2. Oxford English Dictionary
• Motivation, n
• The stimulus for action towards a desired goal, esp. as resulting
from psychological or social factors; the factors giving purpose
or direction to human or animal behaviour.
• Now also more generally (as a count noun): the reason a person
has for acting in a particular way, a motive.
3. Motivation in Education
• The internal state of a student that directs and maintains
behaviour, will determine whether the student will initiate
learning activities, maintain involvement and remain
committed to the process of learning.
• Plato:
Do not train children to learning by force and harshness, but direct them to it by
what amuses their minds, so that you may be better able to discover with accuracy
the peculiar bent of the genius of each.
4. Influences and Factors
• Social cognitive theorists have succeeded in developing
an explanation which takes into account all three
relevant variables involved:
• Behaviour, cognitive and environmental influences involved in
teaching and motivating students (Woolfolk, et al., 2010).
• Educators will develop a comprehensive understanding
of motivation and learning by recognizing the presence
of these three influences and the constant interplay
between them
5. Behavioural Influences
The principles of enactive learning dictate that we learn directly
through the consequences of our actions (Woolfolk, Winne, &
Perry, 2010). In understanding that individuals actively operate
on their environments, an educator can use a system of extrinsic
motivators, to reinforce positive behaviour.
Translating it to the Class and Applying it to Students:
• Educators can supply their students with incentives, objectives or
events, as rewards for their performance. In the classroom,
students are often driven by attaining grades or gaining special
privileges.
6. *It should be noted that the use of extrinsic motivators is
highly controversial, and recently educational theorists
have come to caution against their use.
Counter:
When Rewards provide students with information about
their growing mastery of a subject, or when the rewards
show appreciation for a job well done, then the reward has
the potential to boost confidence and make the task more
interesting to the student. Indeed, if a student is able to
master reading or mathematics, it is not likely that the will
forget what they learned once the rewards stop
7. Environmental Influence
• Albert Bandura, a prominent social cognitive theorist, has
succeeded in putting an individual’s behaviour in their social
context.
• Bandura reveals that changes in behaviour also occur
vicariously, through observing and imitating others. The social
motivation for performing tasks can be understood as a need
to gain the respect, admiration or praise of others.
• Through observational learning, a student can learn how to
perform behaviour and also gain information on its
consequences
8. Cognitive Influences
• Learning is considered to be a determinant of self influences,
aided by the ability of effectively applying strategies
• Self-efficacy is the act of judging one’s own competence.
Research indicates that students with a high degree of self-
efficacy show an increased improvement in school
performance (Kenny-Benson, Pomerantz, Ryan & Patrick,
2006,)
• It is assumed that motivation is the product of an individual’s
expectations for success, in combination with the value of the
goal to him or her.
9. In the classroom, if a teacher assigns a difficult homework
assignment that the student feels that he or she does not possess
the ability to complete, or see the inherent value of, the student
will not be motivated to perform. Indeed, the student’s self-
efficacy, or beliefs about his or her ability is a primary concern for
educators and theorists
10. Attributions
• The principle of Wiener’s theory begins with the assumption
that we are all inherently motivated by the desire of attaining
the pleasure of achievement (Weiner, 1985)
• The role of attributions, or an individual’s own explanations,
justifications and excuses for success or failures, have
important implications for academic motivation.
• In short, the basic principle of the attribution theory, as it
applies to motivation, is that a person’s own perceptions or
attributions for success or failure determine the amount of
effort her or she will expend on the that activity in the future.
11. Why do students think they can or
can’t change?
• Beliefs about Ability!
• Incremental = Your ability changes over time
• Entity = Your ability is set at birth
• Beliefs about Ability lead to goal orientations.
• Incremental = Mastery
• Entity = Performance
12. Mastery vs. Performance
• Mastery goal orientation (Good)
• Students are mostly concerned with mastering the task at hand
• Failure suggests areas for improvement – can be motivating.
