13th March 2013
Motivation
Duchesne et al., (2013) explained intrinsic motivation as internal forces (our personal interests, satisfaction and curiosity) which drives and energises us to act and engage. Extrinsic motivation is explained as external forces (rewards and punishments) which drive our behaviour and engagement levels. Both internal and external factors can be positive or negative connotations. I agree that intrinsic motivation is the overall key to long term learning and success and should be ultimate goal in education at every level. “Students who enjoy what they are doing and learn for the sake of learning are said to be intrinsically motivated” (Duchesne et al., 2013, p. 263). Extrinsic motivation is short term, but plays an important role to motivate us to complete tasks.
Being alive is being motivated.
Motivation is and internal process where motives and forces engage and direct our behaviours and decisions (Duchesne, McMaugh, Bochner, & Krause, 2013). Eric Sotto (2007) believes that “being motivated is intrinsic to being alive” (p. 21).
Therefore, no one lacks in motivation, but only lack engagement.
In a classroom of individual learners different motivational levels exists and depending on the teaching style these motivational levels can either be encouraged or discouraged.
The cognitive theory approach examines students’ expectations for success and how they attribute failure. Students are internally motivated to succeed through their self-belief, value of schooling and a mastering of goal approach. Inhibitors of motivation are; anxiety, failure avoidance and low control. The drawback of this approach is that is can lead students avoiding challenging tasks through the fear of failure. (Duchesne, et al ., 2013).
The behaviourist teacher uses extrinsic reinforcements to encourage learning engagement. These reinforcements include positive feedback (smiles and gestures of approval), rewards (stickers and prizes) or punishments (missing out on game time). The behaviourist theory has short lived outcomes and if not done effectively can lead to disengagement and sense of failure amongst students. (Duchesne, et al ., 2013).
The social learning approach looks at motivational factors which encourage students to be engaged through observation of peers achievement, success and failure in order to promote individual standards and self-efficacy. The self-confidence and increased independence encourages task engagement, although this approach can be very time consuming. (Duchesne, et al ., 2013).
Personally I believe that a teacher cannot force the internal process of motivation within their students. Teachers can however encourage engagement through the use of different internal and external factors. On reflection I can see how as a student and teacher I have relied on the behaviourist approach through the use of rewards. I believe the best approach is the all-rounder approach, incorporating all the different motivational approaches in the classroom to ensure every child gets the approach they need to succeed.
The humanist teacher believes in satisfying the basic needs of the student and student achieving self-actualisation which leads to personal fulfilment and the ultimate internal motivation for engagement. This approach takes into account the different needs influencing behaviour (See Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs). The drawback on this approach is that it is not always possible for a teacher to meet all the different of the student due to lack of resources, time and support. (Duchesne, et al ., 2013).
The above quote depicts motivation and learning. Learning is engaged in and driven by the children and not by the teacher.
Success is important, but how a learner deals with failure can indicate to a teacher where the students might need extra motivation in order to achieve confidence and success in their learning.
Shows the use of extrinsic reinforcement (rewards) to encourage learning and success.
