Helping Kids Achieve Their Best: Understanding and using motivation in the classroom
134
Helping Kids Achieve Their Best: Understanding and using motivation in the classroom
134Paperback
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Overview
Professor Martin V. Covington, University of California at Berkeley
As one who has spent a career reading books on 'motivation', I can recall only a mere few that have managed to hit the right tone for those who would teach. And this one does so fully mindful of current theory and research.
Professor Martin Maehr, University of Michigan
Dennis McInerney has done an outstanding job of bringing together all of the most relevant work on student motivation, presenting it in such a way that it is understandable and appealing to teachers. This book is a must addition to every teacher education program.
Professor Michael Pressley, University of Notre Dame; Editor, Journal of Educational Psychology
A key factor in successful learning at all ages is a learner's motivation. So the ability to facilitate student motivation is central to successful teaching, particularly when children aren't inherently interested in learning.
Helping Kids Achieve Their Best is a practical guide to motivating younger and older learners. It looks at why some students are easier to motivate than others, and why students lose motivation as they become older. McInerney outlines strategies teachers can use in the classroom, taking into account the needs of students from different backgrounds.
The book is richly illustrated with vignettes and case studies, and includes questions and exercises to help teachers apply the suggested approaches in their own situations.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781865082028 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Taylor & Francis |
| Publication date: | 04/01/2000 |
| Pages: | 134 |
| Product dimensions: | 6.88(w) x 9.00(h) x (d) |
| Lexile: | 1250L (what's this?) |
About the Author
Read an Excerpt
Helping Kids Achieve Their Best
Understanding and Using Motivation in the Classroom
By Dennis M. McInerney
Allen & Unwin
Copyright © 2000 Dennis M McInerneyAll rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-86508-202-8
CHAPTER 1
Motivation and learning
Everyone agrees that a key factor in successful learning is a learner's motivation. Everyone also agrees that a key factor in effective teaching is an instructor's ability to facilitate student motivation, particularly in circumstances where children are not inherently interested in learning. However, there is limited agreement on what the essential elements of student motivation are, and what variables teachers should attend to in order to facilitate motivation in children.
A number of theoretical explanations of motivation have been developed which are of considerable assistance to teachers and instructors in trying to understand the nature of motivation and the dynamics of the motivational process in learning environments. These theoretical explanations are of great help in structuring learning experiences to maximise the motivation of learners. Other somewhat a theoretical explanations of motivation such as those based upon teacher craft and practical wisdom, as well as those based upon classroom research and observation not yet theorised — what we might call teacher's common knowledge — are also of great value. In this book we consider a range of theories and their practical application in learning environments.
WHAT IS MOTIVATION?
All teachers are familiar with classes and individuals that are highly motivated. There is a zing in the air. No work seems too hard or too much or too boring. Teacher and students work harmoniously and energetically. Attention is alert and focussed. Highly motivated individuals persist at the task, desire high levels of performance and come back to the task time and time again voluntarily.
We are also aware that there is great variation from individual to individual on level of motivation for particular tasks (indeed, this applies equally to students and teachers!). Some students just seem easier to motivate than others. Sometimes this variation appears to reflect interests and values, ability and effort. Sometimes the variation appears to reflect sex differences (e.g. girls appear more motivated in language activities and boys in construction activities); sometimes the variation appears to reflect ethnic differences (e.g. Aboriginal and Maori children appear less motivated for academic work than Chinese and Eastern European children); and sometimes the variation appears to reflect socioeconomic and family background variables.
We are also aware that a given individual varies in motivation from task to task. Often teachers excuse a student's poor performance academically by saying that he or she just isn't motivated, only to see the child strive to be best at swimming or drama, or strive to be best for another teacher. Conversely, many individuals who are highly motivated academically show little motivation for sporting activities.
Lack of motivation for a particular task may be indicated through an individual's distractability and lack of involvement, resistance, sullenness, apparent laziness, completing work in a superficial way, and self-deprecation. Some children deliberately perform below their capacity. The problem is not necessarily lack of motivation, but rather that students are motivated for the wrong reasons. Among the negative forms of motivation are motivation to avoid failure, motivation to increase stimulation through other activities than the one that should be the focus of attention, motivation to resist and not to participate, and motivation to cause distractions to others!
Poorly motivated students often have poorer self-concepts than other students, higher insecurity about their ability to fit in at school or other learning environments, and higher subjective perceptions that school is not for them. Unfortunately, as students move through schooling, many appear to lose the motivation they had in earlier grades and as young children learning at home. What is it that schools and teachers do or don't do that seems to demotivate so many children? Why is it that some children maintain motivation, even in difficult circumstances, while others give up?
Obviously, if we knew with certainty what motivated individuals in particular situations and could package this information, we would make a fortune. Alas, no one has come up with the magical formula. We again must ask 'what is motivation?' Research and theory have yielded partial insights helpful to us in our quest.
