What principles do you use to motivate students to learn?

Q:  What principles do you use to motivate students to learn?

     A:   I recall one of my college professors discussing this topic in considerable detail.  Specifically, motivation is comprised of three critical elements.  First, I must always provide instruction that will ensure a measure of success for every student.  That is, every student must know that she or he can achieve a degree of success with an assignment or academic task.  Second, I need to create a community of learners.  A community of learners is a classroom that celebrates all its members and provides a supportive, inspirational, and motivational environment.  The third element that I’ve discovered leads to the motivation of students is whether or not students see a value in what they are learning.  During student teaching I found that for motivation to occur, students must know the reasons, rationale, and whys of any learning task.  When I provided students with specific reasons on why they needed to learn about the Articles of Confederation, for example, they were more engaged and more motivated.  I want all my students to see a connection between what they learn in the classroom and their lives outside that classroom.  That’s true motivation!

            Many prospective teachers mistakenly believe this to be a “throw-away” question – one that anyone can answer.  Not so!  You need to tell the interviewer that no matter what grade or subject you plan on teaching, that you are aware of the basic principles of motivation and how you will make them part of your classroom curriculum.

How Would You Motivate an Unmotivated Student?

     Q:  How would you motivate an unmotivated student?

     A:   I remember Rodney – one of the student’s in Mrs. Rooney’s classroom.  Rodney was a completely unmotivated student – he could care less about learning and he could care less about school.  He was there only because he had to be.  As a student teacher I was assigned to work with Rodney.  My assignment was to motivate him – to get him interested in Life Science specifically and in learning in general.  I went back to all those notes I took in college and developed a plan based on five key elements.  First, I involved Rodney in a combination of both individual and group projects.  Second, I periodically invited him to meet with me and discuss any barriers to his individual learning.  Third, I provided him with numerous opportunities to set his own goals in Life Science.  We made sure those goals were realistic and we started with tiny steps before moving to larger ones.  Fourth, I always modeled my enthusiasm for learning.  I always portrayed myself as an eager and enthusiastic learner.  And, fifth, I provided Rodney with frequent offers of help.  The change wasn’t immediate, but we began to see some improvement in Rodney’s behavior and his academic performance after several weeks on this new program.  Rodney discovered that he had a innate love for Life Science – especially when we focused on wetlands creatures – which he knew a lot about.  I think the whole experience was beneficial for both of us.

            Make no mistake about it: motivation is a critical factor in how students learn.  And, make no mistake about it: you will have unmotivated students in your classroom!  Make sure you convey your awareness of the importance of this issue as well as specific ways you plan to deal with it.  Always relate your response to a specific individual or incident you experienced in your pre-service training.