'Motivation is the key to conquering learning difficulties'

Dr Rick Lavoie is a passionate advocate for teachers, but he still maintains they are not always the best people in the world to teach children with learning difficulties.

'You actually like going to school and so you relate best to smart kids. Generally, you least understand those who need you the most,' he told an audience of 200 professionals at a seminar.

Dr Lavoie is an international expert in special education who has held administrative posts in programmes for special needs students for 30 years.

He was speaking at the Canadian International School as a guest of Focus (Focus on Children's Understanding in School), a non-profit making support group for parents of children with special needs.

Dr Lavoie was quick to point out that most teachers were committed to doing their best for their students in difficult and challenging circumstances, often with much success. But sometimes a shift in focus was necessary.

'The key to success with children with learning difficulties is appreciating the nature and importance of motivation. It really does not matter how good your curriculum is, or how fancy your facilities, motivating children to learn and to want to learn is your most important job,' he said.

For Dr Lavoie, the first stage was recognising and correcting the misconceptions many teachers had about motivation. 'Every human behaviour is motivated, even the negative behaviour. If somebody is avoiding learning this may be motivated by the fear of embarrassment or even punishment for making a mistake.'