Educators Motivate Students

Educators Motivate Students

Educators and teachers are more than just teachers. They are mentors, friends, social workers, and surrogate parents to the children (Cherry, 2006). So, children not only learn their curriculum and academics from their teacher, but they also develop social skills through relationships. Children need motivation to help guide them through their educational journey. There are three basic human needs which leads to motivation which are autonomy, competence, and relatedness (Millacci, 2022). 

Autonomy- when a student takes charge of thier learning personally and internally on their own (Millacci, 2022).

Competence- Children need to feel and understand that they can complete the task and activities. Competence is achieved when they can be confident and build their self-esteem (Millacci, 2022). 

Relatedness- Teamwork and team building activities help with social skills and relationships. Relationships help the children feel more comfortable like they belong (Millacci, 2022). 

When students meet these basic human needs of motivation, they usually have higher test scores, more completed assignments, and progress to higher academic learning (Millacci, 2022). Social and cognitive development would also be affected because students need the motivation to improve and progress in all developmental stages. 

 

At the beginning of the school year the teacher should communicate to the class how important it is for a kind, respectful, positive, and safe classroom environment. Students, families and teachers can all build relationships with strategies of good communication and team building activities such as Role play or blind team building games (Howe & Lisi, 2024). The game works as the one partner blindly describes how to build the design while the other builds by just the directions. Then they compare design builds to see how close they are to each other. Multicultural studies, activities, and stories can also build social trust and empathy because the students will learn and understand each other’s backgrounds. The physical placement of classroom furniture can affect the children’s motivation and development in a positive or negative way (Millacci, 2022). Mix up the desks instead of single file desk rows, add calming corners with pillows, and fun chairs. Students who are comfortable and feel safe in their learning environment are more motivated to learn and be successful academically. 

 

Motivate the students to engage in student centered teaching rather than teacher centered teaching (Millacci, 2022). When the students are engaged into the learning process, they comprehend the information more than receiving a lecture from the teacher. Encourage autonomy with the students so they talk more about the assigned topics promoting critical thinking and reasoning skills to improve while building cognitive development. Collaborative learning or group work assignments build cognitive and social skills. The students should have some options to choose their own partners, and other times have assigned partners chosen by the teacher. Students all have different ways they are comfortable learning and answering questions, so using different strategies such as whiteboards, clickers, or games such as Kahoot or Quizlet can help all the students feel included. 

 

Teacher attributes that can improve and promote student motivation would be a positive, respectful and responsible attitude (Anderman et al., 2024). The teacher needs to also follow through and be firm on guidelines and decisions made. The students are watching their mentor guide them to be motivated into learning the curriculum. If the teacher was unprepared, unorganized and did not follow through with the guidelines, then the students would not care to follow through either. The teacher can not be unreasonable with accountability either. If they implement an unrelated consequence for a student disregarding a rule, then the students will be confused and will not understand what went wrong. 

 

Teachers can improve student motivation by encouraging parent volunteers to help at school and maybe be a guest speaker. There can also be a variety of fun activities such as debates, role play and educational games. Culturally diverse activities can help the students relate and understand each other. Teachers should be culturally wise to educate the students on good morals and diverse cultural customs to become respectful leaders within the diverse society (Anderman, et al., 2024). Motivation can be encouraged at home by reading aloud to the child and listening to the child also read aloud. Family participation assignments can also be sent home, such as providing information on the family's cultural background. The child and family can draw, write or provide music to explain their cultural beliefs, customs and traditions then present to the class. The families are also encouraged to play games with the students at home, such as board games or outdoor sports games. Parent and teachers engaging with the students on a daily basis builds motivation to develop skills needed to be successful personally and academically. 

 

References

 

Anderman, E. M., Anderman, L. H., & Ormrod, J. E. (2024). Educational psychology: developing learners (11th ed.). Pearson Education.

Cherry, C. (2006, August 2). Levels of developing morality in Kohlberg's theories. Verywell Mind. https://www.verywellmind.com/kohlbergs-theory-of-moral-development-2795071

Howe, W.A., & Lisi, P.L. (2024). Becoming a multicultural educator: Developing awareness, gaining skills, and taking action (4th ed.). SAGE Publications, Inc.

Millacci, T. S. (2022, May 3). How to motivate students: 12 classroom tips & examples. PositivePsychology.com. https://positivepsychology.com/how-to-motivate-students/