What motivates students?

And furthermore, what motivates them to get involved in school to master the goal you have chosen for them?

The answers vary drastically and can have a big impact on each student.

Let's start with the obvious answers. “Everyone goes to school” or “everyone needs education in this day and age.” Although there is some truth in these clichéd answers, if one of these “because everyone does it” answers is the best reason a young person can give for attending school, it is no wonder that these same children do not get involved and simply go. to school because that's what they're supposed to do.

Older students often mention the mantra “I have to do well in school to get into college” when asked about their reasons for attending and performing well. This can be a genuine motivational factor, especially in families where academic and professional success is expected. But is this the answer we really want when we ask that question? Performing well just to get to the next level is fine when playing video games, but it hardly seems inspiring as an educational goal for a high school student.

There are numerous reasons that students give for attending school, all of them valid. As with any motivation question, answers can be divided into two categories: intrinsic reasons for attending school and extrinsic reasons. Anyone who has read Dan Pink's book “Performance Management” or watched his related TED talk understands that extrinsic and intrinsic motivations are not the same.

Prevailing assessment practices are the most obvious example of how we rely too much on extrinsic motivators. As long as we continue to evaluate more than we evaluate and provide grades more frequently than feedback, student motivation will be based on earning this “currency” we call grades. Those who are richest in this currency will have the best opportunities at the end of high school, an unfortunate fact. The students we label “grade chasers” are simply those who have truly embraced our message that good grades (i.e., extrinsic rewards), rather than quality learning, are the primary goal of our educational systems.

Extrinsic motivators don't get students truly engaged in their learning, they make school feel like a job, something that needs to be done. If we want our systems to be as robust as possible, we must explicitly encourage intrinsic motivation in each of our students.

Only students who are intrinsically motivated to engage in school will end up challenged, enriched, energized, and ultimately satisfied with their experience. Yes, it is an ideal, but it is worth keeping in mind.