JUSTIN ROGERS

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Sparking others

Understanding the values of those you seek to change

September 23, 2025

It seems so obvious, doesn’t it? To associate a desired outcome with something that is highly important to us.

For instance, if we want to exercise regularly we’d do well to link that in our mind to what’s most important to us. Maybe, to be around for our grand kids and show them the family traditions. Exercise = Family connections.

Fundamentally, I guess, people value pleasurable experiences. And as long as those don’t harm us, these kinds of valuable experiences are great fuel for change and growth.

I know that if I make a kid laugh, I’m much more likely to affect change for them. They begin to associate the good feeling with the learning I deliver.

Link the desired growth (learning) to the value (feeling good).

The loop becomes this: elicit pleasurable experience, hook it to the learning. Elicit the experience, hook the learning. And so on and so fourth.

It’s not about silly fluff for a laughs sake, but it’s about creating deeply valuable and richly pleasurable learning experiences for our kids.

When kids link ultimate pleasure to learning and growth, then we’ve done our job.

Praise in advance

September 22, 2025

Did you know that kids work the same as credit cards?

I use this fact to get kids engaged in a way that makes them feel awesome!

With a credit card you can use money now that you don’t have yet. It’s as if you have the money right now.

There’s two powerful words in there: yet and as if.

Let’s take full advantage of them shall we?

“Yet” presupposes that there will be something in the future (just not yet; like the money you’re spending in credit)

“As if” means we don’t need the reality to match the way we are behaving, we can act as if (I thank my actor training for this too- in acting it’s called the magic if)

Here’s how I apply “yet” and “as if” to draw kids into my lessons.

There’s a desired behaviour when I’m teaching; I want the kids to have fun, focus and curiosity. Not crawling up the walls excitement, and not dead eyed robots- something in between.

They’re not there ‘yet’

    When I know where I want them to be and use the word ‘yet’ on myself, I’m inviting in the possibility that they will soon be perfectly at the level of engagement I seek.

    Act as if.

      Here’s the sneaky part, I actively praise the behaviour I don’t see yet, but I act and speak as if it’s right there in front of me: “I love the way these people over here are focussing and having fun, who else can I see? Oh yes you are all SO GOOD at focussing your attention on me and having a great sensible time!!”

      I’m spending on credit here. They may not be perfect (yet!) but I’m nudging them toward perfect by praising them in advance.

      The game then is to be a heat seeking missile on any and all behaviour that is remotely in the direction of the desired outcome and double down on the praise until I’m not longer in credit mode.

      That attention is money in the BANK!

      Feelings not facts

      September 19, 2025

      There’s what we’re actually teaching then there’s emotion we want our students to associate with it.

      How we say something is much more powerful than what we say.

      After all, information is freely available everywhere. We don’t need more people spouting facts- anyone can find the facts they need.

      What we really need are people to deliver learning in a way that moves us.

      Something I’m asking myself is constantly is this: What am I teaching and how can I create excitement and curiosity in my students?

      That can’t be outsourced. We need your humanness to connect the dots and deliver education with heart.

      Don’t spout facts, light up hearts.

      Call it something funny

      September 16, 2025

      We can transform our students’ experience of something just by naming it something else.

      Would you rather do a ‘quiz’ or a ‘super expert field experiment?’

      Would you rather ‘practice a waiata’ a song or be ‘a Kapa Haka hero’

      What we call it matters. And it’s an easy adjustment. I like to think about ways I can make things sound more fun and interesting for my students.

      Better yet, you can let the activity live up to the name! You don’t have to jsut call it somehting fun then deliver the same old same old.

      Let the name you’ve chosen dictate the way in which you conduct that piece of learning or activity.

      A waiata practice might look different to facilitating a room full of kapa haka heroes.

      Deciding what mood you bring to the class

      September 15, 2025

      Deciding what mood you bring to the class

      The first time I got my actor head shots done a friend of mine had some great advice:

      What three qualities as an actor do you want these headshots to show?

      I think I chose like quirky, trustworthy and vulnerable.

      It was a great focus, because I went into the session clear on the moods I wanted the photos to have.

      I think about this with students as well: what is the mood I want to bring to the my classroom today?

      Mood is completely palpable; especially to young people. We may think we’re hiding our anxiety or annoyance well, but the kids can feel it.

      Once you’ve decided what mood you’re taking to your lesson- it’s time to start priming it. I find it hard to just choose a mood in my head and make a ‘note to self’ to start ‘doing’ that mood when I enter the class.

      It doesn’t work like that- you have to embody it. So I’ll gently begin living into the mood I chose in the hours leading up to my class.

      Recently, I chose the word ‘glee’. I love that word and it cracks up. To take ‘glee’ in something is so fun. So that’s what I did. I took glee in making my breakfast and going about my morning. Glee in meeting people on the way to work.

      And when I eventually did end up in front of my students, it wasn’t a great leap to bring my word into the classroom. I’d been edging toward it all morning.

