Inspired to Learn
Running head: INSPIRED TO LEARN
Inspired to Learn: Effective Techniques for Motivating Students in the Elementary
Classroom
James B. Hare
Vanderbilt University
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Inspired to Learn
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Abstract
Motivation is a key ingredient in the elementary classroom.
When students are
intrinsically motivated to learn, they learn more effectively. While some students enter
the classroom with a high-degree of motivation, many do not. Teachers can employ
numerous means in order to maintain and increase motivation in all students. This paper
reviews numerous research articles in an attempt to provide a detailed list of various
techniques teachers may use in order to maximize motivation in all students across the
content areas. While the author does not purport the techniques compiled in this paper to
be comprehensive, it is an excellent start and a useful set of guidelines that can help
teachers connect research and theory to practice.
Research yielded seven general
categories of ways in which teachers may help to increase and maximize motivation.
Grouping strategies, student-choice, the utility of education, proper goal orientation,
attribution, appropriate challenges, and a supportive environment in which students feel
comfortable are all key ways to empower students with an intrinsic desire to learn. This
paper goes into substantial detail concerning what these categories actually entail with
regards to implementation in the elementary classroom. The author goes on to infer from
the research that motivation is generally supported in a student-centered classroom.
When teachers acknowledge and celebrate the diversity of learning styles and the needs
of individual students and react accordingly, students come to appreciate this concern and
respond with an increased desire to learn.
The author also supplies a final caveat
concerning the implementation of these methods. The moment a teacher begins to apply
the methods detailed in the paper without regard to the specific needs of the individuals
within the classroom, the classroom ceases to be student-centered. One must always
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remember that no set of guidelines is universally applicable to every student and that
good educators must react in ways specifically designed to address the needs of
individuals.
Motivation positively affects learning (Wolters & Pintrich, 1998). The more
motivation a student experiences, the more effectively that student is able to learn. Thus
it is in the interest of every educator to provide students with an environment that
maximizes motivation. Before undertaking lengthy measures to detail the actions
teachers may undergo in order to maximize motivation, it is worthwhile and necessary to
distinguish between two key types of motivation. Intrinsic motivation is the state of mind
in which a person undertakes an endeavor because of an internal drive to accomplish
some goal attainable through that endeavor (Middleton & Spanias, 2008). That is to say,
the student enters into the learning process for the sake of learning and bettering
himself/herself. Extrinsic motivation is the state of mind in which a person undertakes an
endeavor because there is some reward (or punishment should they not complete the task)
waiting at the end of the task (Middleton & Spanias, 2008). Intrinsic motivation is the
more desirable of the two forms of motivation because students who are intrinsically
motivated more actively engage in the cognitive task at hand (Middleton & Spanias,
2008) and employ metacognitive strategies that enable students to self-monitor their own
learning (Lee & Brophy, 1996). Conversely, students who experience only extrinsic
motivation often employ the least amount of effort necessary to complete an assignment
(Lee & Brophy, 1996). Thus in order to empower students to use their cognitive abilities
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to their full potential and in turn stimulate their academic growth as much as possible,
teachers should encourage students to become as intrinsically motivated as possible.
There are numerous ways in which a teacher may help to maximize intrinsic motivation.
Although there may well be more ways in which a teacher may help empower students to
attain more intrinsic motivation, the research conducted for this paper yielded seven
general categories of teacher behavior and instructional design that accomplish this goal.
This paper will discuss each of those categories in turn and how a teacher may apply the
techniques described in the elementary classroom. As each category receives attention
this paper will address the topics of learners and learning, the learning environment,
curriculum, and assessment where appropriate.
Grouping Strategies
The way in which a teacher groups students for various tasks plays a large role in
the subsequent motivation students experience to complete that task. When students
work cooperatively with one another, motivation increases (French, Laurin, McMahan, &
Vickrey, 1998). One can presume this is because teachers are investing more trust in
students when allowing group work and the autonomy students experience in group work
empowers them to take control of their own learning. It is a point of pride for elementary
students that their teacher trusts that they will accomplish what is necessary for the
completion of the assignment. It only follows that this trustworthiness they perceive in
themselves will have a positive effect on motivation. When students feel competent and
able to succeed, their motivation increases (Middleton & Spanias, 2008). What, then,
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could instill more confidence in a young student that he/she is able to succeed than the
teacher allowing them to work towards a goal without the teacher leading the lesson?
