Dear colleague,
Today I gave a YouTube Live talk on what I'm calling the Student Motivation Apocalypse. Yep — kind of doomsday-ish, I know. But that's not actually what I mean.
Don't have time to listen to the talk? Here's the gist:
- We're in a “student motivation apocalypse” not in the doomsday sense but in the original meaning of “apocalypse” as a revelation or uncovering. The confluence of peak digital distraction, rapidly advancing AI, post-pandemic effects, and teacher attrition is uncovering just how untenable the most common approaches to student motivation have become. While this might sound frightening, I believe it's actually pushing us toward something vital: a deeper understanding of what school is truly for.
- I've said it for many years now: school exists to promote the long-term flourishing of students by helping them master important disciplines. This is far fuller and deeper and broader than merely preparing students for future jobs or knocking down high achievement scores. For example, when a student writes in history class, they're not just primarily producing a product for a grade — they're engaging in an act of transformation that expands their capacity for focused thought and deeper understanding. This is why AI can't simply replace the work of learning. As one writer put it, having AI do your writing is like taking a forklift into the weight room. You'll lift loads of weight, but…why?
- The good news is that our students genuinely want to care about their learning. Even in this challenging landscape, I see evidence every day that young people are hungry for meaning and mastery. It comes up all the time wherever I read or research. One key move I talk about in the Live is helping them develop what former APA head Marty Seligman calls PERMA: positive emotion, engagement, relationships, meaning, and achievement. (I wrote about this some years ago now right here.) When we teach toward this well-defined array of long-term flourishing factors — as we help our students master math and history and art and so on — we root ourselves in a timeless work that will long outlast mere engagement or test scores.
I hope you find it helpful or encouraging.
Teaching right beside you,
DSJR
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