      I find it so empowering that we have this level of choice. Knowing how much mood can affect the learning that happens in my class and knowing I have the power to authentically change that is powerful.

      Magic in Meaning

      September 13, 2025

      The magic of meaning

      One of my favourite things about kapa haka is that the actions in the songs are telling their own story. They mirror, match and extend the story carried by the words and the tune.

      We were working on the song E Minaka Ana in class yesterday. The kids and I got talking about the different words and how they linked to the actions we had learned:

      Kōrero: Our hands near our mouths.

      Kai: Our hands by our bellies.

      You get the idea. And its no surprise that their word/action retention went up.

      But something else happened too- there was more ‘flare’ to their actions.

      Suddenly because the tamariki had a deeper understanding of the meaning of each action and how they linked to the words, they leant harder into the theatricality and scale of them.

      This is the same when rehearsing a play. We pore over every word of a script, touching, saying, trying, discussing each syllable many times. It means in performance, the script is lit up.

      Touching each word and action with the kids does the same thing. It’s familiar ground; we’ve been here before and we know it.

      And when we perform, we take great pleasure and pride in sharing this mahi with others.

      Don’t go for listening, go for emotion.

      September 12, 2025

      For a long time I thought that a class full of kids who were paying attention was the goal. As long as they aren’t talking over me then I’m happy…!

      But wanting kids to pay attention is kind of a weak goal. I don’t want students who merely listen to what I’m saying. What I’m saying probably isn’t all that interesting. What I really want is to stir them up to feel something.

      Emotion is what leads us, so if I set my target to an emotion rather than “please let them listen to me” I’m already ahead of the game.

      The emotion I’m most often going for is excitement.

      Excitement is like a flint, and from that place wild fires of learning and inspiration are possible.

      The same can’t be said of listening. It’s too passive.

      I’m interested in students who are leaning forward, who are interested, who are making connections to their own life and most of all connecting to possibility.

      Just ask

      September 10, 2025

      It’s amazing what you can get by just asking.

      I start every session I teach by asking the kids to say hello to me in Te Reo:

      “Can I get a “Kia ora Justin?!”

      They’ll repeat it- and what’s more they’ll even match my tone exactly.

      To make it fun, I’ll add a “Can I get a “You’re such a great singer, Justin!”

      Two things are happening here:

      1. Ask with levity: I’m playful in my request. There’s no real stakes but the opportunity is still there. When there’s a bit of a joke with it, it’s in their best interest to answer because it’s fun to be ‘in on a joke’.
      2. Ask with direction: In my sessions, we’re signing and speaking in Te Reo. My two asks of them are related: one is in Te Reo and one is about singing. It steers us in the direction of the learning without overtly saying “Here’s what we’re learning today.

      If I want to start a session that’s fun and engaging, I just ask.

      What do you believe about your students?

      September 8, 2025

      Kids live up to what you believe about their identity.

      “Noho Rangatira.”

      Noho means “to sit” and a rangatira is a highly respected person. It’s my cue for “sit like someone worthy of respect.”

      It does two things.

      1. Reset focus. When the class gets restless, I model the posture, call “Noho Rangatira,” they echo it, and we all settle into an attentive seat. Focus returns.
      2. Reset me. If I believe they’re not listening, I teach like that—and I lose them. When I believe I’m leading rangatira, I treat them like rangatira, and they rise to it.

      I guard that belief. Noho Rangatira re-anchors me in a simple truth: these are young people worthy of my full respect.

      When frustration creeps in, I ask:

      • What would I need to believe about these kids for them to engage, get curious, and have fun?

      Adopt that belief wholeheartedly and watch what happens.

      Small talk isn’t small

      September 7, 2025

      It can feel like a waste of precious class time to chat with students about their day. We have limited class time so surely it makes sense to just get on with the learning, right?!

      One of my favourite ways to start a waiata lesson is to get a sense of what the kids have been up to since I last saw them.

      “What have you been learning today?”

      “What’s something surprising you could teach me about?!”

      “What are your plans for the holidays?”

      These seem simple, but hidden beneath these questions is a core Māori value:

      Whānaungatanga.

      You might notice whanaungatanga has the Māori word for family in it; whānau. It’s all about a building a sense of family. It’s just like how Japanese business people highly value starting with ‘small talk’ before of ‘getting down to business’. I’ve heard a business deal can be completetly ruined if someone doesn’t engage in small talk first; it’s considered rude!

      Well, this is similar in the Māori world. It’s not as formal as having a set of questions or steps you need to do to ‘do whānaungatanga’ (can you imagine!?)

      It’s really about being human first. You’re meeting a human being who has had a whole day before this moment, they have family, friends, insecurities, hopes- the whole shabang. How wonderful then that whānaungatanga gives us space to honour that.

      It doesn’t have to be a therapy session! Just get interested in their reality and let them into yours.

      So when I’m with kids I’ll start by treating them like family members I’m curious about. By the way people tend to act like how you treat them. And I want my students to engage with our work together like trusted family members.

      It may seem insignificant, but small talk is anything but.

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