One of the toughest challenges I never quite figured out in my twenty years of teaching was how to get kids to be intrinsically motivated if they weren’t already so. It was fairly easy for me to extrinsically motivate my students, but getting someone to do something that is supposed to be innate is downright illogical!
During my early teaching years, I gave out a lot of candy, stars, extra credit, etc., but that quickly got pushed aside for a more powerful motivator: impressing their teacher! I taught the fourth and fifth grade, so my students still cared about what I thought, how I perceived them, and what I might tell their parents! Therefore, my students worked hard for me, quickly fixed behavior issues, and put forth their best effort on just about everything! But this was due to extrinsic motivation - a deep concern for the approval of their teacher and their parents.
On my journey to create intrinsically motivated students, I made several attempts to mold their brains into ones that cared. I taught lessons explaining the difference between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. I showed them how extrinsic motivation can be powerful if the reward or punishment is strong enough. We talked about famous people who accomplished great things because of their internal drive. But immediate results never appeared. IF my students became more intrinsically motivated, it must have happened after they left our classroom. And because of this, I’ve always been interested in learning more about the topic of increasing intrinsic motivation in students.
Self-Determination Theory (source) suggests that people are motivated to grow and change by three innate and universal psychological needs: competence, connection, and autonomy.
After reflecting on Self-Determination Theory, I realize that those three tenets were the driving forces behind what I called our “Student-Led Classroom.” I worked hard all year to help my students gain the skills they needed to handle any problem they faced. I made it my number one priority to create lasting relationships with every single child in my classroom AND help them do the same with their peers. And I gave them the most autonomy I could, so they could run our classroom, collaborate with their peers, and make decisions freely without asking for permission first! Because I set clear expectations, provided a clear structure for behavior and student responsibility, and set up routines and rituals for most student actions, my kids were able to run the show with or without me! This structure provided them with autonomy to do things themselves, while knowing they had the competence to do things successfully and the connectedness with everyone in the classroom. Turns out, my students MIGHT have increased their intrinsic motivation all along! Maybe they weren’t just doing everything to appease me and their parents. MAYBE I accidentally created a classroom culture where students were able to achieve Self-Determination!?
Will you create a classroom culture that provides students with competence, connection and autonomy? If you do, let me know how it affects motivation in the classroom! I can’t wait to hear about your journey. - Paul Solarz (LearnLikeAPirate@gmail.com)
For more information on creating a student-led classroom where student autonomy is a main focus, check out my book, “Learn Like a PIRATE: Empower your students to collaborate, lead, and succeed!” Amazon: amzn.to/3c1946N
My next book focuses on how to provide your students with all of the skills they need to feel competent to direct their own learning (Title coming soon!). Have a great school year everyone!
During my early teaching years, I gave out a lot of candy, stars, extra credit, etc., but that quickly got pushed aside for a more powerful motivator: impressing their teacher! I taught the fourth and fifth grade, so my students still cared about what I thought, how I perceived them, and what I might tell their parents! Therefore, my students worked hard for me, quickly fixed behavior issues, and put forth their best effort on just about everything! But this was due to extrinsic motivation - a deep concern for the approval of their teacher and their parents.
On my journey to create intrinsically motivated students, I made several attempts to mold their brains into ones that cared. I taught lessons explaining the difference between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. I showed them how extrinsic motivation can be powerful if the reward or punishment is strong enough. We talked about famous people who accomplished great things because of their internal drive. But immediate results never appeared. IF my students became more intrinsically motivated, it must have happened after they left our classroom. And because of this, I’ve always been interested in learning more about the topic of increasing intrinsic motivation in students.
Self-Determination Theory (source) suggests that people are motivated to grow and change by three innate and universal psychological needs: competence, connection, and autonomy.
- Competence refers to one’s ability to learn and grow, without too much struggle, so that they can continue to be motivated to go further. When we have the tools we need to keep plodding forward, we find it within ourselves to push on through the tough stuff. If I hit a roadblock, I generally know what my options are. We need to make sure that our students do as well.
- Connection refers to interpersonal relationships. If a student doesn’t care for their teacher or their classmates, it will be hard for them to go above and beyond. I extend this to a connection with the task as well. I’m a hard worker who is pretty intrinsically motivated to produce high quality work, but if you make me put forth my best effort to write a grammar textbook, you’ve lost me!
- Autonomy refers to being in control of one’s own behaviors, tasks, decisions, etc. When teachers control everything that students do (read: micromanage), they rob them of the experience of improving their decision-making skills. Students are going to make a ton of mistakes at first, but that’s what learning is all about! We, as teachers, need to make sure we create a classroom culture where students are expected to make mistakes, but are supported when they do, so they can learn from them and improve!
After reflecting on Self-Determination Theory, I realize that those three tenets were the driving forces behind what I called our “Student-Led Classroom.” I worked hard all year to help my students gain the skills they needed to handle any problem they faced. I made it my number one priority to create lasting relationships with every single child in my classroom AND help them do the same with their peers. And I gave them the most autonomy I could, so they could run our classroom, collaborate with their peers, and make decisions freely without asking for permission first! Because I set clear expectations, provided a clear structure for behavior and student responsibility, and set up routines and rituals for most student actions, my kids were able to run the show with or without me! This structure provided them with autonomy to do things themselves, while knowing they had the competence to do things successfully and the connectedness with everyone in the classroom. Turns out, my students MIGHT have increased their intrinsic motivation all along! Maybe they weren’t just doing everything to appease me and their parents. MAYBE I accidentally created a classroom culture where students were able to achieve Self-Determination!?
Will you create a classroom culture that provides students with competence, connection and autonomy? If you do, let me know how it affects motivation in the classroom! I can’t wait to hear about your journey. - Paul Solarz (LearnLikeAPirate@gmail.com)
For more information on creating a student-led classroom where student autonomy is a main focus, check out my book, “Learn Like a PIRATE: Empower your students to collaborate, lead, and succeed!” Amazon: amzn.to/3c1946N
My next book focuses on how to provide your students with all of the skills they need to feel competent to direct their own learning (Title coming soon!). Have a great school year everyone!
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