The question then becomes whether one should permit students to work in large
groups or small groups. There is evidence that within the science classroom, motivation
increases as a result of small-group activities whereas motivation decreases when
activities involve larger groups (Meece & Jones, 1996). Additionally, students tend to be
more on-task in small group activities than in larger group settings (Meece & Jones,
1996). This finding is contradictory to what many teachers think would be the case.
Many teachers opt for whole-class instruction because they feel they can keep a better
watch over the students when conducting whole-class lessons because each student
knows that he/she is expected to pay attention to the teacher. Many teachers maintain
that this environment will compel students to stay on task and put forth the requisite
effort. However, in whole-class instruction students tend to be less motivated (Meece &
Jones, 1996) and often employ the minimal amount of effort needed to complete the
assignment (Meece & Jones, 1996). It seems that the implications one may derive from
these findings would apply equally well to language arts, mathematics, and social studies.
Put simply, students become more confident in their abilities when the teacher trusts them
to work in small-groups. Each student in the small group plays a more critical part than
he/she would in a larger group and thus they must feel that the teacher trusts them to a
greater degree. This trust and teacher-confidence in their ability, as stated above,
increases motivation.
In addition to the increased feeling of ability students experience, the small-group
setting also affords student a more comfortable environment in which to participate.
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When one is surrounded by a small group of ones peers, one is more willing to take a
risk. Many students fear speaking in the whole-group setting because in their eyes
answering questions posed by the teacher is competitive in nature. Those who can
answer questions correctly are “good” students and those who cannot are “poor” students.
Students often experience a stifling fear of failure in these situations and as a
consequence become unmotivated to participate (Meece & Jones, 1996).
Student-Choice
When teachers allow students to select the topic they will investigate, motivation
increases (Middleton & Spanias, 2008). Conversely, when teachers present students with
no choice as to the topical content of an assignment, motivation decreases (Brookhart &
DeVoge, 2000). This is hardly surprising. One can only expect that when students
pursue topics of interest to them they will become more motivated to achieve. Naturally
a teacher cannot let students pursue simply any topic they desire; there must be some
constraints imposed due to the requirements of curricula. However, if a teacher provides
students with a discrete list of choices and then allows students to choose a specific topic
within that list, students feel more control over their education and as a consequence
motivation increases (Middleton & Spanias, 2008). Of particularly critical importance is
student-choice in text selection within language arts (Powell, MacIntyre, & Rightmyer,
2006). In the elementary grade level instilling within students a love of reading is
necessary. Students who avoid reading do so at the expense of substantial educational
benefits. Therefore teachers who allow students choice in their reading material are
providing their students a great service. If students are allowed to pick a book of interest
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to them, it is only natural that they will enjoy reading more than they would should they
be compelled to read something dealing with a topic in which the student has little or no
interest. The motivational implications of student choice extend far beyond reading
alone, however. In social studies, for example, when teachers allow students to discuss
topics they find interesting, one can expect students will become more motivated to
participate. Similarly for science and mathematics, when student interest is piqued
through the observation of a natural phenomenon or a curious property of numbers,
teacher should allow students to investigate that topic. One must encourage and celebrate
the natural curiosity of children by allowing them to pursue topics of interest to them.
Many teachers are afraid to let go of structured lesson plans and state-mandated curricula,
but so long as the teacher helps students to focus their inquiry in a way that satisfies both
the students’ curiosity as well as the requirements of the classroom, student learning will
thrive.
The Utility of Education
Students must realize the school provides them with an education that has utility
in the real world. As stated above, it behooves teachers to allow their students to pursue
answers to questions they devise. Not only does this increase motivation due to the fact
that students are empowered to learn when given choice, but also because this inquirybased learning approach teaches them that education can help them answer real questions
that they have. When students investigate answers to questions they propose, they
become more motivated to obtain a complete answer. Similarly, when they undertake to
acquire a skill they desire to learn, they tend to work towards a mastery of that skill, not
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simply fulfilling minimal requirements (Middleton & Spanias, 2008). Conversely, when
teachers require students to complete routine work in which the students’ desired learning
paths receive no consideration, motivation decreases (Middleton & Spanias, 2008).
