Lead a Horse to Water: Maintaining Motivation for our Students and Ourselves

As the summer term quickly comes to close and final papers, assignments, and exams become due, I find myself reflecting once again on pedagogical strategies that can be employed throughout the term to ensure that final deadlines are met and the possibility for collaborative learning is maximized. This leads me to think about my own deadlines and how I work toward them. 

                I follow a few professors on Twitter, notability @raulpacheco , who put all other academics to shame with their work ethic. Week after week he churns out edits of articles and new book chapters seemingly with the type of ease we all strive for. Of course it is not all ease (and a large amount is definitely grass is greener syndrome) but rather scheduling and sheer determination. There was a tweet which circulated a few weeks back that said something along the lines of getting a PhD is about applying glue to bum and applying bum to chair. 

                This is sage advice at all levels. The PhD process is not always necessarily about smarts but rather it comes down to a combination of passion and determination. The emotional work of graduate school is not to be undervalued (as I have said before).

                Like our students, for we are all part of a community of learners, we go through periods of high productivity and stagnation. When we reach stagnation points we have the luxury of calling it “writer’s block” and go out in search of ways to again become part of knowledge mobilization.  Our students however, do not have the same resources at their disposal and failure to produce an assignment is a failure to attain a grade or pass a subject.

                In my case it was an aptly timed trip to England for a conference that thrust me back into the high octane productivity lane. (Case in point I wrote this blog post in bed via a reading light on cue cards with a pencil because though I really should have been sleeping, this blog post wanted to be written).

                What sort of pedagogical tactics are the undergraduate equivalent to an overseas conference? What can we do to get students out of that end of term slump, which seems to be exacerbated in summer term with the advent of nice weather?

                Sadly I think there is no simple solution, yet I think being attuned to the fact that they all need a gentle push to finish term commitments is a good start. Bracketing yourself off from helping your students because you are equally exhausted at the end of term benefits no one and prevents attainment of learning and the creation of a cohesive learning community. I have found one-on-one meetings particularly effective at this time of year. I know none of us have the luxury of time, especially adjuncts (sessionals) who frequently lack even the luxury of office space, however, 5 minutes to remind students that you are there, that you are partners in this learning experience can make all the difference. Like in all networks, connection is key. What is also important is to remember to always have the ability to look at a situation objectively and not personally if even one-on-one time fails to ignite that spark. You can bring a horse to water but you can’t make them drink. 

Both professors and students are in a high stakes situation when it comes to productivity with differing outcomes. If instructors, professors, and academics fail to engage with a larger critical dialogue in our fields we necessarily exclude ourselves not just from the conversation but also from the possibility of promotion.  We become out of touch with our areas of expertise. If students fail to engage, their risk is failing a subject or not attaining their diploma or degree. Two different outcomes - both seemingly equally relative.

How we keep going on our research paths is always highly personal. We all have strategies for getting ourselves out of a research or writing funk. What works for some may not work for others. It is our responsibility, to make an effort to reach out to our students to remind them that we are here to help, that we can try to get them back on track. Whether the student decides to be part of that network, that dialogue, is up to them.  At the very least you can say ethically that you have given them the chance to be reminded why this subject matters and be re-inspired by the material.