 | Alfie Kohn (@alfiekohn) |
Most talk about student "motivation" (how to boost it; why this kid lacks it) is really about compliance: making them do what we want | |
This is an insightful observation from Alfie Kohn. We have plenty of evidence from researchers as well as empirical observation in the classroom by teachers that students who care about what they are doing are very motivated. The difficulty comes when we "put the cart before the horse." By insisting that students "get the basics" and learn (for example) how to do all of the calculations before we give them an interesting problem in which to apply the calculations, we complain they are not motivated, but we ignore our role in making our curriculum irrelevant.
By starting with relevant problems first, and helping students understand that they don't have the cognitive tools to solve them, then much if the motivation problem goes away.
- Dr. Gary Ackerman
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