The Wish List

In his best-selling book Essential Motivation in the Classroom, now in its third edition, Ian Gilbert shared five questions to help young people think about what they wanted to do if they could do anything.

The idea is, if young people have a goal or two, then what happens at school has more purpose.

In this way, intrinsic motivation starts to be developed.

Here are those five powerful and potentially life-changing questions to share with your students.

The Wish List

1      If the world were to end in twelve months, which five places would you visit before it did?

2      Somebody has invented a magic ‘success’ potion. Having taken the potion, no matter what you do, you will succeed. What five things would you do if you knew you could not fail?

3      It is International Work Experience Week, and you can try any job in the world. Which five would you try first?

4      You have been elected President of the World! What five things would you introduce to make the world a better place for everybody in it?

5      You have a magic pen. Whatever you write comes true. The magic only lasts for three minutes. Quickly write down your plans for the next five years. Include qualifications, further education, year-off plans, hobbies you want to try, people you want to meet, places you want to go to, etc. …

What would your answers be? [ITL]