The job of teaching, for me, involves two main tasks, getting a student to want to learn and teaching them how to learn.  I believe if I can do that, then I’ve done my job as a teacher. The second of these tasks, involves making sure my students can access the multitude of resources that could be available to them, including utilizing 21st century technology.  This means I must stay up to date on technology in the classroom and how I can utilize it most effectively.  In my case, working with a lower level elementary class room, I have a lot to teach the students about how to learn and utilize learning resources.  However, unlike when I was a student, most of the children I teach will already be familiar with technological tools.  Still, that doesn’t mean that I don’t have much to teach them about getting all the possible benefits out of the tools available to them.

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      Now, one important question is, how do I accomplish the first part of my task?  How do I get my students to want to learn in the first place?  Well, that involves asking why anyone would want to understand the world around them.  The answer to this question is obvious to me, and probably to anyone else who would find him or herself in the educational field, but it is a question I must answer for my students.  Better yet, it is a question I must get my students to answer for themselves.  It’s easy to be passionate about learning if the content is relevant and interesting.  I want my students to feel the same way I do about what they learn, that same enthusiasm.  I want them to go home excited to tell their families about what they learned and experienced that day in my classroom, and maybe even be proud of the daily progress they’ve made and what they now understand.

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     I will ensure that their new knowledge has meaning for them. In that way, their learning will be more valuable and more effective.  Of course, to do that, I need to “establish a connection” to some “authentic problem,” provide that “essential question,” to “hook” my students, motivate them to learn and “dig deeper” to further their understanding. (Coffman, 2017) In Psychology of Learning for Instruction, this is referred to as “deployable knowledge.” (Driscoll, 2000, p. 379) That’s exactly what I’m looking to give my students, knowledge they can use in the real world.   Making the lessons have these real-world applications will certainly increase the relevance for my students.  And as I said before, much of it does boil down to relevance, the aspects of the lesson content my students will find personally applicable.  Of course, this will take getting to know my students as individuals, both their strengths and their interests.

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     This wasn’t necessarily a concern in the past, educators were not necessarily concerned with the positive motivation of their students.  Rather than being learner based, as is the trend of modern education, the lessons were objective based.  (Anglin & Dick, 2003) Teachers drilled the students, getting them to memorize information, that they could then regurgitate on command.  No real meaning or relevance was necessary.  However, as a teacher in 2017, I can learn from the past, and be a better educator because it.

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     While I certainly don’t believe that behaviorism is complete on its own, it does have benefits.  It’s useful and it’s simple.  (Driscoll, 2000) A stimulus is introduced and a behavior follows.  With behaviorism, I can quickly see the results.  I know operant conditioning has been proven to work and has valuable applications for dealing with people.  This will translate well to work in my classroom, especially in the case of classroom management.  This can even help explain my students’ motivations.  For example, I like the paintings of Edvard Munch.  This seems a personal choice.  But it is very possible that I was exposed to a painting of Munch, or a similar work, and it was paired with some pleasant experience.  This created a positive association in my mind which still exists today, though I do not consciously remember this paired experience.  This can help me recall that a behaviorist approach need not be harsh.  Offering my students rewards and praise and creating a comfortable, even cozy, learning environment can create positive associations and memories that can instill a love of learning that can last a life time.

     

      Of course, behaviorism can leave unanswered questions and as I stated earlier is not complete in and of itself. For example, it doesn’t exactly explain how memory works, how exactly information is processed and retained. Relevance and meaning of content can influence memory as well as motivation.  There are three essential steps to meaningful learning (Ausubel’s theory of meaningful learning,) information must be presented in a meaningful way (content must make logical sense,) students must find meaning in what they are learning (not just memorizing,) and it must be applied to what the students already know (this may require some pre-assessment on the part of the instructor.)  (Driscoll, 2000) This leads me into the second of my tasks as a teacher, teaching my students how to learn.  One of the best bits of advice I was ever given by a teacher at an early age was, “When you study the material, find a way to make it your own.”  While my students could certainly memorize something without it having any meaning, it would make the task much more difficult.  Furthermore, I am not in the profession of churning out trained parrots that recite knowledge on command.  Ultimately, my goal is that my students will be able to use the knowledge they acquire in my classroom in the real world and in multiple contexts.  The flipside of this is also beneficial, applying knowledge to multiple perspectives and multiples modes of learning can help solidify knowledge and make sure it has both been properly understand and encoded in my students ‘memories.  Therefore, differentiation will be important in my teaching.  (Driscoll, 2000, p. 386-388)

