How to motivate students: 11 effective ways
One thing we know about children is that they have short attention spans and prefer not to procrastinate.
A teacher, like no one else, needs to know how to motivate students, because he is “at the forefront” of the educational process. He can influence students so that children understand that what is important is what happens here, now, today, in this class.
How to motivate students in the classroom and school
1. Do not skimp on praise
Praise them for their good work in class and leave praising entries in their diary, hold awards every week, highlight excellent students during class hours, publish notes in the student wall newspaper to appreciate the excellent work of students.
2. Expect perfection
Set high but realistic expectations. Be sure to voice them. Set short-term goals and celebrate achieving them.
3. Be enthusiastic
Show your interest in the subject being taught and, accordingly, choose specific and clear examples to help students understand the material. For example, I like alliteration. Before explaining the topic, we improvise on topics that interest them. Once they have learned about alliteration, students begin to create alliteration for their chosen words.
4. Experiment
This is the classic concept and foundation of differentiated instruction, but it must be said that using a variety of teaching methods engages all types of learners. By alternating methods in a specific order, you can also maintain order in the class. General outline of the lesson: 5 minutes for journaling at the beginning of the lesson, 15 minutes for explanation of the material, 10 minutes for group work, general discussion and 10 minutes for questioning and supervised work to complete the lesson. This way, students know what to expect in class and do not have the opportunity to fall out of the learning process.
5. Distribute work in class
Together with your students, create a list of assignments for the week. Let students choose their class work for the next week based on your criteria. The work should be relevant to their interests and skills.
Examples of classroom work
- Post entries on the class blog.
- Update calendar.
- Supervise review games.
- Select music.
- Take care of a cool pet.
- Maintain public relations (communicate with class visitors).
- Perform routine tasks such as taking attendance, erasing boards, lifting chairs, etc.
6. Delegate some authority to students
If you give students more autonomy, they will complain less (even though we all know that they will never stop complaining completely). Conduct a survey: what do your students like to do most, what helps them learn, what would they like to do after school. If you already have a rough idea that the most popular answers will be “nothing” and “watch a movie,” offer them a choice from several answer options.
After summarizing the survey, implement the activities listed in your class or discuss how to do this together.
Let students systematically choose additional subjects themselves. They can introduce their favorite activities into the educational process if they have the opportunity.
7. Open Fridays
You can give students the opportunity to choose what activity they want to do that day as a reward. For example, students who have attended class all week, completed all assignments, and followed all rules will be able to choose what you do on Friday (say, choosing between a lecture, discussion, movie, quiz, acting out scenes from a play or historical events).
8. Relate lessons to real life
For example, when talking about buying Christmas gifts, choose stories about your city—students will be more likely to learn the material if they relate it to their daily lives.
9. Track improvements
Working in challenging classes feels like an endless struggle, remind students that they have come a long way. Set achievable, short-term goals, pay attention to progress, have students fill out individual assessment forms so they can compare results throughout the year, revisit difficult topics they have struggled with and finally mastered to give them confidence in their own abilities.
10. Reward good behavior outside the classroom too.
Schedule cultural events and extracurricular activities as rewards for extra credit or alternative assignments. Let the students who are engaged in describing the human environment calculate the angle of the cut board, count the number of nails in each step and, multiplying by the number of steps, get their total number; write an essay about their experiences as a volunteer, or about trying out for the basketball team, or any other creative topic of their choice.
11. Planning dream excursion trips
Work with your students to discuss options for field trips within your budget. You can earn money for a trip by good behavior, excellent academic performance, etc. Thus, academic performance can be tracked by the “scope” of excursions. Although students may not receive the reward immediately, they will be motivated by tracking their progress.
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Educational motives have the ability to trigger, direct and support those efforts that are aimed at completing educational work. This is a rather complex system, which is formed by motives, goals, reactions to success and lack of success, perseverance and the student’s own attitudes. Already in primary school, educational motivation becomes a huge problem - children begin to make noise, get distracted, stop listening to teachers, and do not do the exercises that teachers assign home. Later, in high school, the desire to learn begins to waver. Those reasons that are clear to an adult are not clear to younger students. Adults understand why they need to study.
Motivating children to study
In order for a child to want to learn, he needs to be properly motivated. Students in primary school can study quite successfully if they rely on teacher assessment and (or) parental approval. Primary school students do not realize the value of the knowledge they acquire. Their favorite lessons most often include subjects containing elements of games and entertainment, such as drawing, labor, physical education. At this age, many students want to bring pleasure to a loved one with their good academic results. It is worth considering that the word “learn” for first-graders means not only gaining knowledge, but also communicating with friends at school.
