Translator: Josh Wedlock Reviewer: Robert Tucker
Okay, okay.
Hello, hi everyone, my name is Josh,
and I'm going to actually start this talk with an apology.
Not to you,
but to Josh Wedlock's English class,
Niihama, Japan, in 2002.
You see, I started my teaching career -
and I say "teaching" in the loosest of ways.
Actually, I did start my teaching career in 2002 in Japan,
and I was so, so bad
that my children went out of my class
with less English ...
(Laughter)
than when they came in .
I was so bad as a teacher
that if you had children in Niihama, Japan in 2002,
you were better off letting them do anything else
other than come to my class
if you wanted them to learn English.
Sit down and watch the grass grow,
look at the wall, you're going to learn more by doing that.
(Laughter)
So, I'm going to address ...
2002, Josh Wedlock's English class:
I'm sorry,
I did you a real disservice by de-teaching you.
(Laughter)
I was a de-teacher.
I was a de-educator.
(Laughter)
It was really bad.
So, why am I here with a roomful of close friends,
telling you all of this?
Well it's because it was this event -
not this even per se -
the event in Niihama, Japan which is the genesis of this talk.
As you know, this talk is called "Get Real".
This talk is part personal anecdote,
it's part based on experience of being a personal trainer and fitness instructor,
and an English teacher and communication coach
for 18 years in five different countries.
And I didn't want to just come up here and give you opinions;
I wanted to come up here and give you some information
and some ideas based on research.
And as I look out, I can see we've got people from all over.
Truly international community here today in TEDx Dongdaemun / Apgujung.
(Laughter)
People at home are like, "What's he talking about?" ... An in joke!
Okay. So ...
I can see a truly international audience,
so what I'm going to give you,
no matter where you are, what culture, what context you're in,
most of these ideas are applicable.
So what is "Get Real"?
What is "Get Real"?
Well, the Cambridge dictionary says
that "get real" is a phrase we utter
when we're telling someone to look at the true facts of a situation.
Get real.
But we know it's more than that.
We know that getting real is emotional engagement.
When you sit down, you have a really good conversation with a friend,
and you break down the walls, and the emotional barrier goes down,
and if you're a guy,
at the end of that sort of conversation,
you do the man hug,
and you say, "That got real!"
(Laughter)
"It got real!"
Because you're still the man - "It got real!"
But we also know it's more than that:
it's about action.
All of the speakers here,
it's easy to say how I'm going to do a TEDx talk,
that's easy to say,
but when you come here, and you're out there,
oh, it gets real.
(Laughter).
It's getting real, I tell you.
Okay? ... So, get real, ... real!
Genuine, not fake: that's real.
So this one's all about getting real.
And the next five or seven minutes is not really for you
because I can tell we've got an educated crowd in here.
The next five to seven minutes are more for the Youtubers
because you know, you know this:
that "get real" is actually based on
something we use in education or in psychology
which you already know.
It's all about locus of control.
(Ironically) "Yeah, yeah, I got that."
It's all about engagement.
Okay?
It's all about self-awareness.
Self-efficacy.
Even the bear's going, "Yeah, I got self-efficacy,
I know what self-efficacy is."
And it's about responsibility.
Okay?
So, the next five minutes,
let me break down the five steps of "Get Real".
"Get Real" is actually old-school advice for a new-school generation.
It's like a soft drink isn't it:
"Drink 'Get Real'! [Makes sound of drink can being opened]
Old-school drink for a new-school thirst!"
(Laughter)
But it's not a soft drink;
it's these five things I'm telling you about.
Okay, let's break them down for the people at home.
We have got - what did we say, anyone paying attention?
Good, yes, excellent, let's pretend you called something out.
Locus of control -
(Laughter)
Okay?
Locus of control.
Are you responsible for what happens in your life,
your successes and failures?
Or is it someone else or something else that stops you achieving?
Okay?
What you want to do is you want to have - if you can, develop -
a locus of control,
which is an internal locus of control.
As teachers -
Well I'm a teacher - don't know if you're teachers.
Are you guys teachers?
Some of you, yeah. Don't all answer at once!
(Laughter)
As a teacher, I see this all the time:
"Ah, you know Josh, I failed the exam -
or failed something -
because the test was too hard."
