Institute Additional TESOL

Motivation in the ClassroomMotivation in the classroom can occur through two channels, the student and the teacher. Student motivation, which can be defined as the student’s desire to participate in the learning process (Lumsden, 1994), is the most essential part of the equation even though there are many factors which can influence a student’s level of motivation. The teacher’s role as a motivator is also very important and can influence their students depending on which methods of motivation a teacher believes is the best for their classroom. There are two basic types of motivational techniques, extrinsic and intrinsic. These motivational techniques can be used successfully with different theories on motivation and can easily be applied practically to an educational setting. Young children have high motivation levels and as they grow older their level of motivation for learning starts to decrease. There are several factors that can influence a child’s motivation level as they are progressing through school. The first factor is their home environment. Children who come from an environment where learning and creativity are encouraged usually have high levels of motivation. Children start to form their own beliefs about school and their success rate. This will obviously influence their motivation depending on what these beliefs are and how strongly the child believes them. The third factor is the teacher’s beliefs. Students expect to learn if their teachers expect them to learn (Lumsden, 1994). A student’s teacher is a very important part of their motivation. Teachers contribute a tremendous amount to a students’ desire to learn and be an active part of their own learning process. Extrinsic motivation, which is motivation based on external factors, is the first type of motivation. Extrinsic motivation is used with the behavioral theory of motivation (Educational Psychology, 2009). The behavioral theory believes that motivation is a product of effective contingent reinforcement, which rewards students with external reinforcement and will ensure the repeated behavior with repetition. The external rewards can be candy, praise, free time, grades, or a large array of other items (Delong & Winter, 2002). The advantage of extrinsic motivation is that it can produce behavioral changes quickly but it can take away from the actual process of learning. Students can become distracted by the reward and forget that the important part is what they have learned. Intrinsic motivation, which is motivation based on internal factors, can be long-lasting and self-sustaining (Delong & Winter, 2002). Intrinsic motivation focuses on the effects to promote student learning. There are many theories of motivation that believe in the use of intrinsic motivation, such as the cognitive perspective and the social learning perspective. There are four main concepts of intrinsic motivation that have been successfully tested and applied to classrooms. The first is the classroom atmosphere, which should be relaxed and supportive. Students should feel safe and able to express their opinions. The teacher should promote this environment immediately to build rapport with their students and give the students a sense of belonging in this environment (Thanasoulas, 2002). The second concept is contextualization. When a student can apply what they are learning in a classroom to the real world, they will be more motivated to learn these ideas (Cordova & Lepper, 1996). Teachers should try to use local examples or events in the news to promote contextual learning. The next concept is personalization, which focuses on a student’s curiosity and interest. Materials are bettered learned and remembered when presented in connect with ideas of a high interest value to the students (Cordova & Lepper, 1996). The final concept is a provision of choice, which increases a student’s sense of control and self-determination. When students feel some autonomy in their learning process then their motivation level usually increases. When intrinsic motivational techniques are applied to a learning environment, students become deeply involved in activities, they attempt to use more complex operations, and therefore learned more in a fixed period of time (Cordova & Lepper, 1996). In an educational setting, motivation is a very important factor to the learner’s success. Motivation should come from both the student and the teacher. Teachers can use intrinsic or extrinsic techniques to help promote motivation in their classroom. Studies have shown that intrinsic motivation can increase student motivation by promoting a supportive environment, making the lessons apply to real life, personalizing the lessons to increase a learner’s curiosity, and providing choices to allow the learner to be an active role in their learning process (Cordova & Lepper, 1996). Motivation in the classroom can be applied in many practical ways and will help to ensure a successful learning environment.