You can't motivate students, but you can kill what motivation they have
Motivation – at least intrinsic motivation -- is something to be supported, or if necessary revived. It’s not something we can instill in students by acting on them in a certain way. You can tap their motivation, in other words, but you can’t “motivate them.” And if you think this distinction is merely semantic, then I’m afraid we disagree.
On the other hand, what teachers clearly have the ability to do with respect to students’ motivation is kill it. That’s not just a theoretical possibility; it’s taking place right this minute in too many classrooms to count.
Alfie Kohn via http://www.alfiekohn.org/teaching/nonreaders.htm
3 comments
Sep 04, 2010
malcolm bellamy said...
I couldn't agree more. I have just written a blog post about the very same thing...Treading on dreams: http://wp.me/pKfOP-nY
Sep 04, 2010
ProfTK said...
It's OK to disagree....sometimes, not often, we teachers can cause an intrinsic motivation to occur with a well-placed question or affirmation. We never know, but it's often worth a try.
Dec 27, 2010
Shawn Urban said...
You never know where a single word can take you or those around you. You learn your students as they learn you and in this learning discover these words. Of course the direction a single word can take someone could be anywhere along the continuum from inspirational to crushing. I think if we let love and our students' best interests guide us, we will be more positive than negative to our students.