When teachers acquire a book full of impersonal worksheets that they blindly give to the
same students year after year, it is only natural that the students will feel as though the
teacher is unmotivated to teach them effectively, so as a consequence the students
become unmotivated to learn effectively.
Perhaps the most critical way in which teachers may help to increase student
motivation when looking through the lens of the utility of education is by presenting
students with real-world situations relevant to the students’ lives (Middleton & Spanias,
2008). How else can students come to understand that education empowers them to solve
problems than by presenting students with situations that they themselves perceive as
problematic and then helping them to overcome those situations? This is particularly true
of mathematics, which students often see as being quite divorced from their ordinary
lives. Why would a considerate teacher present students with math problems that deal
with passengers on a train when the teacher could instead present a problem dealing with
candy, sports, shopping, or the school day? These types of problems implicitly relate to
the students that the skills being taught are actually worth learning. However, to
implicitly suggest this utility is insufficient. Teachers must explicitly state their goals in
presenting students with real-life situations (Middleton & Spanias, 2008). They must tell
their students that they are engaging in a problem about candy, for example, because they
want the students to understand that mathematics has amazing utility in its ability to solve
real problems for real people, including the students themselves right there and now.
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Skills in mathematics have a function, a use, and students must realize that mathematics
is something useful in the world and not just in the classroom.
The benefit of engaging students in real-life situations is not limited strictly to
mathematics, however. If one is teaching a class in which the students are predominantly
African-American, for example, it only makes sense to discuss social studies issues
relevant to African-Americans. Spending all of the classroom time discussing European
history will simply not have the impact on African-American students that discussions
revolving around civil rights, Martin Luther King Jr., and the Harlem Renaissance will
have. The corollary is true for language arts. The importance of Chaucer is indeed great,
but if one desires to motivate students, one should provide them with more relevant
literature to their lives and the modern day. This recognition and celebration of diversity
directly increases motivation (Anderman & Young, 1994). To continue with the example
of African-American students, teachers interested in inspiring their students to learn and
take control of their own learning should present African-American students with books
by African-American authors dealing with African-American issues. The importance of
relevance also holds for science. When students ask questions about the physical
properties of the world around them, teachers should encourage them to investigate the
phenomenon and construct an understanding of that phenomenon. It is not difficult to
imagine a situation where students are motivated to design an experiment that helps them
to answer questions about the weather patterns present in the area in which they live.
However, it is hard to envision a situation where elementary-age students are similarly
motivated to learn about the make-up of an atom. While the make-up of an atom is
indeed an important concept for students to learn, it is probably ill placed at the
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elementary level, particularly when one of the goals of the science lesson is to motivate
students. At this point it is worthwhile to point out that science teachers in the
elementary classroom actually have more of an impact on student motivation than they
do on cognition (Anderman & Young, 1994). Thus the need to help students answer
these sorts of questions, ones that motivate due to their function as real-world problems,
is more explicitly clear.
Proper Goal Orientation
Another important way in which teachers may help to motivate students to learn
is by stressing that the goal of education is not the ability to produce a correct answer but
rather to cultivate the ability to think clearly and to improve oneself. When teachers
stress personal effort and individual progress, motivation increases (Stipek, Salmon,
Givving, Kazemi, Saxe, & MacGyvers, 1998). Students focus more on learning and less
on competition when the teacher explicitly states that one should concern oneself with
ones own progress rather than the progress or performance of others. When teachers
emphasize relative ability and public evaluation, students tend to compare their progress
to other students rather than to themselves over time (Anderman & Young, 1994). While
competition may indeed increase motivation, it is an undesirable form of motivation.
Competition motivates students to out-perform one another, which in effect is a form of
extrinsic motivation. Being the best, or “winning” in the classroom, is an external reward
when the classroom emphasizes relative ability. One should generally eschew these
extrinsic motivators when possible in favor of a classroom that supports the idea that ones
motivators and rewards should be completely internal. One “wins” in the ideal classroom
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when one improves oneself to the best of ones ability, regardless of how other students
are performing.
