He notes that an

army of 5000 vanquished an army of 15000 men. What makes the difference? It is not the number of

men, the superiority of their weapons, the quality of their leadership nor the advantage of time or

location. No - it is an X factor – the multiplier of the ‘passion and spirit’ of the men that makes the

difference. One day in the future, Tolstoy asserted, science will be able to measure this X factor.

Today, we can and we do.

The X factor is what called motivation.

In the modern world of business and industry, the measurement of employee motivation is standard

practice. And I have spent a decade assisting organisations to measure employee motivation, to identify

its workplace drivers and to measure its outcomes in terms of productivity and profitability.

Employee motivation, from being a neglected topic as it was a decade ago, is now central to

organizational success as it drives higher employee performance, lower turnover, enhanced customer

service and reduced absenteeism.

2. IMPORTANCE OF TEACHER MOTIVATION

And the multiplier in education is the same – teacher motivation. Teacher motivation is the key to

student performance. A motivated teacher means a motivated student.

According to the education Professor Zoltan Dornyei of Nottingham University, (2011) “Teacher

motivation is one of the most important factors that can affect learners’ motivation to learn …if a teacher

is motivated to teach there is a good chance that his or her students will be motivated to learn.”

You and I know this to be true. It is a self- evident truth. Which may explain why there is so little research

(Han and Yin, 2016)

Noting this, in 2014 UNESCO established an international Teacher Motivation Working Group to

encourage and make good this research neglect, pointing out “Motivation is necessary before each

teacher can attain the essential skills and can translate them into attitudes behaviours, spirit and quality

performance which promotes student learning.”



And we can agree! It is motivation that brings teachers into the profession, keeps them on board and

promotes their finest teaching.

3. CANARY IN THE COAL MINE

Falling Australian school student performance against international ranking (such as NAPLAN and PISA),

has led to a flurry of reforming policies at both State and Federal government levels. The central aim has

been to improve teacher quality.

But have we gone too far or in the wrong direction in the search for quality?

Australia has serious teacher disaffection and attrition rates.

Against an ever-increasing student population, our pool of teachers is diminishing. According to the latest

ABS data, some 20% of newly trained teachers don’t even start; 50% leave the profession within the first

five years on the job; and the longer serving are moving to part time or early retirement. It also appears

that 53% of those who hold a teaching degree do not currently work in education.

The impact of teacher churn, absenteeism and substitution is not conducive to student engagement and

learning. The programs aiming at the improvement of educational outcomes must take note of current

teacher attrition rates and the complaints of teachers. These complaints are supported by widespread

press commentary and researched reporting of teacher over work, burnout, frustration, disillusion, stress,

anxiety and general lack of teacher well-being (Principal Health and Wellbeing Survey, Riley 2016).

Teacher motivation needs a closer look.

4. MOTIVATION AND ITS DYNAMICS

It is around employee motivation that most of the work has been done and has offered the most

enduring theories and models of motivation. Specifically, the drives based theories of motivation (Deci,

1995; Pink, 2010; Schwartz, 2015 and Hinds, 2016) provide the most consistent and useful results and

have the most rigorous scientific support.

Motivation is an intrinsic source of energy derived from our drives, needs, instincts or desires. Its

operation is signaled by symptoms, namely feelings, behaviours and attitudes. Motivation is an umbrella



word which incorporates the full range of symptoms from the positive or high motivation (wellbeing,

happiness, engagement, satisfaction, sense of purpose) to the negative or de-motivation (stress, apathy,

anger, anxiety, escapism).

Motivation can be measured by the experience of its symptoms. They signal where on the motivation/de-

motivation spectrum the individual falls at any specific moment in time.

Model 1: Motivation – Demotivation continuum

Motivation incorporates three basic drives, needs or desires; namely

• The need for affiliation, relatedness, bonding, affection, and companionship (We);

• The need for achievement, competence, winning, and individuality (Me)

• The need for actualization, meaning, autonomy, creativity, and purpose (It).

