The Motivated Classroom

In this first interview episode I am joined by the inspiring and incredible @polyglotteacher Soukeina Tharoo. Soukeina is an English as an Additional Language (EAL) and French teacher as well as being the Home Language Coordinator at The International School of Lausanne in Switzerland. She is also a workshop leader & school visitor for the International Baccalaureate and a team evaluation member and Chair for the Council of International Schools. Soukeina was born in France but is originally from Madagascar, of Indian ancestry and was brought up in the UK. She speaks 11 languages (yes eleven) and is a fountain of wisdom when it comes to multilingualism, translanguaging and how we can leverage the home language in all classrooms to raise students' competence, relatedness and esteem. 

For full details a list of these strategies, check out the programme notes with further information and links to research and resources at www.liamprinter.com/podcast.

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This episode focusses on 'competence', one of the three basic needs of Self-Determination Theory that we need satisfied in order to feel intrinsically motivated. Competence relates not to a student’s individual ability but to their perception about their capability and capacity to achieve success in the classroom. Central to the notion of competence, is that students will only engage in and personally value classroom activities they can fully understand and potentially master.

After an introduction to the research behind the need of 'competence' in the classroom, a variety of practical approaches to building competence in the classroom are presented. For full details a list of these strategies, check out the programme notes with further information and links to research and resources at www.liamprinter.com/podcast.

Keep sharing and spreading the word. I'd love to know what you think, please get in touch or leave me a review 🙏

This episode is all about engagement, active learning and retrieval practice. 'Retrieval practice' is a study technique where mental effort is used to recall information. It focusses on bringing information to mind which enhances and boosts learning. Deliberately recalling information forces us to pull our knowledge “out” and examine what we know. 

Engagement and active learning strategies align closely in the research. When students are up out of their seats they are often more engaged in that moment. That is not to say they should be up doing games all lesson but now and again, getting students out of their seats can be hugely beneficial. Especially when coupled with 'retrieval practice' activities. 

In this episode I outline 11 (not 10!) zero-prep, active learning, strategies designed to engage learners in retrieval practice:

Full programme notes with further information and links to research and resources are available at www.liamprinter.com/podcast.

Keep sharing and spreading the word. I'd love to know what you think, please get in touch or leave me a review 🙏

Relatedness is the second key component of motivation that we have looked at in The Motivated Classroom podcast. Listen back to Episode 1 to learn about the three basic psychological needs we all have and want to be satisfied in order to be intrinsically motivated. In Episode 3 we discussed 'autonomy' and its critical role in boosting motivation. This Episode goes into detail about the psychological need of 'relatedness'.

The episode introduces some of the main educational research on building relationships and how we can apply this in our classrooms. This episode is a must-listen for language teachers as it gives lots of zero-prep activities and tips you can implement right away in your classes to connect with your students. I explain some of the following activities I use in my classes to foster relatedness and relationships right from the first class:

Full programme notes with further information and links to research and resources are available at www.liamprinter.com/podcast.

I'd love to know what you think, please get in touch or leave me a review 🙏

The 'one-word image' activity is an absolute must-listen for all MFL  and world languages teachers! It allows you to teach languages in an engaging, student-centred way by creating an invisible character with your students, which will result in active listening, huge all-class engagement and high motivation. The strategy was originally developed by Ben Slavic and is now a mainstay in many language classrooms.

Rather than teaching long lists of vocabulary for describing people through worksheets or a textbook, the 'invisible character' approach uses students' own creativity and autonomy to develop the character traits and feelings. This activity enables students to acquire language naturally through intent listening and high interest. It will:

Full programme notes with further information and links to resources are available at www.liamprinter.com/podcast.

I'd love to know what you think, please get in touch or leave me a review 🙏

What is 'autonomy-supportive' teaching and how do we do it in the #languages classroom?

Autonomy is an essential component of intrinsic motivation and is often considered in the research as more central to building motivation than any of the other basic psychological needs. In this episode, I share how I build perceptions of autonomy in my learners and also the classroom strategies that allow us, as teachers, to develop our own autonomy and thus foster our own teacher motivation. 

How can we set up the very first class of the year to ensure the three basic needs of intrinsic motivation are right at the heart of lesson?

In this first episode of The Motivated Classroom podcast I discuss:

Full programme notes are available on www.liamprinter.com/podcast 

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