Daniel Barber > Quotes

“Here is a checklist for helping your students maintain and boost their motivation. Relate each item to the key motivators of agency (A), relatedness (R) and competence (C). Some items may be a mixture of more than one motivator. 1 Encourage students to get to know each other and talk to each other about their lives and what matters to them. Join in yourself. 2 Suggest they keep a learning journal in which they reflect on what they have learnt,  what activities they have liked or disliked, what is affecting their learning. 3 Allow class time for them to report on their learning to a partner or in small groups 4 Exploit the motivational tools that accompany course books, such as progress tests, ‘can do’ self-evaluative checklists and CEF-based portfolios. There is more on this in the section on coaching with a course book. 5 Wherever possible give your students a choice of what they do in class and for homework (whatever their age!), either as a group by voting for one activity which everyone will do or allowing them individually to choose different activities. 6 Help students set goals for themselves, as a group and individually. Encourage them to write these down and check their progress. 7 Offer your students the opportunity to prepare for an external exam which relates to their needs, such as the Trinity GESE exams for spoken English or the Cambridge ESOL exams. 8 Ask your students how they are feeling about their English on a regular basis. Ask them where their motivation levels are from one week to the next. Get them to ask each other. Be a role model by paying attention to your own motivation!”
― Daniel Barber, From English Teacher to Learner Coach

“Isn’t it strange then that the focus in our profession is on teaching techniques and classroom activities, not learning techniques, motivation and self-study activities? The focus in course books, training courses, workshops, articles and websites tends to be on supporting teachers in creating effective classroom events (teacher goals) rather than supporting students in achieving their ambitions with the language (learner goals). Good lessons will always help students, of course, and can contribute to student commitment to learning the language, but if we focus exclusively on lessons, we will miss the opportunity to leverage the potential every student has to practise more and make quicker progress.”
― Daniel Barber, From English Teacher to Learner Coach

“Learning planning Once goals have been set, we need to focus our attention on the means of achieving them. We must align the two or three hours’ a week class time with the students’ personal goals as much as possible, of course, but not to the detriment of the 100 plus remaining hours of waking time which could potentially be directed towards practising English. As teachers, then, we need to think about learning planning, not just lesson planning. By dedicating just 2 or 3 per cent more waking time to English, students can effectively double their English language life! Any impact this has will be far greater than just having a successful lesson. So what can teachers do to help make this happen? With just a few sessions devoted to learning planning early on in a course of study, followed up with occasional check-ups, students can set off on a path to much greater success than relying on the lessons alone. Lesson time well spent!”
― Daniel Barber, From English Teacher to Learner Coach

“Broadly speaking, it seems that teachers help you know and understand and coaches help you practise and get better. Returning to the notion of how we are useful to our students, which do your students need most from you? The following questionnaire can help you think about this further.   Your turn 2 Underlying philosophies Grade each statement from 1 (don’t agree) to 10 (agree completely). Make a note of your answers, if you wish, to discuss with a colleague. a) Learning a language means learning words and rules. b) Learning a language means repeatedly using it. c) People learn best by noticing and working things out. d) They learn best by communicating with other people. e) Mistakes show that students have not understood the grammar properly. f) They show that they have not practised enough. g) Speaking is a conscious, cognitive process. h) Speaking is an automatic habit.   Perhaps all of these statements are true for you. Still, you may have found that you favour some more than others. Notice how a), c), e) and g) promote the idea of language as knowledge to learn, a bit like maths or music theory, whereas b), d), f) and h) reflect the side of learning that involves practising a skill, more like tennis or playing the piano. If you think that the skill side of language learning is particularly important, you will probably feel comfortable thinking of yourself as a language coach, someone whose main job is to get students practising and improving. If you see language as knowledge, the question to ask yourself is how your students can best acquire that knowledge, from you teaching it to them or from other sources of reference and input?”
― Daniel Barber, From English Teacher to Learner Coach

“We also have the power to help students to monitor and maintain their motivation levels out of class time. As teachers we can control materials and activities in class to optimise motivation; as coaches we need to help our students to do this for themselves. We can, for example, raise their awareness of the options for reading English on the internet and the possible approaches to working with texts they choose. Examples of this are the activities 'Easy Reading' and 'Authentic Reading' (Student's Book activities 23 and 22). Another activity, Motivation Meter (activity 4, suggested lesson format here), helps learners monitor their motivation levels and analyse what influences these fluctuations.”
― Daniel Barber, From English Teacher to Learner Coach

“Dieters need to know they’re losing weight, even if gradually. We can help learners to weigh their English,  that is to realise their sense of achievement, or competence, in various ways. For example, we can set challenging but manageable tasks, give them tests, record them speak and have them listen a month later and notice the improvement and of course encourage and praise. The same principles apply when learners practise away from class. One reason we need to spend some time in class discussing what the learners do outside class is to create the opportunity for feedback (from the teacher and from fellow students), to say ‘Well done’, ‘Keep it up’ or ‘Go on, give it a go’. In addition, we can provide expert knowledge about which activities are right for them in terms of level and appropriacy.”
― Daniel Barber, From English Teacher to Learner Coach