Model 2: Tripartite Motivation



The utilization or expression of these needs or drives is experienced in terms of the positive symptoms

whilst the prevention or suppression of these needs or drives push us to the negative symptoms.

Each drive tends to give rise to its own specific set of symptoms. However, as all three drives operate

simultaneously, they become intertwined and can be indistinguishable.

The drives are extrinsically (externally) modified positively or negatively by workplace conditions which

offer expression or suppression by means of stimulation, structure, rewards, boundaries, controls,

training etc.

In summary, human or employee motivation can be influenced or promoted by the correct balance

between freedom and structure.

5. RESEARCHING TEACHER MOTIVATION

The research challenge was two-fold. First to confirm or to modify the measure of employee motivation

as a valid measure of teacher motivation. Second to identify those external conditions that either

motivate or de-motivate teachers. Commencing in 2016, the Hinds Teacher Motivation research project

(in association with the NSW Professional Teachers Council) utilized a stepped process of qualitative and

quantitative investigative stages:

Stage one: Desk investigation which demonstrated lack of research.

Stage two: Five facilitated and taped teacher focus groups from three schools (NSW and Tasmania):

seeking out the issues in terms of what’s good, what’s bad about teaching and being a teacher.

Stage three: Voluntary online 100 item survey that obtained over 500 teacher respondents. The survey

included the measure of employee motivation which had been validated with over 250,000 employees.

Statistical analysis of results: Cluster and factor analysis identified the strongest driver groups or

influencers of teacher motivation. The analysis also confirmed the structure and symptomatology of the

two ‘We’ and ‘Me’ drives. By contrast, when compared with employee motivation, teacher motivation

has a stronger, richer and more dominant ‘It’ drive which incorporates:

• making a difference and influencing lives

• embracing meaning, purpose and creativity



• dedication to learning, intellectual stimulation and the subject area

• dedication to teaching and deep personal fulfilment

• dedication to the welfare and success of and relationship with students.

Model 3: Tripartite Teacher Motivation

6. SEVEN DRIVERS OF TEACHER MOTIVATION

The environmental drivers or influencers determining levels of teacher motivation or de-motivation fall

into seven strongest driver groups namely: workload, leadership, career, guidance, collaboration,

efficacy, and compliance.

One: Workload driver measures whether the teacher feels approved of and trusted, whether their

workload is manageable, if they have plenty of time for planning and rest and the extent to which they

are free from exhaustion, stress and anxiety.

Two: Leadership driver measures whether the school is welcoming and collegiate, the Principal is

approachable and ready to listen, if there is participation in relevant school decisions, the Principal

demonstrates instructional leadership (i.e. encouraging collaboration and reflective dialogue) and if they

trust or have confidence in leadership integrity.



Three: Career driver measures teachers’ satisfaction with their career prospects and advancement,

opportunities for movement and progression, effectiveness of student discipline options, contentment

with their choice of being a teacher, recognition of their achievements and contributions.

Four: Guidance driver measures whether teachers are receiving resources and support for professional

learning, feedback on their personal performance and teaching quality, clear teaching priorities and

acknowledgement, regular review of new program purpose and focus on quality teaching and learning

outcomes.

Five: Collaboration driver measures the opportunities for networking and sharing both within schools and

across schools, allocation of time for group problem solving, having comfortable levels of sharing and

learning from colleagues; and love and learning of their subject area.

Six: Efficacy driver measures teacher capacity and skill in building rapport, advanced training and

knowledge of their subject, confidence in their abilities as a teacher, belief that all their lessons are terrific

and their level of training and preparation in pedagogy.

Seven: Compliance driver measures the school focus on learning versus compliance, that their teaching

profession is judged on quality versus quantity, sensible school level prioritization of new programs,

extent to which meetings focus valuable time on teaching issues, and ease of access to professional

learning accreditation fulfillment.

Model 4: Seven drivers of teacher motivation



The chart of the results from the original research with over 500 teachers shows the motivational levels in

response to the seven drivers.

Chart 1: Research mean scores on Motivated Teaching drivers and motivation

7. HOW TO BEST USE THE NEW INSIGHTS?

The next question is how to best use this knowledge?

