Maximizing Motivation 1
Kathryn K. Oswood
Maximizing Motivation
Kathryn K. Oswood
Introduction
Motivation is the key to effectively educating children. There are three main aspects to
maximizing a child's motivation to read: choice, collaboration, and competence (Gaskins, 1998).
"One reason that motivation and engagement may influence the development of reading
comprehension is that motivated students usually want to understand text content fully and
therefore, process information deeply" (Guthrie, et. al., 2004).
Choice
When students have a choice in the activities and processes in which they are to learn and
present what they have learned, their motivation increases. Being that children don't always
make the best choices, teachers must have guidelines in place and modeled practice opportunities
so that the students feel confident and successful throughout the process. When a child is able to
choose the text he/she is to read their time on task, their desire to deeply understand the text and
their perseverance increases (Guthrie, et. al., 2004). I recently taught a unit on nonfiction texts.
After sufficient scaffolding, students were able to choose a topic of interest to research. After a
couple weeks of reading multiple texts and collecting 'fantastic facts' about their chosen topic
they were to write an 'All About Book' centered around their chosen topic. Because choice was
the center of the process, with guidelines, the products were phenomenal. They were motivated
and engaged during independent reading and writing times; redirections were limited.
Collaboration
Meeting with students individually to collaboratively create learning goals and adapting
those learning goals often is also a key element to maximizing motivation. In order for a student
(or anyone for that matter) to be attentive, and have the ability to be reflective, must have a
realistic goal to achieve. Conferring with students not only gives the teacher a chance to boost a
student's self-efficacy but also provides opportunity to resolve road blocks and provide next steps
(Gaskins, 1998). It is vital to not stop at developing a goal but to celebrate achieving the goal and
collaborating further on what should be accomplished next. Motivation will enhance when the
Maximizing Motivation 2
Kathryn K. Oswood
students realize that the teacher is there as a coach, a guide down the road of learning. An
environment must be established where we are all learners and are constantly seeking out
opportunities to learn.
Collaboration can expand further than student-teacher conferring. Student to student
collaboration is a huge motivator. If partners or small groups develop goals for themselves and
have conversations about their learning not only will their engagement increase but their
understanding will increase as well (Guthrie, 2004).
Competence
Most students can't learn the strategies to be successful readers alone so teachers must
teach directly to needed strategies. "Students' self-efficacy for reading is enhanced when they
learn reading strategies," (Guthrie, et. al., 2004). Bennet Woods Elementary School encouraged
students to use various strategies that aided in their success as an individual student and as a
school. Teaching these strategies included scaffolding; modeling strategies through read-alouds,
shared reading, and small group and individual reading instruction. This gradual release of
responsibility ensures the success of all students. Bennett Woods' teachers also integrated all
content areas into their reading and writing instruction increasing competence not only in the
content area but also furthering their reading and writing skills (Pressley, 2007). Collaborating
with specialist teachers can increase competence as well if specialists incorporated reading and
writing activities into their content area (Gaskins, 1998).
Conclusion
Motivation can be much more than extrinsic reward. Intrinsic motivation can be
cultivated and nurtured through choice, collaboration and increasing student competence.
Works Cited
Guthrie, J., Wigfield, A., Barbosa, P., Perencevich, K, Taboada, A., Davis, M., Scafiddi, N., & Tonks, S. (2004).
Increasing reading comprehension and engagement through concept-oriented reading instruction. Journal
of Educational Psychology, 96(3), 403-423.
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Kathryn K. Oswood
Gaskins, I. (1998). There’s more to teaching at-risk and delayed readers than good reading instruction. The Reading
Teacher, 57(1), 534-547.
Pressley, M., Mohan, L., Raphael, L., & Fingeret, L. (2007). How does Bennett Woods Elementary School produce
such high reading and writing achievement? Journal of Educational Psychology, 99(2), 221-240.