One can easily see what this implies for assessment. In the motivation-oriented
classroom teachers should deemphasize the importance of tests as determining factors in
a students success. While assessments are indeed necessary in order for a teacher to
gauge a student’s progress, teachers should make it clear to their students that a poor
grade on a test does mean that the student has failed in the learning environment. Rather,
teachers should explicitly state that poor performance on a test simply elucidates to both
the teacher and the student where one must focus ones further study. Additionally,
teachers should highlight to students where they succeeded. This helps to prevent a
decrease in motivation by focusing on the successes rather than harping on the failures
(Middleton & Spanias, 2008).
Another way in which teachers can help students to think of success in the
classroom as more than just performing well on a test is by providing numerous and
varied assessments. The more assessments students complete, the less each one will be
worth. In this way students do not become anxious in the face of a large unit test worth a
substantial percentage of their grade. If a class works for weeks on a unit and then the
teacher measures the students’ learning by one, all-inclusive test, how else can the
students feel but that performance on the assessment is the only indicator of learning?
One can easily avoid this problem by providing mini-assessments throughout the unit. So
long as the teacher makes it explicit that the assessments are specifically geared toward
helping both the teacher and the student discover where they need to focus in the future,
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then the student will be more motivated to learn for its own sake rather than to memorize
a sufficient amount of information to pass the test.
In addition, teachers should use additional means of assessing learning beyond
traditional testing. Participation and effort-based grades can help students to realize that
their education is about their own improvement and learning rather than their scores on
the test. Teachers should also be willing to give extra credit for students who learn and
expend effort beyond the call of duty, so to speak. For example, if a student spends time
out of class in pursuit of a better understanding of a concept or skill the teacher should
recognize and celebrate that achievement. The teacher should explicitly tell the student
that the effort and energy the student invested in that inquiry is the real goal of education.
The student in that case has become motivated to take control of his/her own learning and
the teacher can help to maintain that motivation by recognizing it when it comes times to
provide a grade.
The importance of stressing personal learning and improvement is doubtlessly
true for all the content areas, but perhaps it obtains the most force with regards to
mathematics. Providing the correct answer in math class is something over which many
students obsess, and when they do their motivation to learn math decreases (Middleton &
Spanias, 2008). Conversely, when students see the goals of mathematics as knowledge
acquisition and improving ones personal understanding of mathematics (Middleton &
Spanias, 2008), motivation increases. It seems likely that students tend to obsess over
correctness with regards to mathematics because it is the most objective of the corecontent areas. There is one correct answer and infinite incorrect answers, and this is a
daunting thought to consider. One can easily accept from that that students can quickly
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become unmotivated in the face of so many ways in which to err. During the teaching of
mathematics then it becomes particularly important to relate to students that erring is
something everyone does and that it is not indicative of failure. Rather, students should
understand that a lack of effort is what deserves failure. The importance of effort is a
central concept of the next section.
Attribution
Despite the motivation any particular student may exhibit, he/she may fail to
complete the assignment in an appropriate way. This moment is critical in the
motivational life of a student. If the student attributes his/her failure to a lack of ability
then he/she will most likely suffer a decrease in motivation (Middleton & Spanias, 2008).
Why would the student continue to strive to learn if he/she thinks it is a futile endeavor,
that no matter how much effort one expends on a task one will fail because of inability?
Teachers can help to alleviate this potentially damaging mindset through specific
attribution training. Students need to realize that everyone makes mistakes and that
everyone fails at some endeavor at some point. While this may be particularly true for
students who are accustomed to achieving at the highest level, the benefits of the training
that follow are available to all students (Anderman & Young, 1994). Good teachers
believe that all students can succeed, and the teacher in the motivation-oriented
classroom makes this notion explicit to the students.
When students do fail, in order to maintain their motivation, they need to attribute
that failure not to inability but rather to insufficient effort, confusion, or an inappropriate
strategy (Middleton & Spanias, 2008). Perhaps they did not properly understand the
problem. Maybe the failure was due to a lack of concentration at the time. Having this
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sort of mindset helps the student to keep his/her chin up, so to speak. When students are
successfully able to attribute their failure to something they can control and change in the
future, then that future does not seem so dim. If the student’s problem was a lack of
concentration (poor effort), for example, then the student knows that next time he/she
needs to focus on the task more and that should improve the situation. While many
factors may contribute to a certain student failing at a certain time, the most important
thing a teacher can stress is that a lack of ability was not the cause of the failure.
