Motivation In Education

We have to consider incentives and motivation in education much more. Quality learning requires an education system that not only helps students complete tasks, but also helps them master individual challenges. In order to guarantee high-quality education, we have to consider the necessary motivational aspects and, if necessary, improve them.

High interpersonal variability is the first element we need to think about when it comes to incentives and motivation in education. In other words, every student has both different motives and different motivational processes. Because of this, there is no magic strategy to motivate all students equally.

This article explains three things to consider when considering educational incentives. These aspects are interest, self-efficacy and goal orientation .

Incentives in education based on interest

How interested a student is in a school subject is an essential aspect. In many cases we tend to underestimate this variable. We assume that the learning success would depend on whether the students learn to the level of their maximum resilience. However, this is a fatal mistake. If the content is boring and tiresome, the student’s effort will still turn into unproductive. On the other hand, if the topic is interesting, the student will find the effort positive and satisfactory.

It is important to consider the interest in the conveyed content from two perspectives, namely on the individual level and on the group level:

• The individual interest of the students is evident. When a topic is really engaging to a student, their performance improves. This is because interest encourages exploratory behavior and constructive thinking.
• Group level interest is a completely different topic. How do we manage to make a topic more interesting for all students? John Dewey claimed that the subjects wouldn’t get any more interesting if we filled them in with irrelevant detail. In order for a subject to be interesting, the teacher must help students understand the intricacies of the subject. People love to understand things, and problems arise when the lessons are inadequate and, as a result, the students cannot understand the subject. When this happens, the information they learn is meaningless and uninteresting.

Incentives based on self-efficacy

We understand self-efficacy to be the expectation or individual assessment of the ability to carry out a task. In other words, does a person believe they are competent or not? With that in mind, it’s important not to confuse the concept of self-efficacy with self-confidence. The former is a specific judgment about a particular task, while the latter describes the general idea of ​​one’s own qualities and abilities.

A high degree of self-efficacy increases the students’ motivation to learn. This is because people feel good when they are good. On the other hand, a low level of self-efficacy can have a hugely detrimental effect on motivation.

In particular, the brain acts here as a defense mechanism to maintain our self-esteem. In this way, students lose interest in the tasks they are not good enough for or where they do not have the necessary skills. True to the motto: I’m bad at what I don’t do my best for. It’s not because I couldn’t do better.

One of the biggest flaws in our current education system is that we put a lot of emphasis on maintaining a competition between failure and success in which we work with rewards. We must remember that by punishing mistakes, punishment becomes the primary concern. This can cause a serious decrease in self-efficacy.

On the other hand, we can make the other students feel bad if we reward success at a competitive level, à la “Look how Paul solved the problem. So you should all have done it! ” , and this can also affect self-efficacy.

Therefore, the best way to promote self-efficacy is to emphasize and develop students’ individual strengths. In addition, we should run tests that assess success based on personal improvement.

The goal orientation

Goal orientation is the direction in which the student is moving. In other words, it is the reasons the student develops their learning behavior. We have to keep in mind that the motivational process will change depending on these reasons.

We can distinguish three different goals:

• Performance: This category distinguishes students who try to get the best grades.
• Mistake Prevention : This is where we can find the students who are trying not to be the worst, or at least trying to avoid mistakes.
• Competence : This refers to those students who are trying to really understand the topics being discussed in order to qualify in them.

In this area there is another major flaw in the modern education system. Students with set performance goals tend to perform better than others because they are simply more motivated than others to achieve their goals. On the other hand, while competency goals do not correlate directly with better grades, students with defined goals tend to understand topics better.

So how is it possible that those who are interested in understanding the subject don’t get better grades? The answer lies in the fact that it is easier to mechanically memorize information than to develop a deep understanding in order to get better grades according to our current educational system. Students who have the goals in terms of achieving the achievement approach learn this principle quickly. On the other hand, those who have competency goals have to put in extra efforts that are not always rewarded.

Final thoughts

As you have seen, incentives and motivation in education are fundamental aspects that we need to consider in order to ensure a good school education. However, it is not enough on its own to teach the subjects well. Motivation is not just an inspiration and arouses interest in the students. Rather, it conveys that they are worth it and are able to achieve their goals and understand the various topics in detail.