OVERVIEW OF PERSPECTIVES
Many early perspectives on motivation were concerned with the functions of instincts, needs and drives in influencing individual behaviour. Early researchers implanted electrodes in animal brains to 'motivate' sex, hunger and thirst drives, and balloons in stomachs (animal and human) to examine hunger drives. While these early basic experiments have not led to educational environments in which motivation is enhanced through electrical stimulation, they did provoke us to think about some important motivation-related issues. For example, what 'energy' actually initiates motivated action? Is this 'energy' psychological or physiological, or a combination? What channels the direction of motivated behaviour so that it becomes focussed? What sustains motivated behaviour once it has begun? Why does motivated behaviour weaken or stop at particular times? And is motivation a necessary element of every learning activity?
These questions enable us to think about motivation in various contexts. A number of theoretical perspectives have been developed by psychologists to enhance our understanding of motivation, and we will deal with some of these in this book. Three primary orientations will be examined: Cognitive theory, Social Cognitive theory, and Behavioural theory. Each of these three orientations has produced a number of interpretations of the genesis and maintenance of motivation, key elements in its understanding. Suffusing each of these is a fourth perspective, Humanism.
Cognitive theories emphasise mental processes and perception as important elements of motivation, and the personal construction of the meaning of experiences which impacts on an individual's level of motivation. Implied in such views of motivation are a concern with personal beliefs and values, perceptions of self, including perceptions about self-worth, abilities and competencies and goals and expectations for success or failure.
Social Cognitive theories, while emphasising mental processes and perception, also emphasise the social context of motivation, including the social and emotional support of significant others such as parents, teachers and peers, and the impact of models on motivated behaviour. Anticipated rewards are also emphasised as important sources of motivation.
Behavioural theories emphasise the external, non-cognitive environment of the individual and how it motivates behaviour through systems of reward and punishment. In short, individuals are motivated because of the effect rewarded (or punished) behaviour has on them. Behaviour that is rewarded becomes motivated behaviour to obtain the reward again. Conversely, behaviour that avoids punishment becomes motivated behaviour to avoid future punishment in similar circumstances.
Humanist theories incorporate features of cognitive, social cognitive and behavioural approaches in so far as they emphasise: that the satisfaction of basic needs motivates behaviour; that individuals introspect about the causes of their successes and failures; and that individual perceptions in social contexts orient motivation. Primarily, however, this perspective focuses on the importance of the individual's inherent dynamism for self-growth which motivates behaviour, and the importance of significant others in fostering this self-growth.
None of these perspectives, on its own, is sufficient to explain the complexity of human motivation. In combination, however, they provide a great deal of insight into the nature of motivation in learning contexts and how it might be elicited and maintained. In the following chapters I will present examples representing these perspectives. Many of the points made interlock with principles covered in a number of chapters. I hope to make the theories as accessible as possible by clearly demonstrating their applied value for interpreting motivational problems, and for developing adaptive teaching techniques to alleviate these problems. I also hope to make the text interactive, and you will benefit most if you actively complete each of the activities presented. Each of the following chapters has ten components. We start with a brief Vignette, and some text which sets the scene for the Chapter. We then present a Case Study in which a teacher is faced with a problem to be solved and we ask you to think about What Would You Do? We then ask you to think of Your Own Case Study drawn from your class and to describe it, listing elements of the problem, and describing what you are currently doing to address the problem. There is then a description of a theoretical interpretation of What Might Be The Problem followed by practical Things to Try. Each Chapter then presents a series of Question Points to challenge your interpretations, Teacher's Viewpoints to compare your opinions with those of other teachers, and Action Stations to gain further insights into the issues covered in the Chapter. Each Chapter finishes with the second half of the What Would You Do? case study and asks you to compare your solutions with those of the teacher in the case study. This is followed by a return to your own personal case study and any new insights you have gained as a result of reading the chapter. Finally, I give you a Recommended Reading and References list in order for you to develop your ideas further.
I hope that the book makes a worthwhile contribution to your understanding of motivation and its relationship to effective learning in your classrooms.
?Question point
What do you see as your personal responsibility as a teacher in motivating students?
?Question point
Consider the best class you ever had. What were the things that made this a good place to teach and to learn?
?Question point
Some teachers rationalise: 'Why should I break my neck to teach children who just do not want to learn?' How might the impasse be resolved? Do some teachers operate under misconceptions of their role?
1. Before we commence our discussion of aspects of motivation, use the following grid to list down the key strategies that you use to motivate individual students. Are some strategies more effective than others?
2. Consider some hard-to-motivate students in your classroom. What are their characteristics? What strategies have you tried to motivate them? Have they worked? Why or why not?
3. List your strengths and weaknesses as a teacher. How would these impact on student motivation and learning?
RECOMMENDED READING
Heckhausen, H. (1991) Motivation and Action. Trans. by P. K. Leppman. Berlin: Springer-Verlag.
Weiner, B. (1992) Human Motivation. Metaphors, Theories and Research. Newbury Park: Sage.
McInerney, D. M., & McInerney, V. (1998) Educational Psychology: Constructing Learning, 2nd ed. Sydney: Prentice Hall.