• Performance goal orientation (Bad)
• Students are mostly concerned with doing better than others
• Student fears that failure indicates something about their ABILITY
to do the task.
(Pintrich, P., & Schunk, D. (2002). Motivation in education: Theory, research,
and applications. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill Prentice-Hall.)
13. In the educational environment, if teachers wish for students to
succeed at academic tasks, they should help the student establish
a sincere belief that they are competent and they possess an
inherent ability to complete the task in questions.
Indeed, once a student is successful, and attributes his or her
accomplishments to an internal ability, such as effort, it fosters
feelings of pride that help increase self-efficacy.
In this case there are no external rewards and the task is
undertaken for the pleasure and satisfaction it brings to the
student.
14. Goals
In developing positive attributions and a strong sense of self-efficacy,
students need to set goals that they can then strive to accomplish. Edwin
Locke, and his colleague Gary Latham, from the University of Toronto,
promote the merits of goal settings on four premises.
The two concluded that goals help:
direct our attention to the task at hand, energize our efforts, increase our
persistence and promote the development of new knowledge and
strategies (Locke, & Latham, 2002, )
Educators need to encourage students to adopt specific goals that are
moderately difficult, but attainable.
In general, students will accept goals that are realistic and meaningful. It is
fundamental for educators to practice goal framing, and help their students
understand that the activities and assignments being presented by the
teacher as having an inherent intrinsic or extrinsic value.
15. Why would someone want to
master the task
• Mastery is INTRINSICALLY motivating
• Intrinsic motivation: wanting to do something just because it
is—in and of itself—enjoyable!
• Why are things enjoyable?
• Interest
• Competence
• Curiosity
• Relatedness
• Autonomy
16. Emotions
• Social cognitive theorists have come to advocate a need to get
students emotionally investing in their learning.
• (It is also critical to manage student anxiety)
• The ultimate objective for educators is to produce students
capable of managing their own learning. In order to
accomplish this goal, it is imperative for educators identify
self- influences to stimulate the student’s inner resources.
17. Interests
• Interest is second only to effort in determining or explaining a
student’s success in the classroom.
• Trigger situation interest -Situational interest is maintained
• Emerging individual interest – Well-developed individual interest.
• Extrinsic motivators can be used as a means to trigger situational
interest, which can then manifest into situational interest.
18. “A Learning Environment”
• A building alone does not create a school culture. But research
shows that school buildings can affect students' morale and
academic performance. Now, school officials are moving away
from the "cells and bells" design marked by long, locker-lined
hallways of windowless classrooms, and toward more open,
flexible buildings aimed at creating a sense of community and
collaboration.
19. • Mission to Engage Students: Personalized Learning
“To create an education system that enables each learner in BC to
meet his or her full potential potential—a world-class education
system that is both flexible and rigorous, and that reflects current
understanding of how students learn and can be effectively
supported.”
- George Abbot, Minster of Education,
Motivating Students in British Columbia
20. • Although motivation is, by definition, is internally determined,
an informed and capable teacher can take the initiative to
stimulate it within their students.
• I have included a vast library of reading and visual material in my
portfolio. Please visit for further information. In particular, I have
found some influential texts, books and journals that have been
citied throughout the various readings that I have done.
Conclusion: Putting It All Together
21. Questions to Consider?
1) In your opinion, how much of a responsibility can we really attribute to each and
every individual teacher, in terms of motivating their students to learn? Can we put, say,
a percentage on this number ?
2) Behaviorists have taught us the role and value of extrinsic motivators, and they can
certainly be employed in an effective manner to motivate others to act. In your
evaluation, is learning encouraged or undermined using this method.
3) The term "learner centered environment" has been used to describe the optimal
classroom, where students would be best motivated to learn, what does this description
of the ideal classroom mean to you? Can you describe its components?
4) What strategies do you think teachers need to adopt in order for their students to
“become more motivated” in the classroom.
5) Reflect on your own experiences in the public school system. Would you consider
yourself a motivated student, why or why not? What worked for you, What didn't ?
