Motivation to Learn Is it different to motivation?

Think, Pair, Share  Think about each of the 5 scenarios. What is the motivator for you.  Preparing a family evening meal.  Stopping at a red traffic light.  Producing your class end of year reports.  Drinking a glass of your favourite Merlot.  Coming to this meeting.

Think, Pair, Share  Are we all motivated by the same things?  Are we all motivated in the same way?  What happens when we are not motivated?

My motivation this morning????  Alice Cooper, Minister’s son. School’s out for summer.

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs Self Actualisation (personal growth and fulfilment Esteem Belonging/Connectedness Safety Biological and Physical Needs (Food, shelter etc)

Maslow’s B Values  Wholeness/Unity/Oneness  Perfection/Just-so-ness  Completion/Finality/Ending  Justice/Fairness  Aliveness/Full-Functioning  Richness/Intricacy  Simplicity/Essential/Honesty  Beauty/Form/Richness  Goodness/Oughtness  Uniqueness/Idiosyncrasy/Novelty  Effortlessness/Ease/Perfect  Playfulness/Joy/Humor  Truth/Reality/Beauty/Pure  Self-Sufficiency/Independence

Types of Motivation  Intrinsic- experience- the immediate response- pleasure, satisfaction, “feel good”  “Yippee surf’s up.”  External- to obtain reward or avoid punishment  “Oh no, deadline Friday, and will get in deep **** if I don’t get it done”  Internal- Actions are pursued because there is a value attached to the outcome. (A purpose other than feel good)  “My student’s will achieve better if my lessons are well- prepared”  Amotivation- This occurs when we cannot see the connection between the action and the outcome, there is no perceived gain, so the task seems pointless.  “What’s the point in….. I’m not doing it…”

In the classroom  How do we communicate our expectations to students?  How do we feedback/forward achievement/progress etc.

In the Classroom  How Can Motivation To Learn Be Fostered In The School Setting?  Although students' motivational histories accompany them into each new classroom setting, it is essential for teachers to view themselves as "ACTIVE SOCIALIZATION AGENTS capable of stimulating...student motivation to learn" (Brophy 1987).

Teacher/pupil relationships  Classroom climate is important. If students experience the classroom as a caring, supportive place where there is a sense of belonging and everyone is valued and respected, they will tend to participate more fully in the process of learning.

Classroom based  Various task dimensions can also foster motivation to learn. Ideally, tasks should be challenging but achievable. Relevance also promotes motivation, as does "contextualizing" learning, that is, helping students to see how skills can be applied in the real world (Lepper). Tasks that involve "a moderate amount of discrepancy or incongruity" are beneficial because they stimulate students' curiosity, an intrinsic motivator (Lepper).

As a whole school?  In addition, defining tasks in terms of specific, short-term goals can assist students to associate effort with success (Stipek). Verbally noting the purposes of specific tasks when introducing them to students is also beneficial (Brophy 1986).  Extrinsic rewards, on the other hand, should be used with caution, for they have the potential for decreasing existing intrinsic motivation.

Whole school ethos  What takes place in the classroom is critical, but "the classroom is not an island" (Martin Maehr and Carol Midgley 1991). Depending on their degree of congruence with classroom goals and practices, schoolwide goals either dilute or enhance classroom efforts. To support motivation to learn, school-level policies and practices should stress "learning, task mastery, and effort" (Maehr and Midgley) rather than relative performance and competition.

Is reflective learning and self evaluation therefore a tool?  Getting students to set short term realistic goals. SMART  Getting students to regularly reflect on their learning, interaction and performance, and the why?  Collaborative learning  Recording and target setting.

Current Y11 health  These classes are having to learn about advocacy strategies linked to food and nutrition for an external exam.  They are using an ACLP approach- actually doing it rather than write about it!  They have set a SMART personal goal for change. Identifying barriers and enablers.  The most important aspect of SMART was “achievable and realistic”  Aim to bring about small change rather than change so unrealistic that they would fail the first day!  Eg. Eat two pieces of fruit per day.