Conversely, when students do succeed in the classroom, teachers should stress
both effort and ability as primary factors in success (Middleton & Spanias, 2008). Not
only should the teacher say this to the student but the teacher should also help the student
to accept this himself/herself. When a student attributes success to ability and effort, it
has a twofold effect. First, students who believe in their own ability become more
confident in their ability to succeed in the future. Second, students who attribute success
to effort will continue to expend such effort in the future to achieve similar results.
Appropriate Challenges
When presenting students with an assignment, teachers must ensure that the task
is achievable. If students are unable to successfully complete an assignment, one can
only assume that students will become frustrated and consequently suffer a decrease in
motivation. That is not to say, though, that tasks should easy. There is a sweet spot, so to
speak, of the perfect level of difficulty. Tasks must be appropriately challenging
(Middleton & Spanias, 2008). When tasks are challenging yet achievable, motivation
increases (Brookhart & DeVoge, 2000). One can see the utility of appropriate challenges
Inspired to Learn 15
in both ordinary classroom assignments as well as assessments. Throughout the school
day teachers should present students with tasks that require effort for success. When
students employ the requisite effort and do succeed in a challenging task, they will no
doubt feel good about their work. When they attribute success to the concentration and
energy with which they attacked the assignment they will experience a subsequent
increase in motivation, as stated above. The enjoyment and pride one feels when one
works hard and succeeds is a natural motivator that will help to keep students working
hard and feeling good about that hard work throughout the school year and hopefully
beyond.
In addition to everyday schoolwork, creating assessments that students can
successfully complete is necessary to foster the motivation to learn. If a student works
hard throughout a unit and then fails a test not because they failed to expend the requisite
effort but instead because the test was simply too difficult, the effects are easy to see.
Why would that student continue to work hard throughout the school day when the next
unit begins, only to fail the test in the future? As mentioned earlier, the test must not be
too easy either. If a student, for whatever reason, does not employ an admirable degree
of effort on a test and still succeeds, the effect would be the same as the inappropriately
difficult test. Why would the student who does not try and still succeeds try in the
future? However, if a student works hard and that hard work is directly related to their
success in a challenging yet achievable assessment, then that student will be motivated to
continue expending sufficient effort in the future. Teachers must give students an
opportunity to succeed, as achievement is directly related to an increase in motivation
Inspired to Learn 16
(Willson, 1983). The more a student does well, the more motivated they become to do
well in the future.
Supportive Environment
The final way in which teachers may help to motivate students is by creating an
environment that is generally supportive. When students are comfortable in class, willing
to take risks, and do not fear failure, their motivation increases (Meece & Jones, 1996).
Meece and Jones go on to list and describe several factors that figure into the creation of
a supportive learning environment. First, teachers must provide sufficient and adequate
instructional support. That is to say, teachers must be willing to assist students when they
need additional instruction. Simply presenting a problem and then requiring students to
complete the assignment without any help is detrimental to their motivation. It is not
enough to allow small-group work. Rather, teachers must constantly circulate the room
offering additional support when necessary.
Second, teachers must carefully monitor student progress. One can accomplish
this through varied and frequent assessment. As mentioned earlier, frequent and varied
assessment prevents the stress many student experience when confronted with a large,
all-encompassing test. Beyond that benefit frequent and varied assessments allow
teachers and students to become aware of difficulties the students may be having and then
the teacher can adapt future instruction as necessary. In addition, the use of numerous
different forms of assessment can help create a supportive environment by appealing to
various learning modes as well as the multiple intelligences. Some students cannot
perform to the best of their ability when one limits assessment strictly to the traditional
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written test. Offering students alternative means of demonstrating their knowledge is
critical in the supportive classroom (French et al., 1998). This technique clearly
demonstrates to students that the teacher appreciates that individual students have
individual strengths and accordingly creates an environment that allows for students to
utilize those strengths in order to show how much they have learned.
