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.' He told his audience the harrowing tale of a young boy who would break his spectacles every two weeks to avoid reading badly in front of the whole class. 'Students with learning difficulties may look lazy at times. But for them learning does not travel a regular, pre-ordained path. It is more like a quantum leap,' he said. Nothing much may happen for a while and then there would be a sudden and often intense jump in learning. Teachers needed to understand how these students learned, recognise the signs and have appropriate expectations. Teachers, according to Dr Lavoie, could learn from the medical profession. 'Teachers are not good at differential diagnosis,' he said. 'When two patients visit a doctor with identical symptoms, they may be diagnosed with different illnesses and treated accordingly. All too often [teachers] treat all non-performers in exactly the same way.' Dr Lavoie believes that one reason for an apparent lack of motivation is the students' own understanding of the situation. 'For this type of student, school is a game of chance. If he has a test on Friday he knows that if that is going to be a good day, he'll do well but if it's a bad day he'll flunk. So he figures why should I study?' The key is what teachers do on the good days. He advised them that, 'every success should be celebrated'. 'Treat lesson plans as a compass, not a road map; be flexible and responsive. You need to find opportunities for these kids to be successful. Use those magic teachable moments,' he said. For more information visit www.ricklavoie.com