CHAPTER 2What's in it for me?
'I'm bored! This is so boring!', muttered Martin to his mate as he listlessly pencilled in the answers to an exercise. Nearby, Annette wasn't even pretending to complete the exercise, but rather was distracting anyone close enough to be flicked by little pieces of paper she had meticulously rolled into balls moistened with her saliva. Mr Thomas, the teacher, was aware that not all students were properly involved in the exercise, but he was used to this. His philosophy was 'if you had some of the students attentive some of the time you were doing well'. The lesson ground to a slow and tedious finish and the students let out a 'whoop' as they rushed out to the playground to play.
Teachers and others debate the relative importance of internal and external motivators to student motivation. People do appear to have a natural tendency to be internally motivated when learning goals are personally relevant and meaningful, and when they perceive that they have some personal control over their learning.
Essential to the cognitive perspective on motivation is the concept of intrinsic motivation. Generally referred to as that motive that keeps individuals at a task in and of itself, intrinsic motivation is a complex concept with many interpretations of what constitutes it and what its underlying processes are. From an intrinsic motivation perspective a key to an individual's motivation lies in his or her desire to improve personal performance, solve problems and gain understanding, particularly in ambiguous or problematic situations that are personally relevant. With intrinsic motivation the process of learning becomes substantially self-sustaining. In effect, individuals are intrinsically motivated when they show interest in the task at hand.
WHAT WOULD YOU DO? WE'VE LOST THE PLOT
Mrs Chalmers found that teaching the novel The Shiralee to Grade Eight students as a recommended text proved to be one of those classroom experiences which caused her to wonder about her teaching and the appropriateness of the choice of text. During class the students were very clearly uninterested. They were reluctant to listen, discuss or participate in any written activities. Was it her teaching? Was it her reading? She thought it was a great novel but it wasn't until they were some way through the story that it occurred to her that the problem wasn't necessarily the way she was teaching, but rather the language of the text. It came from a different era and as far as the kids were concerned, it might as well have been written in Russian. The structure was too complex and the idiom, although Australian, was unfamiliar. It was beyond their experience and age level.
National Competency Framework for Beginning Teaching
What would you do?
Before we begin our analysis of reasons why students may lack intrinsic motivation for particular activities please complete your personal case study.
*YOUR CASE STUDY
Describe the problem.
List elements of the problem.
Describe what you are currently doing to address the problem.
WHAT MIGHT BE THE PROBLEM?
What if the process of learning is not self-sustaining and students show little interest? At times we teach students who appear uninterested in a particular learning activity. At times we have students who appear to have little interest in anything being taught to them. They do not become involved in the task and do not value the activity. Personal goals for achievement are set very low and there is little attempt to improve in the activity.
There are a number of possible reasons for this situation occurring. Perhaps the activity is just plain boring! Perhaps the students can't see the connection between the activity and real life. Perhaps the students feel the activity is too hard, or that they lack ability, or perhaps they are afraid of evaluation and failure. Negative thoughts such as these are very detrimental to motivation and many students get trapped into a syndrome in which feelings of confidence, interest and excitement in learning are negated.
THINGS TO TRY
Let's start with simple situations and simple solutions to the apparent lack of interest some learners have in their learning activities. If we consider that the source of the lack of interest in the learning task is boredom or perceived lack of relevance, there are a number of strategies to try.
First you can stimulate student involvement in learning by using variety in your teaching methods (including group work, peer tutoring, games and simulations) and by allowing students some choice and control over their learning related to method, pace and content. In particular, it is very important to situate learning in relevant 'real life' contexts and to build on students' prior knowledge and interests. Active involvement by students in learning activities is also very important to stimulate interest, and you can engineer active involvement through the development of appropriate learning activities.
Another means of increasing student interest in learning activities is to stimulate curiosity in classroom activities. Curiosity is a major element of intrinsic motivation. Curiosity is stimulated by situations that are surprising, incongruous or out of keeping with a student's existing beliefs and ideas. I was once enthralled by a teacher motivating a class to write a creative composition. He had a large black box of furry, feathery, squishy, squashy, hard, long and thick objects. Each child had to put his or her hand through a small hole, feel an object, and then go back and write a short story on what had been felt. The pupils were spellbound and couldn't wait to have their turn and write their story. On another occasion the same teacher had a large treasure chest in which there was an assortment of items. He drew one out at a time while telling a pirate story. Each of the items was part of the story. Interest was very high as students were asked to predict what would come out of the box next.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Helping Kids Achieve Their Best by Dennis M. McInerney. Copyright © 2000 Dennis M McInerney. Excerpted by permission of Allen & Unwin.
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Table of Contents
ForewordIntroduction
1 Motivation and learning
2 What's in it for me?
3 Why should I do it? You can't make me do it!
4 Shooting for goals
5 I feel good about myself
6 Why did I fail?
7 Stars, stamps and jelly beans (or treat them like animals)
8 But I teach well, don't I?
Index