Teaching selflessness -- an essay, and request for ideas

[CMcG]

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Thinking long and hard about why students could not set aside their cigarettes and cars and sports for even 30 seconds, I've come up with this hypothesis. These things (cigarettes, cars, and sports) are what's important to them, and really, at this point in their lives, very little else is.

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This is where I turn to my friends, colleagues, and other educators. Is it possible to teach / learn the importance of selflessness and sacrifice? Can it be done in a way that students adopt it and put it into practice? Or is it a lost cause? Are we just banging on a drum, making noise and not achieving anything? Further, if you DO believe that these lessons are teachable / learnable, is it possible to do in a secular context? Or are we obliged to turn to spirituality, religion, and a belief in shomething greater than ourselves?

I think that selflessness and sacrifice can be taught, but not in the situation you have described. In fact, I don't believe that teaching those things is within the purview of an English teacher. CNDSushi, I commend you for your efforts but you are probably barking up the wrong proverbial tree.

I guess I will dissent a little. Your students do not lack in motivation. They are simply motivated in other ways and by other ideas than you. You can try to force them to accept your views or you can teach and lead them by using theirs.

In my experience teaching electronic music at the university level, I've found a lot of truth to what mull has written. Students today are highly motivated in regards to the things that they care about.

CNDSushi has made it clear that his students are quite interested in cars, cigarettes, and sports. They might also be interested in technology, popular music, movies, fashion, and the opposite sex. The pedagogical question at hand might better be framed as: how can one teach English using the interests of the students to motivate them?

When it comes to electronic music, my students are generally not interested in the theories of acoustics, art music, or audio engineering. They are, however, really into rock, hip hop, and dance music. I have had to find ways to teach them the theory that I want them to understand by couching it in ways that they are willing to engage with.

I keep coming back to the old adage "you can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink."

Or as my University Teaching and Learning professor would say "you can lead a student to knowledge but you can't make them think."

One of the newer education models being promoted these days is to focus on learning as opposed to knowledge. The basic premise is that if an educator can help a student learn how to learn, they are set for life. Sort of like teaching someone how to fish (a life skill) instead of just giving them a fish (one meal).

Within this educational paradigm and specific to CNDSushi's situation, the goal would be to help students learn how to learn English. The motivation is there in terms of their existing interests but must be harnessed towards the goal.