Motivation through the World

Motivation in classrooms is a two way street in which students and teachers have to feel interested, involved, and important. There were many contributing motivational concepts discussed in Chapter 11; of those, three stood out to me: the need for competence, need for self-worth, and the need for self-efficacy. To place these more context and in preparation for the many portfolios to come, I wanted to share some ideas I have considered for my class that would definitely encourage these three factors of motivation.

In order to be successful in any aspect of life, you must have some sense of confidence in what you  are doing. That being said, we all have to recognize that sometimes we will not have a choice but to partake in activities that force us out of our comfort zones. This is where motivation becomes essential. The chapter discusses human needs, and competence and self-worth were among the more notable. The need for competence implies that people need to believe that they can deal effectively with their environment. My plans are to one day teach in a multicultural school in a low-funded, low-achieving area, so I can empower the more vulnerable children. In this setting and others, the concept of self-worth, or protecting an individual's belief that he or she is capable and good, is intertwined with competence. As a teacher, you have to recognize that these needs are impacted by forces outside the classroom. What happens to these children at home, in the community, in the hallway, on a sports field, influences if they feel comfortable in their environment, as well as, how they feel about what they can offer in response to these experiences. 

Kid President makes reference to self-efficacy, one of the factors of motivation that I believe is of utmost importance for classrooms. First of all, teachers should enter a room believing that they can achieve certain goals or expectations. Secondly, students need to believe that they will be able to execute certain behaviors or goals. Ideally, a cohesive, productive classroom would encompass both sides. To encourage this, the chapter lists tips on how to establish a sense of self-efficacy in students. They are as follows:

• help children achieve success, especially with difficult tasks
• provide children with mechanisms for tracking progress
• avoid situations like competition which might cause children to judge themselves unfavorably against peers
• self-determination and some level of choice should be an option for children in activities

Post reading, I had to consider what is important to me and how that will influence my teaching. The text mentions that to achieve competence you have to spend time engaged in exploring and attempting to gain mastery over certain parts of your world. I definitely think that "world" is applicable to both locally and globally; I want to promote involvement, awareness, and curiosity for each.

Thackston School "Olympic" Field Day
Knoxville, Tennessee 2012

Batlang Preschool
Gaborone, Botswana 2014

I have wanderlust. I have global awareness. I have plans to travel. I have an imagination that experiences my adventures before I reach their destination.
I want to share this with the students that I encounter while teaching. I want them to feel like they could go or be anywhere they wish one day. I want them to know enough about other places to know where they are drawn. I want their imaginations to take them to swim with elephants in Thailand, to eat quesadillas in local markets in Mexico, to gaze in Norway at the magnificent Northern Lights.

I mostly want to reinforce to them that where they are does not have to be forever and that what they feel other children may feel, too, from around the world. I want them to dream, to innovative, and to be worldly.

It is also very important that when they walk into my classroom they feel like anything could happen that day, anything is possible, and that the world that is my classroom, is connected to, but not the same as the world they encounter at home. They can escape and feel safe, if needed, in my room.




A few ideas I am inspired by and likely to implement are:

 Reading materials that allow students to learn more on their own. This is where self-determination is key because they have a choice in what horizons they want to broaden.

As a supplement to their readings (and would also be a nice reference for other actives or core subjects), a board like this will likely be in my future room. It is a "reading takes you places" board and as the class reads, we pin where their books are set.

I think that this would be helpful in helping visualize where they are in reference to other parts of the world. It will also help them to connect cultural, environmental, etc. similarities and differences from specific regions and just around the world in general.

 Finally, I think that a board dedicated to little facts would be interesting to relate to throughout different lessons. As well as, provide and interesting facts for students to share with each other, think about, etc. I also think that posters like those to the left would be great for inspiration and encouragement.