Motivation And Its Effect On The Classroom

Margaret Heffernan once said, “For good ideas and true innovation, you need a mix of human interaction, conflict, argument, and debate.” In the article it is debated if there is any benefit in monetary rewards for students. Teachers, and parents alike are always trying to find the best way to reward and inspire there students to do well in school. Matthew G Springer is a professor of Public Policy and Education at Vanderbilt University. He is also the director of the National Center on Performance Incentives. He wrote this article to display his research and studies.

Motivation often is classified as intrinsic or extrinsic. Students who are motivated intrinsically have an internal drive to succeed and a personal interest in the material. Students with extrinsic motivation engage in activities to obtain external incentives, such as grades or rewards (Sedden & Clark, 2016). Although, instructors note that intrinsic motivation is best for students, many

Cameron, J., Banko, K. M., & Pierce, W. D. (2001). Pervasive Negative Effects of Rewards on Intrinsic Motivation: The Myth Continues. The Behavior Analysist , 1-44.

Following the introduction of the whole school behaviour policy, it was also made compulsory for schools to include a system of rewards and sanctions (Elton, 1989, Steer, 2005; DFE, 2014; Payne, 2015). Within school X it was found that this system was based on the behaviourist principles of Skinners (1974) theory. The use of rewards and sanctions in school X consisted of positively reinforcing desirable behaviours and correcting negative behaviour through sanctions. The behavioural theory underlines that by reinforcing a particular behaviour, children will repeat it as they begin to associate rewards with a particular behaviour (Skinner, 1974; Morgan, 2009; Rogers, 2011a). For example it was observed that when a child was positively praised for helping others, the teacher would reward the child by awarding a dojo. A dojo is used as a form of praise which amounts to a score at the end of the week based on how many dojos a child receives. This will then feed on to the merit card and sticker system enabling children to be rewarded by prizes. Consequently children were able to make associations between the desired behaviour and its outcome. This is therefore identified as a form of extrinsic motivation (Roffey and O’ Reirdan, 2001; Payne, 2015).

At this young age, it is recommended that criterion specific rewards be used to motivate Doug and increase the frequency of positive behaviors in the classroom (Curran & the IRIS Center, 2003). Criterion specific rewards are incentives that are customized to individual students and based on what motivates them (Curran & the IRIS Center, 2003). Initially, it is necessary to identify what motivates the student and proceed to utilize that information to create

Intrinsic motivation is a key aspect of student success in school. Van den Broeck, Vansteenkiste, and De Witte (2013) define intrinsic motivation as, “the engagement in an activity for its own sake, that is, for the satisfaction and enjoyment experienced during the course of the activity itself” (p. 4). Educators encourage intrinsic motivation within their students as it boosts

Motivation can be defined as the desire or inspiration to carry out specific tasks or to do something. Motivation is required when goals are being set and more so in their execution. In a work setting, motivation can be defined as a process through which individuals choose between alternative forms of behavior with the aim of achieving personal objectives. The goals sought by individuals can be extrinsic or relatively tangible such as monetary rewards and promotion, or intrinsic or intangible such as self esteem or job satisfaction (Armstrong, 2006). In learning, the desire to attain good grades is what motivates a student to study hard everyday as they prepare for the exam. On the other hand, for a teacher to put his best foot forward, he

This type of motivation is influenced heavily by rewards and external incentives. It also implies the notion that “I have to do something” in order to be compliant with what someone else wants me to do. It is a motivation that is primarily influenced by the hope of attaining tangible items such as prizes, special privileges, or money. Although Drive implies the heavy use of Motivation 2.0 by the corporate world, Pink also draws attention to the fact that schools typically operate under this mode, as well, and that it can have detrimental effects on our students and on learning, in general. Motivation 2.0 is also referred to in the book as the “Carrots and Sticks Approach”, and although it may yield positive results in the short-term, the repeated or incorrect use of extrinsic rewards can actually work against what educators are trying to achieve in terms of truly motivating their students.

They may contend that students should want to do well for themselves and their own future and should not expect a reward especially bribery. They may also say that this will encourage cheating in schools. However, this is not true for all students because some individuals may need some incentive in order to do well and actually pay attention in class or to the teacher. Some individuals may need that extra push and that idea of an extrinsic reward. Schools chief Arne Duncan observed that when he went to schools they seemed more excited and the excitement increased when they got their checks (Ripley, 5). Sometimes the idea of getting a reward pushes individuals to do better than they usually would. In this case, the reward would be pushing the students to get better grades in school and generally do better in school to get their reward, money. Many studies showed, there were students that no matter how hard they tried they were unable to get the “A” grade to get the reward (The Time Schools Tried, 2). Even if the student does not earn the money, at least they tried and their grade has made a small improvement since their last report card. In some cases even graduating earned the students money. Having the extrinsic reward

Kohn problem with rewards is as follows: they reduce intrinsic motivation for short-term “solutions” that lead to people becoming dependant on extrinsic motivators. He details the impact that the rewards have on misbehaved kids and working adults: they “. . . do not generally alter the attitudes and emotional commitments that underlie . . . behaviors” (pg. 41). There is no lasting effect on the behavior other than overlooking a problem for a small

As Alfie Kohn said in his article “The Risk of Rewards” (December1994) “rewarding motivate students to get rewards” [6]. This means that even if you pay them $100 dollars for do their work they will not do it because they have to, they will do it for the reward.

Thank you for writing such and intriguing piece on the two motivations we studied this week. I had not thought in the same direction you had on extrinsic and intrinsic motivation and it was nice to see a very different take. I do have to agree with you that motivation is better than control over a classroom. In our textbook Kingdom Living In Your Classroom (2008, pg 110) “Teachers who catch the vision to motivate each student in their classroom find that it revolutionizes their teaching—especially if they were previously bound by the control mind-set.” This way of thinking has taken me a few years to learn, as I am a very tough person when it comes to classroom management. However, working in motivated not controlled classrooms the last few

A reward is a high extrinsic motivator. The reward can be monetary, gift certificate, day off with pay, a two hour lunch, or working for two hours on anything but work. All entice performance and competition in the workplace. A gold star, being the teacher’s helper for a day, no daily

Students want and need work that enables them to demonstrate and improve their sense of themselves as competent and successful human beings. This is the drive toward mastery. But success, while highly valued in our society, can be more or less motivational. People who are highly creative, for example, actually experience failure far more often than success. Biehler (p. 225) claims that studies show that when CAI used in conjunction with a teacher's lessons, is particularly beneficial for low-achieving and young students.

What is motivation? What influences it? The term motivation can be defined in different ways. Motivation can simply defined as “ a need that, if high, is evident in a strong desire to achieve, to excel, to reach a high level of excellence” (Lefrancois 430). To become motivated, one must have a positive attitude to a variety of learning skills. Some factors that influence motivation include our peers, friends, parents, and environmental settings. Division four being high school division, attention is focused towards learning and what methods can be used. Students at this stage are more eager and develop a sense of what he or she wants to do and accomplish in upcoming adulthood. With a division comes a group of intelligent theorists. All