Creating Conditions Where Students Motivate Themselves
Echoing the work of Ed Deci, esteemed educator Larry Ferlazzo reflects on the lesson that you can't really motivate someone else to do something over the long term. You can, however, help people discover what they can use to motivatethemselves.
That's not going to happen, Ferlazzo warns, if all the cheerleading and enthusiasm for learning comes from the teacher. To help students self-motivate on higher-order thinking tasks, and for the long-term, Ferlazzo suggests several practices:
- Praise effort and specific actions
- Get to know student interests and goals
- Use cooperative learning
- Show/tell students the return on investement in learning
- Activate student voice
As a runner, my motivation comes from seeing results--knowing that if I stick with a trainer or a plan, I will achieve my