     

       If I do my job correctly, the joy of learning (I use joy in place of burden) will be placed on my students rather than on myself as the teacher.  Vygotsky helped me understand the concept of scaffolding, which is a useful tool to remember, and so I will give assistance only to the extent that it’s needed.  This is why, when I have worked with children with special needs in the past, I was reminded to teach them in the least restrictive environment possible.  In my classroom, I am not there for myself, and I am not there to learn for my students, I must let them do the work to the extent that they are able.  In a flipped class for example, a teacher is “transferring responsibility and ownership of learning from the teacher to the students” where it belongs. (Bennett, et al., 2010) In this way, I am merely a guide, in the learning process, for my students.  Ideally, I want my students to be self-driven.  My guidance is a means to “help students acquire the capacity for self-direction and self-guidance.” (Alutu, 2006, p.44) And, if my students set their own learning goals, they will be less likely to lose motivation over all. 

Within motivation there can be found two types of motivators, external and internal.  There is some debate about the value of these two motivators.  Is getting a student to do work with the promise of candy less valuable than getting a student to see the benefit of the work? Possibly, but I belive that getting a student to learn with a positive attitude is a good thing regardless.  Using the old proverb about leading a horse to water, it’s obviously better if the horse sees the value of drinking but ultimately, I have to get the horse to the water however I can, if I’m going to make progress.  It is important to note that doing school work doesn’t necessarily equal learning.  One can do work without learning much related to the standard of learning or educational goal, if the work is not effective.   Conversely human beings are constantly learning throughout their day, whether they do school work or not.  They may not be learning what I would like them to learn, but my students are always learning.

  

              One way to keep my students motivated and engaged is by varying my methods of instruction. (Driscoll, 2000) The change in type of stimulus can keep my students more alert and keep them from getting bored.  In addition, differentiation in my teaching, can allow me to reach certain students that wouldn’t have been able to follow the content if it was taught in only one format.  Fantasy and storytelling can also help my students engage in a lesson.  And, group collaboration or “social negotiation” with one’s peers can challenge and strengthen his or her mental constructs as well as motivating learning among my students. (Driscoll, 2000, p. 385-386) Curiosity can also be peaked by presenting my students with essential questions and giving them real world problems to solve related to the learning goals. 

    

            In setting a learning goal, which ideally would include the active participation of my students, there are many factors that can aid sustained motivation.  However, the most successfully maintained goals are those that are both specific and proximal (chronologically near.) (Driscoll, 2000) In addition, learning goals seem to work on a broader spectrum of students than achievement goals.  If my students are motivated only by achievement, then their motivation can crash when faced with a challenge or academic set back.  This is especially true of a student that already struggles with self-esteem and has low efficacy.  That is one of the reasons confidence is one of the factors in the ARCS model, which I plan to utilize.   (Driscoll, 2000)

 

                Keeping the content of my lessons, fresh, passionate, and engaging, while differentiating my teaching methods to maximize the abilities and therefore confidence of my students isn’t necessarily easy but it isn’t impossible.  And, it will go a long way towards inspiring and motivating my students.  

         

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Reference

 

Anglin, G., & Dick, J. (2003). The legacy of Robert M. Gagné. Educational Technology Research and Development, 51(2), 77-78.

 

Alutu, A. N. G. (2006). The Guidance Role of the Instructor in the Teaching and Learning Process. Journal of Instructional Psychology, 33(1), 44-49.

 

Bennett, B. E., Spencer, D., Bergman, J., Cockrum, T., Ramsey, M., Sams,

A., Fisch, K., & Overmyer, J. (2011, December 1). The flipped class manifest. http://www.thedailyriff.com/articles/the-flipped-class-manifest-823.php

 

Coffman, T. (2017). Inquiry-based learning: designing instruction to promote higher level thinking. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.

 

Driscoll, M. P. (2000). Psychology of learning for instruction. (2nd ed.). New York: Allyn and Bacon Press.