https://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/still-dont-get-it-heres-why-teaching-doesnt-always-lead-to-learning
2026-01-22
By--- Professor Liu Woon Chia is the director of the National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, and a co-founder of the NIE’s Motivation in Educational Research Laboratory.
=====
There is a Charlie Brown comic strip in which Charlie proudly declares that he has taught his dog Snoopy how to whistle. When Snoopy fails to do so, Charlie admits that while he taught, he never said Snoopy learnt.
While it may sound absurd at first, the distinction is real.
I was teaching a Secondary 3 class of 40 boys when my principal sat in to observe me for my confirmation as a beginning teacher. I was young and confident, but had no idea how little I understood my students or whether they were ready to learn.
As I taught straight-line graphs, asked questions and saw hands go up, I thought the lesson was going well. It was only after the principal had left that the boys turned to me and said, kindly but bluntly: “Cher, liak bo kiu” (Teacher, catch no ball). They didn’t understand much!
That incident was humbling. These students had tested me daily for months, yet they covered me that day. Their grace taught me two truths that continue to shape my work.
First, teaching does not ensure that learning has occurred. Second, learning cannot take place without motivation.
The gap between instruction and understanding is where education either succeeds or fails. Motivation – or the desire to learn – is often the bridge that connects the two. The real risk lies in failing to nurture this in students.
A lifelong love for learning is one of the most valuable gifts teachers and parents can give. It begins with motivation, the force that can transform learning from a chore into a passion, fuelling curiosity, persistence and deeper engagement.
Motivated students take ownership of their learning. They adapt, grow and thrive. Motivated teachers, in turn, go beyond delivery to design experiences and engage with students to drive them with encouragement.
Motivation in teaching and learning
In the book Building Autonomous Learners, John Wang, Richard Ryan and I shared that education in the 21st century must strive to develop learners so that they are willing to question and find connections, create and push the boundaries, and innovate and seek out solutions. It must engage learners and empower them so that they take responsibility for their own learning and have the drive to create their own future. If “education is the lighting of a fire”, motivation is the torch that lights and sustains it.
I know this not only as an educator, but also as a student. In primary and secondary school, I did well academically, driven largely by external motivation, the desire to be a good student and a dutiful daughter. Success came easily.
In junior college, that motivation wavered. I skipped lessons, lost focus and poured my energy into activities that felt more meaningful at the time. Only after the national basketball tournament did I realise how fragile my earlier motivation had been. It was sustained by structure and obligations, not by purpose.
Looking back, I learnt something fundamental: Motivation is not a personality trait. It is a lived experience. It rises when students feel capable, connected and in control of their learning; it falls when they feel trapped, judged or invisible.
I am fortunate to have had two teachers who “rescued” my motivation through theirs. They lit the spark and provided the conditions for me to grow. My Chemistry teacher, Mrs Khor, saw a failing student and said, in essence, “I still believe in you”. My PE teacher, Miss Poey, made everyone feel valued enough to dream beyond our circumstances.
Their belief was not anchored in my results, but in their conviction that I could become more than I was. They showed me that teaching demands more than technique; it requires belief in students and a steady confidence in their capacity to grow.
That belief is not sentimental. It is a source of professional motivation. It allows teachers to engage students meaningfully, set high but realistic expectations, and provide the support needed to meet them.
In a profession defined by complexity and constraint, such motivation also requires grit, the resilience to persist, adapt and improve despite setbacks.
More On This Topic
Back to school? Let’s approach education in a new light – minus the glare
Now that we have AI, what are the arts for?
When teachers are motivated, it helps them sustain the intrinsic motivation and belief in their students. As a result, classrooms become places where learners thrive. When it erodes, disengagement follows, undermining not only student learning but teachers’ well-being and the wider school community.
According to the article Influence Of Motivation On Teachers’ Job Performance, Dr Ashley Brandon says teacher motivation at its core enables educators to work with dedication and affection. It ultimately contributes to achieving hierarchical goals and providing a profound sense of purpose to teachers’ work.
Effective teaching involves both motivation (will) and pedagogy (skill). Motivation is the fuel that drives student learning, providing energy and momentum, while pedagogy, when used well, offers structure and channels that energy meaningfully.
Meeting basic needs
While external rewards may initiate learning, intrinsic motivation, cultivated through supportive classrooms, meaningful relationships and engaging pedagogy, sustains it. This balance is especially vital for students who begin with fewer resources.
Human beings learn best when three basic psychological needs are met: autonomy (a sense of choice), competence (a sense of growing mastery), and relatedness (a sense of belonging).
When these needs are met, students develop autonomous motivation, learning because it matters to them and not out of fear or desire for approval. When they are not met, “bad motivation” takes over, leading to anxiety, ego issues and survival-driven learning. While this can produce good grades and highly motivated students, it usually results in brittle learners.
Good pedagogy is about teachers embracing their roles as designers of learning, not just content deliverers. A great lesson isn’t a performance, but an experience crafted to make thinking visible, encourage productive struggle, and help students feel, “I can do this, and it matters”.
The key shift happens when teachers realise: If they can’t see the learning process through their students’ eyes, they can’t truly teach what they need.
Attention is often fragmented by design these days. Learning needs to feel human and connected to reality and community.
When students feel competent and see meaning beyond just grades and difficulty, their motivation grows.
Classrooms should therefore prioritise autonomy, competence and relatedness – not as slogans, but as daily practice. Autonomy means meaningful choice, not chaos. Competence comes from effortful mastery, not shortcuts. Relatedness is about making students feel known, safe to fail, and supported.
For less-advantaged children who cannot choose more tuition or enrichment classes, the teacher they meet in school may be their best chance. School becomes a ladder when teachers build competence without humiliation, autonomy without abandoning structure, and belonging without conditions. Otherwise, it becomes a sieve.

Education must guard integrity, empathy, discernment and responsibility, qualities that go deeper than performance. The end goal is not a student who can answer questions, but a young person who can judge wisely, care deeply and contribute meaningfully.
Those Sec 3 boys who once told me “Cher, liak bo kiu” didn’t need a perfect teacher. They needed a teacher who cared enough to notice, to adjust, and to stay. The teachers who saved my motivation in my own rebellious season did the same, and, in doing so, changed the direction of my life.
In every era, the teacher’s most powerful tool remains unchanged: a human presence that draws out the will to learn.
Parents, too, play a critical role. By fostering confidence, ownership and a genuine love of learning, through encouragement rather than pressure, they reinforce what schools strive to build.
Together, teachers and parents can raise young people who believe in themselves, respect others, and build lives of purpose.
Professor Liu Woon Chia is the director of the National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, and a co-founder of the NIE’s Motivation in Educational Research Laboratory.
School for Humans is a new Opinion series in January that aims to deepen the conversations around education and highlight the human forces at the heart of teaching and learning.
More On This Topic
When adults step back, kids learn to bounce back
Why it’s time to rethink physical education in schools
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment