Transforming Motivation
Mastering Classroom Drive and Engagement
Target the root causes of apathy and chronic absenteeism by engineering authentic student drive using the science of Self-Determination Theory
All the flexibility of on-demand combined with expert 1:1 inputs
For many schools, the challenge is no longer just securing compliance; it is battling complete disengagement and school refusal. Transforming Motivation is a focused, on-demand masterclass that provides educators with a powerful, cognitive-science-backed approach to unlocking authentic student engagement. It strips away outdated behaviourist myths, translating robust developmental psychology into highly practical classroom strategies that move students from total apathy to intrinsic drive.
The course will provide participants with:
- Circa 90 minutes of short, actionable video lessons to digest at your own pace.
- Memorable Cognitive Frameworks: Bespoke acronyms and structural models to easily embed complex psychological theories into your daily teaching habits.
- Proprietary Diagnostic Tools: Learn to identify the hidden root causes of student ‘amotivation’ and absenteeism before applying an intervention, preventing wasted effort.
- Cognitive Scaffolding Frameworks: Discover how to sequence instruction and feedback to trigger the biological mechanisms of motivation and combat learned helplessness.
- Relational and Metacognitive Protocols: Gain concrete scripts and routines to build psychological safety, increasing the “pull factors” that keep vulnerable learners attending and engaging.
EXCLUSIVE BONUS Included free with your enrolment: An Adult Motivational Map. A personalised diagnostic assessment that reveals your own unseen drivers, enabling you to identify your instructional biases and experience the mapping process before applying it to your most challenging students.
Suitable for …
On Demand Course: Individual teachers, coaches, and tutors looking for immediate, actionable professional development.
Hybrid On Demand Course: Heads of Department, Lead Coaches, and School Leaders wanting tailored implementation strategies.
- Once you have registered you will receive access to our learning platform that contains all the micro videos for each module of the course.
- At any time to suit you, work your way through the on-demand modules.
- The course contains a range of activities to cement your learning and resources to enable ease of implementation.
- If you sign up for the hybrid course then you can book a 30 minute, one to one session with one of our cognitive coaching team to explore and review the content and its practical application.
- On completion of the course participants will receive practitioner accreditation from Thinking Matters.
Phase 1: Diagnosing Disengagement
We do not just look at superficial behaviour. We look at the psychological drivers beneath the surface that lead to apathy and absenteeism. In this foundational phase, we dismantle the myths of reward systems and provide you with a definitive, science-backed diagnostic framework for human motivation.
What you will learn:
- Why traditional external rewards (from primary sticker charts to KS3 merit points) often fail to move the dial on persistent disengagement.
- How to use our proprietary Motivation Triage Matrix to instantly diagnose the unseen blockers preventing a student from attending or engaging with your lesson.
- Strategic scripting formulas to shift students away from apathy and toward authentic engagement with classroom routines.
Phase 2: Engineering Success (Competence)
The greatest enemy of classroom motivation is not a lack of effort; it is cognitive overload and repeated failure. Here, we dissect how to secure the early wins that reliably generate intrinsic drive and rebuild student confidence.
What you will learn:
- The Virtuous Cycle of Learning and why motivation is usually the result of success (academic and/or in any other field), not the prerequisite for it.
- How to bypass the demotivating effects of zero-sum peer competition using highly effective, alternative tracking methods.
- Actionable feedback models to ensure your marking builds cognitive capacity rather than simply highlighting student deficits.
Phase 3: Building Safety (Relatedness)
A highly stressful classroom climate is a primary driver of school refusal. We explore how to manage the emotive brain and create a micro-climate where students feel safe enough to attend, participate, and risk failure during complex tasks.
What you will learn:
- The neuroscience behind the “Window of Tolerance” and why stressed or anxious students biologically cannot process direct instruction.
- Highly structured questioning routines that maximise the participation ratio without triggering the fear of public failure.
- How to script and embed a robust whole-class error routine that eradicates shame and builds peer-to-peer safety.
Phase 4: Fostering Agency (Autonomy)
Motivation requires volition. This phase translates the complex theory of autonomy into practical, bounded choices that empower students to take ownership of their learning, without sacrificing your curriculum coverage or causing working memory overload.
What you will learn:
- The cognitive danger of total freedom and why “Bounded Autonomy” is the optimal state for learning across both primary and secondary phases.
- Specific instructional adjustments that provide learners with a sense of control during independent practice.
- Concrete strategies to instantly connect necessary ‘rote’ classroom tasks to a student’s personal, long-term goals.
Phase 5: Sustaining Drive and Advanced Diagnostics
Motivation naturally fluctuates. The final phase equips you with the metacognitive tools to sustain student focus over time, alongside an optional, advanced pastoral diagnostic for your most complex, persistently low motivation cases.
What you will learn:
- A structured deliberate practice protocol to teach students how to self-regulate when their intrinsic drive naturally stalls during independent study or practice..
- How to interpret James Sales’, 9 Motivators within his Motivational Maps to understand the highly specific drivers of your most persistently disengaged learners.
- How to conduct a structured pastoral conversation and complete a “Motivational Handover Document” to share successful interventions across your school’s teaching staff.
On Demand: £99 (+vat)
- Full lifetime access to the c.90 minute hour video masterclass, downloadable PDF workbooks, and the Student Revision Toolkit.
- Best for individual teachers, coaches, and tutors looking for immediate, actionable professional development.
Hybrid on Demand: £169 (+vat)
- Everything in ‘On Demand’ PLUS:
- 30 min 1-on-1 online session with the course author to discuss your specific classroom challenges.
- Best for Heads of Department, Lead Coaches, and School Leaders wanting tailored implementation strategies.
Included free in both editions – a Motivational Map and report typically worth over £75.
The Map report provides three game-changing insights in to your current motivation in a 15-page manual:”
- The ‘What’: It identifies which of the 9 core motivators (like Freedom, Belonging, or Expertise) are actually driving your decisions.
- The ‘How Much’: It measures your current energy levels – giving you a precise percentage of how ‘fueled’ you feel in your current role.
- The ‘Now What’: It delivers a bespoke action plan with specific strategies to “turn the volume up” on your top drivers and boost your productivity immediately.
NB: All members of the Thinking School Network receive a 15% reduction on this course.