Life goals and student motivation

Students, gifted or not, enter our classroom with a purpose. As educators our purpose is to teach them the curriculum, help them develop socially and emotionally, and leave an overall positive impact on their life. Where we get our motivation to teach our students could come from numerous sources. Some teachers are motivated to teach from a life-long passion and a love for learning. Some teachers motivation comes from a more basic level; a way to make a living and pay the bills. Motivation also impacts our students as they enter the classroom setting. Some students might have a love for learning, a career they are focused on, or a goal they are trying to reach. Some students might be entering the classroom with motivation from a more basic level, they are supposed to be in school during the day and their parents are making them. Where teacher motivation comes from impacts what kind of teacher they can be. Likewise, where student motivation comes from impacts what kind of student they will be.

There are two types of motivation. Intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation comes from an enjoyment of what you are doing versus extrinsic motivation is done for external factors. From the examples above, a love for teaching and learning would be something that would be associated with intrinsic motivation. Being forced to be in the classroom because your parents are making you is linked to extrinsic motivation.

As educators we use both types of motivation to try and lead our students towards success. Studies have shown that students who are motivated will achieve higher than students who are not motivated. Where motivation comes from, intrinsic versus extrinsic, makes a difference for what type of learner you will get and how they react to different challenges. The easiest type of learner to reach is the student who wants to learn and already has intrinsic motivation. Extrinsic motivation is the easiest to push into a classroom setting and it can yield some results, but too often it is associated with forced work that can lack creativity (Cropper, 1998). The best type of motivation we can foster in the learning environment is intrinsic motivation. This can be done in numerous ways but one way is to give students a purpose with their education.

It is not easy to give every single student life direction. Especially for young students, their life direction needs to be fluid since who they are and what they want is ever changing. But, even if that direction changes, an interest in getting to a hypothetical destination after they are done with school can help foster that motivation that a student needs to be engaged with the material and the curriculum. The first way to do this is to incorporate students interests into the lessons or assignments. "An important way to motivate students is to focus on their interests. Interest-based learning is student-centered and increases the likelihood of students being active participants in the learning process. .... Thus, student-centered curricula and instructional activities are guided by the answers to two fundamental questions: How relevant to students, both now and for the future, is the schoolwork they are doing? How can I use my students' interests to help them learn and to keep them engaged?" (Ford, 1998). The next step is to help students realize what their goals are with their education. Having a passion that is linked to their interests will give them an internal reason to do well and succeed in the classroom setting. It will also give education a new meaning and purpose. The classroom environment which they might not have given much thought to can all of a sudden become an exciting tool to help them achieve their goals.

References

Cropper, C. (1998). Is competition an effective classroom tool for the gifted student?Gifted Child

Today Magazine, 21(3), 28. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.liberty.edu/login?url=https://searchproquest-com.ezproxy.liberty.edu/docview/203253619?accountid=12085

Ford, D. Y., Alber, S. R., & Heward, W. L. (1998). Setting "motivation traps" for

underachieving gifted students. Gifted Child Today Magazine, 21(2), 28. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.liberty.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.liberty.edu/docview/203253752?accountid=12085