“We have made the point that students who practise their English outside class on a regular basis are likely to make more progress than those who don’t. An obvious piece of common sense, maybe, but how do we make this common sense common practice? For us, coaching is a mindset which prioritises three roles: Motivating, Organising and Practising… the Coaching MOP.”
― Daniel Barber, From English Teacher to Learner Coach

“Goals have been set and a plan of action agreed upon; this constitutes the setting up period of the programme and will take some time at the beginning. The coach’s role now shifts to one of monitoring the learners as they pursue their goals and practise English as they have planned to do. Just as the weight watchers weigh themselves at each meeting, students need to measure their progress, celebrate success and, when they don’t achieve their goals, reflect on why. The coach is there to lend support and guidance. For this to happen, lessons should now regularly address the learners’ language lives outside of class. This needs to be established as part of the routine of the classroom. Decide when and how often you wish to coach them, but we suggest a minimum of 10% of class time devoted to it. That means at least 20 minutes a week if you have lessons 3 hours a week. In this time, you can: •  let your learners share how they are feeling about English. Revisit the activities in the Motivate! section. •  let learners share their favourite activities and techniques for learning English. One format for letting learners do this is suggested in the activity 'Swap Shop'. Another is to nominate a different student each week to tell the class about one technique, website, activity, book or other resource that they have used to practise English and to talk about why and how they use it. •  set specific activities for language practice from the Student’s Book •  tell students to try out any activities they like from the Student’s Book •  demonstrate specific activities and techniques from websites and other sources. This can be more effective than just telling them. If they see how good it is and try it out for themselves in class, they will be more likely to do it on their own.”
― Daniel Barber, From English Teacher to Learner Coach

“Classroom based approaches to learning made more sense when resources for practising English outside class were severely limited. Prior to the advent of the internet, the teacher and the materials she brought to class were the only readily available sources of exposure to English for most learners.  Now, the internet has made authentic listening and reading material easy to find as well as practice exercises designed for learners. Skype, chat and emails make speaking and writing easier to practise. The classroom event remains a highlight of the learning experience, but the opportunities to build what we have referred to as the language life of learners are many, and the teacher can have an influential role in helping learners to take advantage of them. There is more on language life below.”
― Daniel Barber, From English Teacher to Learner Coach

“support – a coach helps individual coachees, or clients, through certain processes, decisions or problems goals – the aims or goals of the coachee are clearly defined near the start of the coach-coachee relationship. A path to that goal is mapped out and followed. facilitation – coaching uses many different techniques but they are predominantly facilitating in style. A coach is someone whose job is to help people learn rather than to teach them. questions – One way that coaches help rather than teach is by asking questions. This way, coachees articulate for themselves what they want and how to get there and, in so doing, show that the answers lie in the coachee, not the coach. listening – Coaches are genuinely interested. Their curiosity leads them to a better understanding of their coachees’ hopes and goals, as well as their worries and doubts. optimism – Coaches help their coachees to realise their possibilities, to realise that yes, they can achieve their goals.”
― Daniel Barber, From English Teacher to Learner Coach

“Decide on a scale from 1 to 10 to what extent the following statements describe your teaching situation: •  All my students get the most they can from their time in class. •  My students need no encouragement to practise outside class.  •  My students try out many forms of study and practice outside class, not just exercises from the workbook. •  My students are meeting their goals for their English.”
― Daniel Barber, From English Teacher to Learner Coach

“Students can use this framework to set a goal and refer back to it when evaluating their achievements. Here’s an example from an intermediate student: Specific – He has the goal of telling stories with more accurate use of tenses. Measureable – He records himself telling an anecdote today and again in a week’s time after he has practised. Agreed – He seeks the agreement of the teacher to confirm that it is a priority he needs to work on to be more easily understood. Realistic – He’s not expecting miracles! 100% precision in all the narrative tenses after a week, for example, is probably not realistic. Time bound – He reckons on a week to give him enough time to improve. He’s earmarked three slots through the week to practise.”
― Daniel Barber, From English Teacher to Learner Coach

“Planning their learning involves making decisions based on: •  how much time the learner has to study and when •  the type of practice she needs •  the resources available to her •  what she enjoys doing! The Organise! section of the Student’s Book includes various activities that help learners make those decisions and formulate a plan of action. ”
― Daniel Barber, From English Teacher to Learner Coach

“My role as coach is to help her choose easy materials that boost confidence and so generate a sense of competence; to provide a sense of community by reminding her of the usefulness of her English for her grandchildren, by emailing her frequently, and by encouraging her to write emails to her family in Britain. I remind her of her freedom to choose: which ways to practise English, when to do it and even whether to continue with English or not.”
― Daniel Barber, From English Teacher to Learner Coach