Speaker 1: Have you ever asked yourself this question, how can I motivate my adult learners? Well, I'm going to give you 12 tips on how you can motivate adult learners. Now, we have to keep in mind that the world in which we're living is changing rapidly. And we, as adult teachers, have to adapt to that. We have to understand what's going on in the world and also what's going on in the worlds of our students. That's very, very important. Now, the first one I'd like to mention on how to motivate adult learners is create useful and relevant learning experience based on the age group and interest of your learners. So we have to make sure that the activities that we're giving them is actually a great and relevant activity. Now, I want you, the next time you're giving an activity to your students, if you are a teacher at the moment, to ask yourself, is this a relevant activity? Could I have given them something else that would have been more relevant? Because if it's relevant, what happens to their motivation? It just goes up. Now, we have to reflect on our practice. And maybe all you've done, you have, let's say, a new class, the year is starting, you just took the activity, last year's activity, and gave the same activity without giving any thought. Maybe in your mind, that activity is good, and maybe it is good, but could it be better? So we have to reflect on our practice. Ask yourself this question, is the activity that I'm giving them, is it relevant? If it is relevant, their motivation is going to go up.

Speaker 2: Another thing, facilitate exploration.

Speaker 1: Now maybe we think that only children are curious, because children, if you have any children, you'll know that they're born curious. They'll say, daddy, what's that? Mommy, what's that? What's this? What's that? They want to know, they want to explore the world, right? Sadly, sometimes we lose that curiosity as we're growing up. But I think it's still inside the adult, that curiosity to learn. As facilitators of learning, especially when we're teaching adults, we have to try to spark that curiosity, again, that curiosity to learn. Because when we are curious, of course, we're motivated. Now sometimes I tell my students, if I can only give you the passion to learn a certain topic, well, I can go hands off. Almost my job is done. Let's say I'm teaching something to them, and then they really want to know more, they're curious to know more about that subject. Well I just have to make sure they have the resources around to learn more about that subject and they're going to be motivated because they're curious. So try to find ways to bring back that spark of curiosity. So facilitate exploration.

Speaker 2: Number three, build community in your classroom. Very, very important.

