Motivation is a key factor in the learning process. There are many different things that encompass motivation. Two concepts I found to be interesting was intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Real quick, intrinsic is when you have the desire or are “inwardly” motivated to do something. Extrinsic on the other hand is something that causes you to be motivated such as rewards; in essence this could be described as “outwardly” motivation. I strongly believe if a child’s motivation is intrinsic then the learning process becomes something that they want. Don’t misunderstand, extrinsic motivation is also important but we must not focus on one forgetting the other. I believe when a child receives outwardly motivation it helps them to learn but there is nothing more important that wanting to learn because that is a desire you have within yourself. I always motivate my children to do good in school. I am constantly praising them and rewarding them when they do good but I always tell them that they need to be the ones to want it more than me. I know most of you in this class are educators but I’d like to know as parent’s what do you do to motivate your kids to do good in school? I read an article that parent involvement was key to a child’s success. Many times parent involvement is overlooked so I’d really like to hear back from each of you on your thoughts about parent involvement/motivation.
Elizabeth, I agree with you that intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation are very interesting concepts. It is important for educators to understand both types of motivation and how they affect our students. Intrinsic motivation is when a person engages in an activity for no obvious reward except for the task engagement itself while extrinsic motivation is engaging in an activity for reasons external to the task or as a means to an end. For example, an intrinsically motivated student might read simply because he or she enjoys reading and not because it will make them better readers or a more logical person. However, if the student is assigned a book to read for a test then the reading is extrinsically motivated. Since I am not a parent yet, it is hard to say what I will do to motivate my children in school. However, I do believe in parental involvement and I can tell you that my children might get sick of it!
ReplyDeleteMy 13 year old right now seems to think of school as a place to socialize. Honestly, sometimes it's hard to make him understand the importance of getting an education, he thinks going to school is just something that he has to do because we tell him to. After reading this chapter, I was curious to see what he thought of as being a need vs. a want. He did well listing the basic needs, but he also listed things like an Ipad and Ipod as needs among other things. So I took advantage and turned it into a lesson. I explained to him that in order for him to be able to afford those things that he wants, he needs to secure his future by doing good in school and getting an education so that he gets a good job and takes care of his needs and then his wants. I remind him of the importance of him going to college and getting an education every chance I get. I tell him that in the long run the only one that he can depend on for his future is himself, because no matter how much we wish to always be there for him, the day will come when he'll have to fend for himself.
ReplyDeleteElizabeth, I agree that parent involvement is key to help with motivation. As an educator, you will find that most kids who are successful, have parents that are behind their kids making sure that they have what they need to be successful. You will also see many parents that do not motivate their kids, and use school as a daycare system. These are the students who end up getting most of the teachers attention, since they need the extra skills that the students with supportive parents get at home. It is not a perfect system, but one that when you start teaching you will soon realize is a frustrating one, that takes a patient, caring person.
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