Learner Motivation Is A Key Element Of Classroom Management And Just As Important As Classroom Discipline.

The starting point should be that we consider students specifically as learners, after all that's the reason they're in the classroom. Of course, we can't separate learning from social contact, and teachers have a responsibility to help students develop as human beings in the widest sense, but the context for this development is the focus on learning.

Learner motivation has three phases. These phases parallel the three main levels of human motivation identified by Maslow, roughly, the need and motivation to survive, then to thrive and finally to strive.

Learner Motivation: helping learners to survive

In life human beings need to survive and are motivated to meet those needs first, before any other needs. The same is true of learners in the classroom. Students need to feel safe and secure before they can learn effectively; they need to be sure of this security for their survival in the classroom situation.

So what can teachers do to ensure students survive?

* Make the core value principles clear.

Make sure all students know that everything that happens in the classroom is based on principles such as fairness, respect, and honesty. It's worth spending as much time as necessary to establish these principles early with students: discuss them with students, model them for students, refer to them frequently in class.

* Have clear and consistent routines

Let students see how classroom routines, based on core principles, work for everyone's benefit, to keep students secure in class, both physically and psychologically. I've often found that students respond well when they can be involved in drawing up some kind of 'classroom charter', or simply a set of rules for everyone to follow, because they have a stake in their own 'survival'.

* Maintain a positive classroom climate

Students need to feel comfortable before they can learn effectively, and the quality of the classroom climate which includes not just the physical aspects such as light, heat and space but also the psychological aspect of a positive learning environment, directly affects the quality of learning.

Learner motivation: helping students to thrive.

Once human beings have their most basic survival needs met, they're motivated to turn their attention to how they can 'grow', how they can 'improve their lot'. This second phase also has a parallel in learner motivation.

Help learners thrive by using incentives

The most important question learners ask themselves, once their basic needs are assured, is the WIIFM question - What's In It For Me. So learners need some kind of incentive to engage with the learning.

There is a problem with incentives if students make their participation in learning activities dependent on some kind of material reward, such as prizes. This kind of extrinsic incentive may work well for a while, and is often a good way to persuade naturally reluctant learners to participate.

Most students respond positively to some kind of treat as a reward for their efforts. However, after a while these extrinsic rewards become counter productive because learners eventually decide to make the effort for the reward rather than for what they learn how to do by their efforts.

The challenge for teachers is to communicate, over time, the intrinsic value of their efforts, that the real and lasting reward for learning is the learning itself and what it enables students to do.

Helpful strategies

* Make the learning clear.

Give students a clear route to success, let them know the exact steps to take to achieve the learning outcomes.

* Make the learning possible.

Learners need to be given the power to achieve, in other words they need to know exactly not just what to do in any given learning activity, but also the tools they need [facts, information, equipment, method,] to succeed. One really powerful aspect of empowering learners in this way is that, instead of 'spoonfeeding', showing learners where and how they can acquire this knowledge for themselves is a better payoff in the long run.

* Make the learning interesting.

A fixed curriculum laid down by government authorities often makes it difficult to find interesting 'hooks' in learning activities. That said, teachers often find effective ways to draw students into learning activities that, on the face of it, can seem dull. These strategies are worth considering:

• work in cooperative groups: give students the chance to share out the learning tasks among themsleves - the chance for some controlled social interaction makes the learning more palatable
• work in competitive groups: some students [especially boys] are naturally more competitive and will rise to the challenge and do well. We need to be careful, excessive competitveness is bad for class morale, but, carefully controlled, a bit of competiton can spice up the dullest of tasks
• introduce variety: learners like different kinds of learning activity and will often maintain their commitment as well as their cooperation over a range of learning activities if there is sufficient variation
• play games: it's hard to over-estimate the value to learner motivation of well thought out classroom games. Having fun is one of the most powerful motivators, especially in the artificial context of the classroom. Simple ball games or other games that involve movement are particularly valuable because they also provide a kinesthetic outlet, from which all learners, not just so-called kinesthetic learners can benefit.

A prescribed curriculum often makes this also difficult to achieve, but ingenuity can come to the rescue again. For example:

• give the learning activity a purpose that goes beyond the inherent learning itself. One very effective way to do this is to get students to teach the information to someone else. Some research shows that we remember, long term, more than 90% of what we teach someone else to do.

  You can ask students in groups to learn something and teach it to another group in the class. If you can arrange for students to teach students from another class, even better.

  Don't forget you can often use parents as willing participants - many parents are happy for their children to teach them stuff as part of a homework assignment.

• use real life where you can. For example, study visits outside of the classroom are often the catalyst for giving the learning value in the eyes of students. Digital technology means we can use 'virtual real life', and activities such as webquests or email exchanges with other schools, often in different countries, lend a real sense of credibility to learning activities.
• focus on transferable skills. Even if the relevance of a particuar learning activity is not immediately obvious to students in a real life sense - and this is true of many aspects in our prescribed curricula - the skills or knowledge gained can often be valuable in other learning areas, which students value more.

  For example, anything that helps students develop their ability to memorize information - still a highly prized skill in most education systems - can be relevant. The trick for teachers is to 'sell' the benefits of the 'spin off', ie developing memorization skills, as much as, or more than, the inherent value of the information to be learned.

* Praise learners' achievements and efforts

It's easy to forget just how important praise is as a motivator. Even the most committed and resilient student needs to know their efforts are appreciated. Use praise in all its forms but use it appropriately. Students see through praise that's not sincere and, understandably, react badly to it. Well managed praise, though, can be an effective strategy to use in learner motivation.

Learner motivation: helping students to strive.

The highest level of human motivation is the desire to strive to be the best you can be, to be fulfilled. Learning mirrors this: the ultimate aim of education is to empower people to achieve their full potential. It's unrealistic to think that all students have such high minded aims when in school - self-actualization is by definition a longer term goal - but it is true that many students are motivated to strive to take their learning to a higher level.

How to help students strive to do their best

* Get to know them

Many students respond well to teachers taking an interest in them as individuals. Finding out about students' interests, hopes and ambitions can give teachers an opportunity to engage students in an ongoing dialogue about their potential and to encourage them to raise their aspirations.

* Offer challenging learning activities

Some students simply 'coast' along - they thrive in everyday learning activities, but don't get the chance to push themselves out of their comfort zone. Many activities we offer students simply fail to equip them to stand on their own feet, and students then flounder when they have to raise their game to strive for excellence in situations related to real life. Some will fail at times, but this too can be beneficial if they learn from their mistakes. The best learners know they have to take risks.

* Offer some choice

Having control over what they do and how they do it can be a very powerful element in learner motivation and can help students take their achievement to the highest level, because they then have a stake in their own learning.

* Help them 'learn how to learn'

Too often we force learners to focus on the content of the learning activity, the what, instead of what's really important, which is the how.

For learners to fulfil their true potential they have to be able to do it for themselves, and we do them a disservice if we deny them the opportunity to learn how to become independent learners. We need to show them the importance of qualities such as resilience, reflectiveness, and how to be resourceful as well as skills such as research. Professor Guy Claxton has written a really powerful article on this, and makes a strong case for learning to learn as an essential ingredient in sustaining learner motivation.




Return from Learner Motivation to Teacher Student Relationship


Return from Learner Motivation to Classroom Management Success

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