For secondary school students, interest in lessons largely depends on the personality and nature of the teacher’s teaching; they want to become better and surpass their classmates in almost everything. In this case, there is a danger that if the student fails, he may develop an inferiority complex, which may lead to a reluctance to acquire knowledge. Therefore, it is important to explain to the child that you do not need to become better than someone else, you need to surpass yourself.
When a child goes to high school, he begins to realize the importance of the knowledge he has acquired.
Motives of the teaching
Cognitive – a pronounced interest in new knowledge, obtaining new information, pleasure from discovering something new for oneself. Such motives express students’ aspirations for self-education.
Social – the desire to gain knowledge for one’s future, the desire to become useful to society. Such motives include the desire to take a leadership position. This motive is an important basis for self-education and self-education, but is not perceived by younger schoolchildren. Children with leadership tendencies are often motivated by prestige. She forces you to be the first among your classmates, but she causes your classmates to ignore you. Students who do poorly academically have compensatory motivation. Thanks to this motivation, such students realize themselves in another field: sports, music, drawing, and so on.
The motive of communication is that only those subjects that include communication with classmates arouse interest among schoolchildren.
Social approval motive - the student craves the approval of parents and teachers.
The motivation for achieving success is the desire to do all the exercises correctly, to realize that you are talented and smart. Children with this motive show enjoyment of learning and acquiring knowledge.
Motivation to avoid failure - schoolchildren try to avoid bad grades and punishment for them. Such students explain all their results by ordinary luck and (or) the simplicity of the task.
Extracurricular motivation - a child at school is only interested in events that are not related to educational activities (concerts, exhibitions, competitions, etc.)
Types of motivation
Motivation can be external and internal. External motivation is created through the opinions of parents and teachers, who can both punish and reward the child’s results. Internal motivation comes from the student himself. He should be interested in gaining knowledge.
All of the above motives should be strived for, because this entire set establishes a high level of formation of students’ educational motivation.
Obviously, motivated learning is much better than forced learning. A student who has internal motivations to study receives higher grades than his classmates; the material he has studied will remain in his memory for a long time. And with all this, parents do not need to constantly monitor the child. Motivation is an internal process; it cannot be formed from the outside. But adults are able to help the child overcome this problem.
Teachers do not always take the time to motivate students. Such teachers believe that if a child comes to school, he should do everything that the teachers tell him. Also, some teachers use negative motivation to achieve success. Negative motivation gives rise to negative emotions and reluctance to learn and complete teacher assignments. Without the student's interest, there will be no result, and the material will not be learned, there will only be the appearance of the educational process.
In elementary school, parents and students cannot do without external motivation. But it is worth understanding and making it clear to the child that what is important is not the reward for the result, but the result itself. Most parents motivate their children with conviction, and the main arguments in favor of studying are the threat of poverty and low status in society. Such examples are not effective for children. Primary school students cannot appreciate the future benefits of education.
Motivation tends to change depending on a person’s state of mind, a particular subject of study, and so on.
Initially, students come to school with positive motivation. Adults need to make every effort to maintain this motivation.
How to increase motivation to study
The most effective way to develop internal motivation in a child is to do it with the help of the child's curiosity. It is worth considering what exactly the child’s soul lies in and what he wants to do. Scientists have proven that fathers motivate children to learn. It is necessary to instill in a child to achieve something in life, to achieve something. A father, by example, can show his child how important it is to achieve something in life.
One of the main tasks of teachers in school is to teach the material in such a way that students become interested and want to study it. Sustained interest in a child can be developed through various lessons-games, lessons-traveling, and the like.
In order to develop internal motivation in a child, it is necessary to maintain a state in which the child is satisfied with his results. You need to praise the child even for minor victories, set the child tasks that he is able to complete. You should offer your help only if the task is really difficult for the child. Tasks for a child should be understandable to him and should acquire some meaning for him. You need to explain to the child and let him understand that defeats happen if you make little effort. It is always necessary to form motivation, whether in prosperous or not prosperous families.
However, one way or another, motivation is laid down in preschool age. And it is the parents who lay it down for their children. Many parents believe that it is not their concern to motivate their children and shift it to teachers and educators. The rest prefer to punish the child for poor performance: they are deprived of the computer, forbidden to walk or communicate with someone, some use belts. Many parents send their children to school quite early, when the child is not yet psychologically ready. He cannot be calm and do what he is told. It is necessary to develop in the child the ability to make independent decisions. Some follow the lead of their children and violate their daily routine. Every adult, be it a parent or a teacher, must understand this system and develop one or another motivation in the child. If a child does not have abilities in some subjects, it is worth paying attention to ensuring that the child understands at least one area. He must overcome himself, over the difficulties that stand in his way.
