It’s a comment we hear all too
frequently: “These students are not motivated.”
As we have come under more stress to teach new curriculum standards, to
increase rigor, and to be evaluated under a new, more specific system, these
kinds of comments have increased.
Perhaps it’s the pressure of performance and the fear of failure that
seeps into our minds and manifests a negative mindset.
We are quick to blame students for not studying, not
completing homework, not paying attention carefully, not caring, and to blame
parents for not being involved.
In reality, we cannot change another person, much less an
entire classroom of students. We have
control only over ourselves. So when
frustration sets in, we must turn inward and take a careful look at ourselves.
This kind of self-reflection is difficult, but necessary, if we are to become
truly effective educators. We educators
must acknowledge that our attitudes and behaviors “can affect student
motivation in ways that either facilitate or impede learning” (Svinicki).
What am I doing that negatively affects my students? What tone have I unintentionally set in my
classroom? What is my non-verbal
communication saying to my students? What am I verbalizing to my students? Am I practicing what I am preaching?
What classroom policies have I implemented that may have
unintended consequences? What assignments am I giving? Do these assignments
have meaning and value for students? Are my instruction and assessment truly
aligned to what students need to learn?
Learning is risky. Mistakes are inevitable. How we handle those
mistakes is critical to creating a classroom environment that motivates
students. We can choose to react to
student errors with interest and support, embracing mistakes as part of the
learning process, providing opportunities to learn from errors and to progress
toward mastery, helping students to see their learning growth, or we can choose
to react with criticism and condescension, citing students’ failures, and
noting the finality of low grades.
If we take the latter path, whether
by conscious choice or by default, our students eventually lose their
motivation to learn. Grades are
motivational for only a few achievement-oriented students, yet in frustration
we often threaten and punish students by assigning low grades, thinking that
they should be motivated to earn higher grades.
Some students avoid the stigma of
failure by doing only that with which they know they can be successful, leaving
the rest unfinished. Others avoid work
that they find meaningless. Adopting a
supportive approach to students who fear failure and reexamining the
assignments we give to ensure their value are ways we can better reach these
students.
People are motivated to engage in behaviors that have value
to them and where they have a reasonable expectation for success. How does this apply to our students?
As teachers, it is our responsibility to select learning
tasks that have value for students; sometimes, we must help them see that
value. We must eliminate meaningless
tasks. We also must structure the
learning situation so that success is likely.
As students work on tasks, we must encourage and support their efforts.
Typically, our students want to do
well; they want to please their teachers. When you find this is not true in
your classroom, dig deeper. I doubt you
are seeing a lazy student. Many deeper
issues manifest themselves in the school setting as laziness and lack of
motivation. There’s something that is
creating an obstacle that is too large for the student to overcome alone.
An honest reflection may well reveal that at least one
obstacle lies within the teacher’s control. What will you do to help uncover
and remove these obstacles so students can learn in your classroom?
Svinicki,
M.D. (2005). Student Goal Orientation,
Motivation and Learning. Retrieved from http://ideaedu.org/sites/default/files/Idea_Paper_41.pdf
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