Speaker 1: As I'm recording this, it is in the fall, and we've just started, I'm teaching business right now. We've just started a new class recently, and most of my students are from Africa, actually, in my class. Actually, I don't have any born Canadians in my class. I have 31 students in the logistics program, and they're all international students. Last year we did an activity with all the students at the college where I teach, and it really helped bond the students together. Now what I wanted for this year, I wanted the second year and the first year to really bond together. My class is the first year students, it's a two-year program. So I made sure that we were together, the seniors and the ones that were in second year and my students were together, because I wanted to create community, and it really worked. Most of them had just arrived a few weeks ago or a few months ago, and they don't know anybody, it's a strange country, the food is different, our accent is different. I teach in a French community college, and our French accent is very different than theirs. Sometimes they don't know, they feel kind of awkward. But by bonding those students together, it's just amazing what happens. They feel at ease and they make friends and all that. So when you're facilitating, especially when you're in charge of a class, make sure you try to do a community inside your class, because if there's community, the motivation is going to go up. Very, very important. Now number four, use humor. Now I don't have too many jokes in my repertoire. I tell them, well, I have five or six jokes, so I'll try to spread them out throughout the year. I don't have too many jokes. I'm not naturally someone who uses humor. I might use some type of humor, but it does work. If you say a good, proper joke in class, something that you can say, what happens to the mind just opens up, right? And they laugh and then they feel comfortable and all that. Don't walk in class with just no smile and just stare and hide and go right to your material. Tell them a little joke or something to get them going. Now this might be a bit dangerous, but you can even tell them to tell the rest of the class a joke, because it could be dangerous because sometimes the jokes might not be 100%. So it all depends, right? But if you have one, tell them a joke and then they'll start laughing and then it really helps to learn. The motivation will shoot right up, right? Your brain is going to be active. So use humor. Now another tactic that we can use to bring up the motivation is to chunk information together. So what goes together, we put it together, right? Okay, so these, those notions go together. This goes together and this goes together. So in their mind, it's, ah, okay, well, this is here, it's almost like folders, right? So you have different things that you're giving to your students. Okay, well, this goes in that folder, this goes in that folder, and this goes into that folder. So chunk information together, because if it's a bit everywhere, it'll be hard for them to really understand and memorize and appreciate what you're trying to teach them. And their motivation, of course, is going to go down. So chunk information together. Now, this is, might be a bit hard for some of us, but it's very, very, it's a, it's a great way to bring up the motivation. It all depends on the topic and your personality and the group that you're teaching to. But if you, this is the sixth one, if you can add suspense, yeah, like, of course, at the beginning of the course, we have to give them an outline and what we're going to talk about and all that. But if you can kind of give a little suspense and things in their program, let's say you're talking about something and I don't know, you're just building up to a certain subject or maybe you're bringing someone in they didn't expect to see or something like that. So, I mean, I don't have a facility to do that, I'll tell you. I'm not one to be able to build suspense in my classroom, but maybe for you, it's natural. So if you can do it, good. And that'll bring up the motivation. Now seventh one, accommodate individual interests and career goals. So yes, I have 25, 30 students, but I try to understand where they want to go in life. So as the months go by and the year, the year goes by, I try to understand where they want to go as a career. What type of job they would like to have. So by knowing that, by knowing your students even better, you can tailor your course to those needs, right? Or just give them little pieces here and little pieces there, a reference here, something that they can go and see maybe on YouTube or a reading or something. So try to personalize their learning experience. And of course, when you do that, when you as a teacher take interest in them, their motivation is just going to go up. And I've seen students starting very, very shy, like the first year. And now they're going on very well. And they come to me and ask me questions. I try to coach them in their life, in their career. So it's very important for us as teachers to be there for them to try to steer them towards their goals. And that'll bring up their motivation, of course. Now another thing that brings motivation right up is you, we need to be able as teachers to stimulate your learners. Sometimes we can even ask thought-provoking questions that are, you know, acceptable in your class setting. Try to give situations where it'll make them think. You don't want your students to always be passive, just there and listening and listening. It's almost like, okay, well, open up your brain. I'm going to pour in the water right in, and then I'm going to shut it out. And that's it. You know, no, that's not learning, okay? Sometimes you have to present them, let's say two sides. You be neutral. You present them two sides and say, okay, which one is best? Which way, which way should we go? What thing, what should we do in this situation? Okay. So thought-provoke, you know, try to make, try to ask questions that'll be thought-provoking. And that little motivation will go right up. Now, you have to be careful because sometimes when you do that, your class becomes like a debate. So there's one side and the other side. You can let it go. That's fine. You just have to make sure that you're in control of the debate and you give them a certain time to talk about it and say, okay, we can talk about that later on, or you can talk about that after the classes. So you have to manage that for sure. But you know, don't be afraid to ask them thought-provoking questions and the motivation will go right up. Now one thing I've said in another video, I'll say it again. You have to let them make mistakes. Let learning occur through mistakes. Now I remember when I said that for the first time in a certain context, the teachers I was teaching at that time, they said, Ken, we don't understand what you're saying. Because for them, mistake equals wrong. Now is that your case? Mistakes equals wrong. Of course, mistakes on a evaluation is wrong. I'm not talking about the evaluations here. I'm talking about when they're learning. Let them make mistakes. You know, you look at them, if it's going to be costly, well, don't let them make the mistake or if it's going to hurt someone, don't let it. But if it's just a small thing, let them do it. Now there's a German proverb that says, you will become clever through your mistakes. Of course. Let's say we take that on a personal level. Have you done any mistakes in your life on a personal level? I did. Have I learned through them? Oh yes. I'm still learning through them. So in our personal lives, we learn through our mistakes. Well, it's the same thing through our professional lives. It's the same thing in school, in college, vocational school. Let them make mistakes. And by doing that, their motivation is actually going to go up. I'm not going to do that next time. Now, this might sound a bit strange, but if you want to bring up the motivation in your class, sometimes you have to get emotional. Sometimes as teachers, we're dry by nature. Okay. That's just the way we are. But sometimes you got to get a bit of emotion in there. Before you enter the classroom, ask yourself this question. How is my current mindset right now? Maybe there's something in your personal life that's kind of bringing you down. Well, you got to put that aside for a minute. You have to think, I'm going into a classroom. Now, I mean, we're not going to be going walking and being hypocrites. That's not what I'm saying, but don't forget, emotion is very, very important. So let's say you have a smile or enjoy or something that'll provoke emotions in them. Their motivation will go up. So that's very, very important. And what really helps as far as the motivation is when you open up to them a bit about your professional career, mistakes you've done, real life experience and all that. You know, and you tell them, I've learned this and all that, but you're showing them that you are a real person, not just a professor out front and you're the student. No, you are a real person. You've been through different things and you're sharing that with them. That's a part of emotions and what will happen in your classroom, the motivation will go up.

Speaker 2: Now, the 11th one, ask for feedback.

Speaker 1: So when you ask them for feedback on what you've taught or different things, when you can get them engaged, that brings their motivation up. They feel that they're doing something. So ask them for feedback. Now the last one is you have to be clear. You have to present the benefit of taking the course. When they realize why are we taking this course, well, the motivation will go up. Now sometimes I teach statistics. Now statistics can be very boring. Well, if I can show them for some people, right, if I can show them the reason why they're learning statistics in their business program, then their motivation is going to go up maybe just a bit higher. So that's very, very important to present the reason why you're teaching what you're teaching. Now let's go briefly through those points again. Number one, create useful and relevant learning experience. Number two, facilitate exploration. Number three, build community. Number four, use humor. Number five, chunk information together. Number six, add suspense. Number seven, accommodate individual interests and career goals. Number eight, stimulate your learners. Number nine, let them learn through their mistakes. Number 10, get emotional. Number 11, ask for feedback. And the last one, prevent, oh, sorry, I still, I said it again, present the benefit of undertaking

Speaker 2: the course. Thank you.