One might be tempted to go to the ‘powers that be’ and ask for remedial action guided by state or region

level results. However, this is an uncertain and not very hopeful strategy!

Are there aspects of professional learning that might be modified to take up the challenge of teacher

motivation as well as skills? Are there lessons here for leadership self-evaluation?

Is the best opportunity to take up the challenge at school level? School based measurement can generate

results for each principal to review and share with their teaching and faculty teams.

School level results are probably more useful to support more immediate and more effective actions to

raise teacher motivation, school by school! Top down action from central authorities are not as effective

as bottom up action where schools can act and solve problems for themselves.

As one teacher said to me “We can solve any problem just so long as we can sit down together and

discuss it.”



8. SCHOOL BASED CASE STUDIES AND ACTION

Where schools can obtain their individual results, they are able to check whether they are doing anything

de-motivating at school level, how they are tracking against planned objectives, the quality of school

leadership and whether there is more that they can do to ameliorate the top down burdens.

Chart 2: Pilot schools Motivated Teaching scores

Chart 3: Faculties within one school



The important catalyst for raising teacher motivation is the meeting of all teachers in the school or faculty

to review and discuss their results. In this way, a school can look at their results and consider their action

options to raise their levels of motivation and thus reduce levels of stress and anxiety. Some drivers are

more readily acted upon than others. For example, Workload and Compliance is not readily solved at

school level but perhaps an be ameliorated. However, there is much that can be done on other drivers,

especially where the scores are low.

This then is one key to teacher motivation: the collaborative discussion and reduction of issues that are

undermining teacher motivation and wellbeing as identified by school level research. Here we can start

the transformation of the conditions which are currently working to undermine teacher motivation and

hence performance. It is an exciting prospect that down the road we will be able to see other benefits

flowing from improved teacher motivation such as increased teacher retention, reduced student attrition

and improved student performance.

REFERENCES

Deci,E (1995) Why we do what we do Penguin

Dornyei, Z and Ushioda, E, (2011) Teaching and Researching Motivation Routledge

Han, J and Yin, H (2016) Teacher Motivation: definition, research development and implications for

teachers. Cogent Education

Hinds, J-M (2016) We.Me.It. Compelling insights into the essence of human motivation Amazon

Pink, D (2010) Drive: the surprising truth about what motivates us Penguin

Schwartz, B (2015) Why we work TED books

Stroud, Gabrielle (2017) Why Teachers Leave ABC News Online

UNESCO (2014) Teacher Motivation Working Group Workshop Why teacher motivation matters

http://www.teachersforefa.unesco.org

Dr. Joan-Mary Hinds

Research Director, Motivated Teaching

Adjunct Senior Researcher, UTAS

http://www.teachersforefa.unesco.org/



ADDENDUM: THE MOTIVATED TEACHING PROGRAM FOR SCHOOLS

Dedicated website www.motivatedteaching.com

• The Motivated Teaching Program is

o Built for school principals and leaders to drive better planning, teacher management and

school performance

o Focused on developing motivated, happy and effective teachers

o Collaborative learning, solutions and actions taken together to motivate everyone

o An evidence-based tool based on contemporary Australian research

• Using the Motivated Teaching Program includes

o Scores by school and faculty on teacher motivation and its drivers

o Reports with insights, interpretation guides and action suggestions

o The RODA (Receive | Own | Discuss | Act) collaborative action process

o Efficient diagnostic measurement of teacher motivation and driver levels

o Guides, worksheets and support to help every school maximise its program

o Access to the MTP user updates, action solutions and benchmarks

• Use the Motivated Teaching Program with confidence

o Secure technology. A 24/7 engine in the cloud ensures data is safe, secure and accessible

o User friendly, online application saves time by quickly and efficiently reporting your data

o Confidentiality is assured by reports only generated for teams of 4 or more

Interested?

Email [email protected] for information about using the Motivated Teaching Program

in your school or faculty.

http://www.motivatedteaching.com/

mailto:[email protected]

motivated teaching

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