By Lucy Taylor and Corinna Matlis
It is likely that most of us have had the experience of teachers of our own who not only made us enjoy coming to school but also made us love their subject. For Corinna, a certain history teacher comes to mind, Ms Morrill, and her passion for history was definitely influential in putting Corinna on a path to becoming a history teacher. For Lucy, the teacher who comes to mind is a particular geography teacher, Ms Dinwoodie, who always made an effort to make her lessons different and engaging, as well as making Lucy feel like she could achieve in Geography when her confidence was lacking. We all hope to inspire that kind of love for our subjects in our students!
With that in mind, we set out to show the benefits of instilling a love of our subjects in our students and also to think through ways to do that. As far as the benefits are concerned, beyond being remembered by our students in future years, instilling a love for our subjects in our students has significant specific benefits. The first is that students will have a greater sense of intrinsic motivation. The second is that it will simply be more fun for both teachers and students if we are all enjoying what we are discussing and have the chance to get into a ‘flow’. Finally, it is likely that enjoyment of a subject will actually improve students’ results; when students are unhappy they can have a harder time processing information.
In order to develop this love of our subjects, we have come up with four methods that have worked for us. This list is not exhaustive, but it might be somewhere to start.
1. Share what you know!
The first thing that you can do, and it’s something that we suspect most teachers will enjoy quite a bit, is to feel free to share what you know. Research suggests that students are motivated through good relationships with their teachers and through a sense that teachers know what they are talking about. If you show that you are passionate about your subject, it will be contagious! We often find that when you are willing to share extra information or bring in a debate within your subject, the next time you assess the students’ work, their thinking will be richer and their knowledge may be more in depth.
2. Ditch the specification (sometimes)
Another suggestion is that despite our need to focus on getting students the best results on exams possible, thereby giving them the most opportunities in life, sometimes it can be helpful to take a little space away from exam questions. This does not mean abandoning the exam subjects, but it can actually be an opportunity to deepen students’ thinking and knowledge. For example, in history starting from last year, we have introduced projects at GCSE. These might be slightly extended essays on GCSE topics where we ask the students to do a bit of extra research or an in-class debate for which we’ve asked the students to do a bit of extra research ahead of time. The topics and the questions that we ask in these projects come from a mix of the specification content and the types of questions that historians might ask about the subject. In doing this, we are allowing the students to develop their ideas outside of practice questions and to deepen their understanding of GCSE-content by putting it in the context of how historians actually would talk about it.
3. Make it relevant
Research has shown that acknowledging and drawing upon a child’s personal geographies in lessons is another way to help promote better understanding and progress in school. Personal geographies are something that can be useful and drawn upon in all subject areas. Not just geography. Personal geographies are individual experiences a person has. Using them in the classroom acknowledges the world and environment around our pupils and how they interact with it. If you can find links between a complicated theoretical concept and the everyday experiences of our pupils (their personal geographies), research shows they will be more engaged in the subject, but also have a deeper level of understanding and subsequently, make better progress. An easy way to start doing this is by finding a way to link what you are going to learn in the lesson to their lives. You could do a mentimeter on how many people have experienced a certain thing or used a particular concept in their lives and then choose certain students who feel comfortable, to elaborate. This will also show students how their learning relates to real life experiences and situations which is always a positive! Furthermore, it also helps you build positive relationships as you can learn more about your students.
4. Bring the students into your discipline
In Geography, calling students ‘Geographers’ is a very simple and easy way to make students feel ‘part’ of your discipline and create a sense of belonging in the classroom, but of course this can be transferred to any subject! Using language like this can lead students to try harder and subsequently promote better progress. Another way to create this positive atmosphere is to introduce rewards such as ‘scientist or mathematician of the week’, if you haven’t already. This approach to classroom management can be useful if you want students to use subject specific vocab when giving verbal answers. In this situation you can praise students for speaking like a geographer/dancer/historian/artist etc and give an appropriate reward relating to this. You can use the same technique for writing, praising specifically for writing like a scientist/mathematician/musician etc. Research has shown that this can help students make better progress and enjoy their subject more through a sense of increased confidence. Moreover, this also gives students an idea of how each discipline/subject is different and what they need to do to be successful in each one.
So, how will you try to instil a love for your subject?
References
1 - Source: Husbands, Chris and Alison Kitson with Susan Steward, Teaching and Learning History 11-18: Understanding the Past (New York: McGraw Hill Press, 2011), p. 40;
2 - Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi via https://www.teachertoolkit.co.uk/2017/10/25/the-flow-model/ last accessed on November 5, 2020.
3 - Wills, Judy, ‘The Neuroscience of Joyful Education,’ Educational Leadership, Summer 2007: 64, online only: http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/summer07/vol64/num09/The-Neuroscience-of-Joyful-Education.aspx, last accessed November 5, 2020.
4 - Husbands, Chris and Alison Kitson with Susan Steward, Teaching and Learning History 11-18: Understanding the Past (New York: McGraw Hill Press, 2011), p. 40; Gaowei Chen Jiahong Zhang Carol K. K. Chan Sarah Michaels Lauren B. Resnick Xiaorui Huang, ‘The link between student‐perceived teacher talk and student enjoyment, anxiety and discursive engagement in the classroom,’ British Educational Research Journal (June 2020) 46:3, pp. 631-652; and Serin, Hamdi, ‘The Role of Passion in Learning and Teaching’, International Journal of Social Science and Educational Studies (September 2017) 4:1, pp. 60-64.
5 - Christine Counsell, ‘The What, Why, and How of Broadening Historical Content at KS3’ given at the Schools History Project Conference, July 10, 2020.
6 - Griffiths (2010) Young people's geographies, Teaching Geography, 35(2).
7 - Catling (2005) Children's personal geographies and the English primary school geography curriculum. Children's Geographies, 3(3), pp.325-344.
8 - Stocking (2016), https://educationblog.oup.com/secondary/geography/speaking-like-a-geographer.