"Okay, well, Mary passed, and John passed, so obviously the test wasn't too hard.
I think you just didn't study hard enough."
That would be an internal locus of control:
you take responsibility.
"I didn't lose weight, I didn't get fit, because my trainer wasn't very good."
External.
"I haven't lost weight and haven't really achieved my goal
because I really love chicken and beer."
(Laughter)
Okay, that's taking what we call internal locus of control -
taking responsibility.
So, the next one is engagement.
Okay?
It's when you truly care about what you're doing.
It's when you truly care about why or what you are doing.
So, I urge you to "get real" about caring.
We all have seen politicians who don't engage,
and they don't care about what they're doing.
We all work with people in the office who just don't care,
they don't really know why they're there.
"It's a spreadsheet, I've got to do something."
They don't really engage.
Don't believe me?
What I want you to do, and I really want you to do this,
is think of a teacher, a mentor, a coach, a person, a friend, a family member,
who has had a huge positive impact on you.
Truly think about it.
It's not one of those things: "I'll think about it" -
"Not thinking about it."
(Laughter)
Truly think about it.
I don't even know who this person is, that would be impossible,
but I can tell you I'm 100% sure that that person was engaged.
They cared about you and about what they were doing.
That's why they had an impact.
So get real about engaging.
Self-awareness.
Even the people on YouTube are like: "I know self-awareness.
Strengths, weaknesses,
why I do what I do,
understanding myself."
Well, if this is true, if we all know ourselves so well -
Now, I help, and I coach, people who are doing English interviews
to get a job,
maybe an international company, or a Korean company,
and they need English.
And these people know themselves.
And I say to them -
easy question -
"What is your weakness?"
"I'm a perfectionist."
(Laughter: audience, then child mimicking, then audience at child)
Even the little guy knows that!
Even a a little five-year-old child knows this.
(Laughter)(Sounds of surprise)
What we're doing here is lying to ourselves.
Okay?
So ...
then they go: "You know what Josh, you're right. I was lying to you.
I take on too much responsibility."
(Laughter: child, then audience)
And again, they're lying.
Okay?
So get real about understanding your strengths, weaknesses,
motivations, and values etc.
Get real.
Okay.
What have we done?
We done locus of control?
You say: "Yes!"
Yes.
Have we done engagement? Audience: Yes.
JW: Self-awareness? Audience: Yes.
JW: Self efficacy?
Audience: No.
JW: No? Okay, self-efficacy is this one:
It's believing that you have the ability to accomplish something.
Believing in yourself.
But it's not just blindly believing something;
you have to base it on something.
So little successes -
coaches, they help you develop;
parents, friends, they help you.
So, if you're going out to run 10 km, you've got to believe in yourself.
You don't have to believe you can run 10 km tomorrow;
you've just got to believe eventually you can,
so you can put in steps to do this.
This is all about self-efficacy.
And: responsibility.
Responsibility is what we all have.
We have a responsibility to teach people - that's for me.
You might be a student - you have a responsibility to learn.
You may be a police officer - you have a responsibility to serve and protect.
But, many of us don't take the responsibility.
There's a big difference between having a responsibility -
I have a responsibility to teach you,
whether I do that or not, that's whether I take responsibility.
So get real about taking responsibility, not just having responsibility.
Okay, I'm going to say you all knew that; you're all like: "Yeah, I knew all that."
And you're thinking, "Hold on,
doesn't that spell: L - Locus of Control,
E - Engagement,
S - Self-aware,
S - Self-efficacy,
and R - Responsibility,
isn't that like, 'LESS-R'?"
(Laughter)
"LESS-R? Why is it 'Get Real'?"
Think why it's "Get Real".
Because if someone comes up to me and says, "Ah, Josh, I failed the exam
because it was too hard",
and I go like, "Hey man, LESS-R."
(Laughter)
Not so cool.
If they say, "I failed the exam, it was too hard",
and I'm, "Hey man, get real."
I'm cool. (Laughter) Okay?
It's a little thing to say to yourself so you're not too harsh on yourself.
Sometimes we're too harsh on ourselves
because we're not actually understanding the true fact of a situation.