It is necessary to teach the child independence, let him set his own goals in his studies. It should be remembered that memorization in children occurs during play and (or) entertainment. You should always praise your children, not ignore them, their problems, experiences. You need to love children no matter what grades they come home with. Junior school students must understand that lack of ability in any subject must be compensated by diligence.
A child is an individual and he always needs support.
How to get your child interested in learning? How to increase his motivation?
We will look at the psychological aspect.
What is motivation? In scientific terms, motivation is the motivation that causes the activity of the body and determines its direction. And in simple terms, this is the force that moves a person to achieve a certain goal.
You can often hear parents trying to motivate their child by predicting the fate of a janitor or promising him gifts or monetary rewards for good grades. But, unfortunately, this is the wrong direction. The main word in the vocabulary of a motivated person is “ WANT", in this case, to learn or know a lot. The driving experiences in the formation of motivation in a schoolchild are desire, interest, initiative, curiosity, the ability to plan work and study, and the ability to set goals. He must initially understand that they go to school in order to gain new knowledge.
Many parents are concerned about the question of where to get that driving force and how to teach a child to set and achieve certain goals? Since lack of motivation leads to... After all, almost all children go to first grade for the first time with pleasure. What's happening? Where does motivation go?
Today we will try to answer this question.
Since motivation is not a constant value and changes throughout life and under the influence of life conditions, the conclusion follows that a child can be interested in the educational process. In order for the body to enter an active state, it is necessary that it develops a need to study, an interest in learning new things, in the learning process or in a certain subject.
The main question that parents should ask themselves is: for what reason did the child lose interest in learning? There are a number of reasons for this.
Your child may not be able to take independent decisions. Cannot complete certain tasks without adult help. Cannot take responsibility for his actions.
Perhaps his skills are not sufficiently developed self-regulation and self-control. That is, it is difficult for him to fulfill the requirements of the teacher and the educational process as a whole. He cannot analyze and adjust the relationships between the goals, means and consequences of actions.
Perhaps in his value system there is no understanding that it is impossible to achieve a positive result in any matter if you do not apply yourself to it efforts.
Perhaps he has disagreements with the teacher or students, so school evokes negative feelings in him.
You may be overcharging requirements in relation to studying. Does he have to perform certain actions to the limit of his capabilities? Do you have the same system of requirements with your child?
It is possible that he has encountered one or more of these difficulties and needs your help.
How to develop independence and self-regulation and self-control skills? If a child is 7 years old and is still not independent, this is a mistake by the parents for various reasons. Independence must be developed in a child from infancy, giving him the opportunity to do those things that are within his power for his level of development. And don’t try to make it “faster, cleaner, better” instead. Give him the opportunity to learn independently through trial and error. After all, it is impossible to learn to swim in a pool without water. This applies to all areas of life. But since we are talking today about motivation for the educational process, let's discuss how to help a child become independent in his studies.
In primary school, the task of parents is “teach a child to learn” independently. That is, do not give instructions on what and how to do, but show him the algorithm for completing his homework. For example, tell us where you would start doing homework, where you would find answers to questions, how you would teach rules and verses, how you would check for mistakes and consolidate the material, and so on.
When your child has mastered this lesson, you can simply ask him what actions he intends to do next. And correct him if he is wrong.
The next step is to do your homework yourself. Ask your child not to wait for you from work, but to try to do as much as he can. And what he can’t do, you will finish with him. And again you will teach him to obtain the missing information.
Develop it in your child positive attitude in relation to the school. Your child’s mood also depends on how you speak about school and learning in general. Ask him how his school day went, what new things he learned. If a child has a conflict with a teacher or students, it is necessary to help resolve it. If the situation cannot be resolved, the best solution would be to transfer the child to another class or school. This way, you will increase his motivation and show ownership and support.
Let your child know that he can always rely on you in case of failure. Support faith in his own strength, increasing self-esteem. But emphasize that his success depends on himself.
Increase your child's motivation rewarding him for his achievements, especially those that were difficult for him, on which he spent his efforts.
Do not demand excellent grades from him in subjects for which he does not have the ability. Instead, focus your efforts on developing what interesting to the child and it comes easy.
So, based on the above, we can conclude that a child’s interest in learning new things begins not at school, but much earlier - in the family. It is parents who, by their example or joint actions with their child, are able to teach him to learn new things and develop curiosity in the child. The strongest motivator is praise. You've probably noticed more than once how a child rejoices at his next small victory, be it a completed puzzle or a self-dressed shoe. It is important at this moment to rejoice with the child and praise him for the work done and the independence shown in achieving the goal. Thus, the child will believe in his own strength, he will again have a desire to conquer the next peak.
In the case when his achievements are not rewarded with praise, and perhaps even devalued, the child loses all motivation.
