Teachers often ask “How can I motivate my students to learn?” But increasingly, I’ve come to believe that this is the wrong goal, and the wrong question.

Trying to motivate students seems logical.

Bored students try less and do worse (Tze et al., 2016). Students say they are bored much of the time; Caplan, 2018).  But motivating every student – every lesson – is impossible.

First, a student is not ‘motivated’ in general, but motivated by specific things: Alex loves writing stories; Abdi enjoys discussion tasks; Anna likes mathematical puzzles.  Few tasks (or topics) will truly motivate them all.

Second, motivation fluctuates: it wanes when students tire, or struggle, or see something more tempting.  We hope that motivating students will get them learning.  But while high-achieving students tend to be more motivated, that doesn’t mean motivation caused their success.

In fact, researchers find the opposite: when students succeed in maths, their motivation grows (but not the other way around); if they read well, they choose to read more (but not the other way around; Garon-Carrier et al., 2016; van Bergen et al., 2018).

(Pursuing motivation may also tempt us to choose easier and more enjoyable tasks and topics, neglecting more rewarding, but more challenging alternatives.)

I’m not saying motivation is undesirable. I’m not saying it doesn’t matter. Students must be willing to take the first step.

But motivation is fickle and transient. It’s not the secret to students’ success. Pursuing it won’t get every student learning.

The best goal (and the best motivator) is learning itself.

Motivation helps, but it’s better to pursue student success.

  • Which of your students are consistently motivated to learn? Are they already succeeding consistently?
  • What has helped increase your students’ motivation?
  • How long do such increases in motivation last?

This is an adapted excerpt from Habits of success: getting every student learning.

This series of posts looks at five ways to get students learning. Each has pros and cons; each is likely to be part of a teacher’s repertoire.

Previously: convincing students learning matters, sanctions and rewards, nudging.

Next up: self-regulation – and why it’s another wrong goal.

References

Caplan, B. (2018). The Case Against Education: Why the education system is a waste of time and money. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 135.

Garon‐Carrier, G., Boivin, M., Guay, F., Kovas, Y., Dionne, G., Lemelin, J.P., Séguin, J.R., Vitaro, F. and Tremblay, R.E. (2016). Intrinsic motivation and achievement in mathematics in elementary school: A longitudinal investigation of their association. Child development, 87(1), 165-175.

Tze, V.M., Daniels, L.M. and Klassen, R.M. (2016). Evaluating the relationship between boredom and academic outcomes: A meta-analysis. Educational Psychology Review, 28(1), 119-144.

van Bergen, E., Snowling, M.J., de Zeeuw, E.L., van Beijsterveldt, C.E., Dolan, C.V. and Boomsma, D.I. (2018). Why do children read more? The influence of reading ability on voluntary reading practices. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 59(11), 1205-1214.