Okay?
So, "Get Real" is just so much cooler to say than "LESS-R".
But try out whichever one you like, you know -
Audience member: LESS-R
JW: LESS-R? You like LESS-R? Go with LESS-R.
(Laughter)
Whatever you guys want really.
Okay, so that's the theory,
but theory without practice and application
is just a dusty book.
Okay?
We've all got these books with theories, but we don't actually apply them.
So, let's go back in time, let's do some time-travelling.
Now, it's not real time-travelling.
If I could really time-travel, I'd've started with that.
(Laughter)
That would be a really cool Ted Talk.
(Laughter)
I mean mine's pretty cool, but time-travel?
"I went to TED, and I went back in time!"
That trumps what I'm saying.
Okay?
But I can't, so we've got to pretend.
This is me, Niihama, 2002.
What you need to do is figure out LESS-R, Get Real,
advice I should have got 15 years ago,
and tell me where it fits in.
Okay, back in time.
(Vocal beeping sound)
That's the best I've got! That's time-travel.
(Laughter)
Okay, we've time-travelled. (More beeping) Do it at home, you can go anywhere.
(Laughter)
Okay, so we're back in Japan, and I wake up every day, and I get up,
and I'm all, "Ugh, I've got to go to work.
I don't want to do this, the kids don't listen to me.
(Sighing)
No way I can teach them.
I go in to work, and the kids come in.
They've had their sugar.
They've definitely had their sugar,
and the school's decided
that they're going to put all the bad kids into my class.
That's what they've done, that's great.
Try some games, they don't work.
Lesson planning - I mean I did it, don't judge me, I did it.
Okay, well Mary did it, Mary did it, and I took Mary's.
Mary is Japanese, and I don't understand what she said.
But it's got some words there, and that's what the kids must learn."
So, I try to teach. But the kids don't get it.
"These kids ... you know kids, they don't listen.
I did my best."
Then the principal called me in,
and he said, "Josh, I think you should go and watch Dave's class
because it'd be good for you."
I thought, "Ah, sharing ideas. Helping Dave out.
Give him some of my teaching ideas."
And I watch Dave.
This guy, he went in, kids loved him.
He had the good kids. (Laughter)
He had the smart kids. Lucky Dave.
He was there, the kids are engaged, or playing games,
and if a game didn't work, Dave didn't get stressed.
Dave just went, "Oh, I'll change the game."
Because he was just trying to build up their confidence.
In the end of the class,
sat down with Dave to sort of give him some advice.
Err, turned out he gave me advice.
He asked me, "Josh, do you like teaching?"
I said, "No, but I do liked getting paid."
(Laughter)
So he said, "Well, just put in some effort.
Care about what you do.
Read a book or two about teaching.
Go and watch other people's classes.
Video your own class and watch it."
And it was here that the genesis of Get Real began.
So can you see where we can apply this?
Let's go back and listen to my words.
Remember "L" was ... (Whispering) Locus of control.
(Laughter) Audience: Locus of control!
Whoa! Yeah!
Okay, locus of control - didn't have it.
They put all the bad kids in my class.
Okay? I'm blaming them.
Okay. 'E' for?
(Whispering) E is for Engagement.
(Loud voice) Engagement!
Okay.
I wasn't engaged, I didn't care.
I didn't try to put in effort.
I thought, "I can't do this, why do I even care?"
Dave on the other hand was awesome.
Okay? So we've got self-efficacy: I didn't believe in myself.
"I couldn't do it yesterday, why can I do it tomorrow?"
Then, self-awareness.
I didn't know
that I didn't know how bad I was.
That's how bad I was.
(Laughter)
Mmm? (Laughter)
So, that's how bad I was.
So I had to become more self-aware.
And responsibility.
I had to take responsibility for knowing or not knowing something,
doing or not doing.
At that time, I chose not to do,
not to get real.
So, ... as I said, this is all based on research.
Go and look up the L-E-S-S-R for yourselves.
I urge you to do that.
Don't trust me.
Well, you can trust me on this one, but go and look it up.
It will help you.
I hope you enjoy the rest of the talks.
Thank you for listening. "Get Real!" Goodbye.
(Applause)