Third, teachers should recognize and congratulate personal improvement. When
the classroom’s focus is on personal growth rather than ability as compared to other
students in the class, students are more likely to become motivated to succeed. Focusing
on personal improvement is not enough, however. Teachers must explicitly congratulate
students when they notice a marked improvement in the student’s performance. This
helps the student to realize that the effort expended was not in vain and that they should
accordingly expend such effort in the future.
Fourth, teachers should minimize the amount of competition in the classroom.
While competitive games are indeed fun for many students, those who do not compete
well often suffer a motivational decrease as a result of the competition. This ties in
nicely with the idea that achievement and success in school should concentrate on
personal growth rather than success relative to other students. One way in which teachers
may help to reduce competition in the classroom is by displaying work of all students, not
only the highest quality products (Anderman & Young, 1994). Anderman and Young go
on to point out that rewarding students for good grades or quality work on any given
assignment correlates to a decrease in intrinsic motivation.
Meece and Jones (1996) discuss that while this supportive environment is
beneficial for all students, the motivational increase is greatest for low-achieving
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students. One could expect that students who normally do not perform or achieve as well
as their peers suffer from embarrassment and some degree of shame when compelled to
compete with others. Low-achieving students need additional support that this type of
classroom can provide. In addition, students who are traditionally low-achieving students
are less likely to take risks and in the supportive classroom they become more willing to
take those risks (Middleton & Spanias, 2008). Risk-taking is a necessary step in ones
educatory process. When one is unwilling to venture new ideas or try previously foreign
endeavors, the learning process is stifled.
Another way in which teachers may create a supportive learning environment is
by orienting the classroom around the constructivist notion of learning. When students
take information they already know and use that information in order to help discover
new ideas, their motivation increases (Meece & Jones, 1996). It is certainly exciting and
worthy of pride to be able to recall knowledge relevant to a new situation and apply that
already existent knowledge in order to discover something for oneself. It is only natural
that students will experience an increased motivation to learn in this situation rather than
one in which the students sits idly while the teacher bombards the classroom with
information. Teachers should let students struggle with problems yet still offer support as
needed. In this way students come to realize that they are capable of learning through
their own hard work and determination and that knowledge is not accessible only through
the words of an elder.
Conclusion
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There seems to be a commonality pervasive throughout all of the strategies listed
above. In each case the teacher responds to the needs of the students. One can infer that
motivation is maximized in a student-centered classroom. When teachers create a
learning environment in which the needs of the students drive curricular choices, teacher
behavior, assessment techniques, and the general atmosphere of the classroom, students
respond with a heightened desire to learn. In a student-centered classroom students feel
that they are in control of their own learning and they subsequently react with an
increased motivation to learn and succeed. Students have a right to learn and when
teachers undertake the effort to create a classroom environment in which student needs
are at the forefront, students begin to understand their education as a right. All students
can succeed and teachers can act in numerous different ways in order facilitate that
success. In the teacher-centered classroom, one in which students are passive recipients
of the teacher’s ideas, students naturally feel expendable. Each classroom is filled with
unique individuals and when teachers make instructional and behavioral choices in
acknowledgement of this fact the students respond in a desirable way.
The uniqueness of each individual student is an important consideration. While
the techniques listed above are no doubt useful as general rules to increase motivation,
they are not universally applicable to every student one may encounter. So many factors
influence the motivation of each individual student that the choices teachers make must
be in response to the individual needs of each student (Lee & Brophy, 1996). This is the
truest form of the student-centered classroom. It is true that research can help educators
determine general techniques that help students succeed for the most part, but the
moment the teacher begins to employ those techniques without regard to the individuals
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in his/her classroom, the classroom reverts to being teacher-centered. Each year teachers
will have the privilege of working with a new set of students and each year the teacher
must pay careful attention, from opening day to graduation, to every single student in the
classroom. Only in this way can teachers ensure that the needs of students are met,
speaking in terms of motivation and beyond. Students enter school with a strong desire
to learn and when teachers attend to what each student needs, they can help to preserve
and cultivate that desire. The means discussed throughout this paper are useful tools to
have in ones kit, but the appropriateness of each technique and the extent to which each
technique should be employed is dependant upon the characteristics and needs of each
student in the classroom.
Inspired to Learn 21
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