Motivation is one of the most important factors for a lesson to be successful. Students feel confident in their performance when they are engaged actively in tasks that are meaningful and challenging. Motivation depends, to a certain point, on the individual’s background of past accomplishments and failures. However, it also depends on student perception of what they’re learning: How functional is it? How meaningful is it? Teachers who focus on motivational strategies along with covering subject matter have a higher chance of helping students succeed academically.

There are two types of motivation: intrinsic and extrinsic (Rothenberg & Fisher, 2007). Intrinsic motivation refers to the desire to achieve a goal and/or perform a task due to feelings of competence and self-determination. Extrinsic motivation, on the other hand, refers to completing a task in exchange for a reward, or perhaps in order to avoid any type of punishment.

Teachers must promote intrinsic motivation, which is stimulated by interactive processes (Wilhelm & Smith, 2006). Highly motivated students are able to persist in a task and make independent judgments, and are consequently more likely to reach and achieve their goals. All educators would like their students to pay attention, take time to study, go beyond their personal suggestions, and carry out projects aimed at the acquisition of knowledge and development of personal skills—all of this begins with motivation.

To help motivate our students, we should self-reflect on our motivational teaching practices in light of our instructional contexts. If we’re falling short, we need to work on developing new criteria and evaluating alternative motivational strategies.

Useful Strategies

Increasing motivation begins with a positive student attitude. The following strategies will help you provide motivational tools:

Preparing for Tasks

• Submit diverse activities toward a common goal rather than presenting a single task for all students.
• Activate the curiosity and interest of the students as well as the relevance and usefulness of learning when introducing tasks and activities.
• Before performing a task, aim to shift attention to the process rather than to the result through clear communication.

During Tasks

• During the task, focus on exploring and understanding possible ways to overcome difficulties.
• After completion of the task, inform students about what is right and what is wrong, but with a focus on the process followed and the value of the learning. Additionally, it’s important to connect positive results and outcomes to causes that are perceived as internal and controllable.
• Develop tasks through group work.
• Ideally, you should be a collaborator, delegating a reasonable degree of control, serving as a facilitator of tasks as well as promoting student participation in decision-making.

General Strategies

• External incentives are okay when used appropriately: They can encourage the growth of motivation provided that they are perceived as useful and are not expected by the student.
• Never “threaten” students with assessment. It causes qualitatively negative effects on learning and motivation.
• Assess your patterns of action in response to the effect they may have on students’ self-esteem.

Teachers have an important responsibility as facilitators of knowledge, content, and values in the teaching-learning process, and it is important that they choose effective strategies to motivate their students. When learners feel motivated, they perform better, build up self-esteem, and develop confidence not only in schools, but also in different situations in life.

References

Rothenberg, C., & Fisher, D. (2007). Teaching English language learners: A differentiated approach. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Merrill Prentice Hall.

Wilhelm, J., & Smith, M. (2006). What teachers need to know about motivation. Voices from the Middle, 13(4), 29–31.