I have read a lot of information on how to become a more effective teacher.

Much of it seems to assume that the students want to do well, but there are plenty of situations when the student or students just don’t seem to care. For starters they know there is little at stake at Junior Cert level, whatever about the Leaving Cert.

Many students would defend the fact that academia isn’t where their future lies – so where do we go with that?

And there is remarkably little in the way of helpful information here.

Most of what I have found I put here:
http://betterteaching.ie/motivation.html

This also ties in the issue of discipline:
http://betterteaching.ie/behaviour.html

but I think Neil de Gras Tyson nailed it on the head with the following:
“We spend more time forcing students to learn than we do motivating them to learn in the first place.”

You see all that theory is well and good. But then you find yourself trying to motivate a lassie like this and quickly find that the best laid plans . . .