Teach your child independence, transfer responsibility for his studies, develop the ability to set and achieve goals, from the smallest to the grandest. Thus, the child will develop motivation not only in relation to studying at school, but also on an ongoing basis, i.e. will stimulate him to self-improvement throughout his life.
We rarely think about internal motivation. These are our sincere desires, and to explain our condition, one word is enough - “I want.” Children enjoy listening to the music of their favorite band, making things with their own hands, or reading adventure novels because they enjoy doing it.
External motivation can be different - from pocket money to grades at school. It comes down to the phrase: “Do this and you will get this.”
Psychologist Alfie Kohn in his book “Punishment with Rewards” warns not only parents, but also teachers against various rewards. Some parents promise to take their child to the zoo for good studies, others buy gadgets or even pay money. The problem is that this doesn’t work: the student studies just as poorly, and on top of that, he’s also offended that he didn’t get what he was promised!
Teachers try to motivate in ways that seem more noble: they introduce various titles (best student of the month), and give concessions to good students. Most often it happens like this: the same child becomes the best student of the month, and a narrow circle of schoolchildren, the composition of which never changes, gets concessions. Others just feel like failures.
Why extrinsic motivation doesn't work
When we say: “Do this and you will get this,” the child initially perceives the promise with enthusiasm. At the same time, his instinct of self-preservation also kicks in.
The child begins to look not for a creative way to solve a problem, but for the most reliable and shortest one.
He asks himself: “Why take the risk and take the test yourself? It’s better to copy from an excellent student, it’s more reliable.” It turns out that there is a substitution of goals: not studying for the sake of knowledge, but studying for the sake of receiving an award.
External motivation can work great, but only in combination with internal motivation. By itself, it does not move forward, but forces you to “serve the number”, to quickly get what you want, cursing what you do for the sake of it.
What influences interest in learning
Kohn identifies three factors that influence motivation:
- Young children are ready to learn and do not demand anything for it. They have highly developed internal motivation: they learn simply because it interests them.
- Those children who retain internal motivation learn effectively. And the rest are considered incapable, but this is not so. Some schoolchildren receive straight D's, but at the same time excel in other areas. For example, they know dozens of songs by their favorite artist by heart (but in algebra they cannot remember the multiplication table). Or they read science fiction avidly (while they don’t touch classical literature). They're just interested. This is the essence of intrinsic motivation.
- Rewards destroy intrinsic motivation. Psychologists Carol Ames and Carol Dweck have found that if parents or teachers emphasize some kind of encouragement, children's interest invariably decreases.
Where to begin
Restoring motivation to study is a long process, and success mainly depends on parents. Adults first need to think about the three Cs: content, cooperation and freedom of choice.
- Content. When a child does not comply with our demands, we look for ways to influence his behavior. Start somewhere else: think about how reasonable your request is. Probably nothing bad will happen if a child gets more than just B’s and A’s in physics. And children ignore the request “not to make noise” not because they are naughty, but because of the psychological characteristics of their age.
- Cooperation. Unfortunately, many parents are not familiar with this word in the context of communication with their child. But the older your children are, the more often you should involve them in cooperation. Discuss, explain, make plans together. Try talking to your child like an adult. There is no need to be hostile to the desire of a 15-year-old boy to become an astronaut. Calmly explain why you think this is unrealistic. Perhaps in your words your son will find internal motivation for growth.
- Freedom of choice. The child should feel part of the process, then he will be more responsible in solving problems. When he behaves badly, ask him why. You may argue that you already know what it is, but try it anyway. The answer may surprise you!
Looking for internal motivation
It is not easy to correct a child’s internal state, but work in this direction can still bear fruit.
- Learn to accept your child. For example, you may not like your daughter's new image, but you must accept it. In other words, it is not a matter of indulgence, but of understanding.
- Have a heart-to-heart talk. If you and your child are close enough, start by just talking. Ask what interests him and what problems arise in his studies. Find a way out of the situation together.
- Help your child decide on his life's work. Often there is no internal motivation, because the child does not understand why he needs these formulas, endless rules and theorems. It is important to decide what the child wants to do after school. Long conversations with parents, career counseling consultations, etc. will help you understand this.
- Build the learning process around your child’s hobbies. When studying, you need to try to combine the child’s sincere interests (internal motivation) with school subjects. This process is individual and requires a lot of attention from parents. For example, you can learn English with the help of your favorite movies (there are even entire programs dedicated to cult films). And a teenager who loves computer games will probably be fascinated by programming and the sciences associated with it.
Extracting this internal motivation from a child is the task of tasks. But for sensitive, thoughtful, sincerely interested parents, this will not be a problem.
Based on materials from the book “Punishment by Reward.”