How the Best Teachers Motivate Students

In What the Best College Teachers Do, Ken Bain says the most effective teachers motivate students to learn by inviting them rather than by commanding them. He says these professors act more like “someone inviting colleagues to dinner” than like “a bailiff summoning someone to court” (p. 37). This means instructors emphasize what the course promises to do for students rather than what students have to do for the course. These teachers encourage students to participate for the sake of enjoying learning, and they do not discourage them from taking risks out of the fear of receiving a bad grade.

When Negative Emotions are Good

Fear, sorrow, and anxiety are negative emotions but they aren’t necessarily bad emotions. Fear is bad when it prevents us from doing what we ought to do. Sorrow is bad when it is due to our losing something we value more than we should. And anxiety is bad when it is a result of our not trusting God enough for our wellbeing. But it is good to fear God, to be sorry when we disobey Him, and to be anxious about losing our soul in the midst of our struggles with temptation. Blessed is the one who fears the Lord.