Few things are more important in educating a child than motivation. Teachers must be motivated to teach well. Students must be motivated to learn. In the early years of education, motivation comes easy. Children are naturally inclined to be curious and enthusiastic about learning new things. As childhood turns into adolescence, however motivation wanes. At this point parents and teachers must find ways to keep students engaged in the learning process.
While some students keep their natural enthusiasm for learning, and are often labeled geeks and ridiculed, most students’ interests shift to socializing and status. Many parents and educators panic when faced with the task of motivating students. Panic leads to less than wise tactics. I have seen money being offered for grades, by schools and parents. I have seen cell phones and other privileges given for good grades. While this may work in the short term, it is my concern that until students understand what a privilege education is, they will never truly be motivated. Motivation needs to come from the heart.
While there is no real formula for getting students motivated, there are some approaches that work (for different children of course).
Interest in subject matter: If a child is interested in the subject matter, he will learn. I remember when my younger brother was doing miserably in history in the second grade. That was until they got to the topic of the Titanic. He not only aced that unit, but also obsessed about it and made sure the rest of the family was well versed in Titanic history. This not only raised his history grade, but also gave him the self-confidence to do better in history for the rest of the year.
Usefulness: How many times have you heard a child say, “What purpose does this have in my life?” Subjects need to be applied for a student to open their minds to learning them. Geometry for example is important to architecture, carpentry, decorating, robotics, art, assembly, computer aided design, video game programming, building models, technology, biology, astronomy, telecommunication, and more. Students need to find something they are interested in to help them learn a subject they are not excited about.
Self Esteem: A child with a good amount of self-esteem will be less inclined to look at his peers for approval and so will be less likely to be distracted from learning by outside influences.
Persistence: Sometimes you just have to stay on a child to get keep them motivated. I am not talking about begging or cajoling. Parents and teachers however need to continuously observe and encourage a student through a subject until they can find a something about that subject that will allow them to be self-motivated.
Instructors have a great deal of power in the motivation of students. They can also unmotivated an otherwise motivated student if they are not careful. In order to motivate their students, they themselves must be motivated to teach beyond the monetary reward.
Enthusiasm: Kids know when a teacher is motivated to teach and when they are doing it as a job. I think my least motivated teacher was my typing teacher. She made a subject that one would think students would enjoy, pure hell. It was clear that she did not want to be there, and so none of us wanted to be there either. She spent more time ridiculing students for reasons that had nothing to do with typing than encouraging them.
Relevant material: Teachers need to be up with the times in their subject matter. They need to know the modern teen culture and be able to pull things that kids can relate to into the curriculum.
Appropriate difficulty levels: While asking hard questions make students think, teachers must be careful to lower the bar when appropriate so that students can feel accomplished and then slowly, but surely raise that bar.
Student Involvement: When a student feels ownership they become more enthusiastic. This is why science labs are such an important part of teaching science. Teachers should find ways to help children apply what they learned in a way that is meaningful to them. This may mean presenting the material back in the form of a song, poem, or even a website.
Rapport: Personality is everything. How many times have you heard a parent complain, my child just does not get along with the teacher as the reason the child is not doing well. Once a certain amount of animosity is built up between a student and teacher, the student will begin to mentally shut the teacher out. At this point, they will cease to learn even the simplest concept. While teachers should not be pushovers, and everyone’s best friend, they must try to be fun, fair, and approachable.
