Intrinsic Motivation: Fostering Students' Drive to Learn in Their Communities and Beyond

 

Intrinsic Motivation: Fostering Students' Drive to Learn in Their Communities and Beyond

Author: Santosh Kumar Biswa, Sr. Teacher, Damphu CS, Tsirang, Bhutan

 

Intrinsic motivation is defined as motivation that does not consider external benefits. Giving students the chance to learn more about anything, entails motivating them to engage in any activity out of curiosity (Dev, 1997). To put it another way, a child is motivated when he gets internal rewards. I concur that it can be challenging to foster students' innate motivations for learning both within and outside of the classroom while promoting individuality and the individual experience through personal and creative expression. The teacher needs to design interesting assignments that motivate students to learn. According to Dev (1997), if teachers provided students with meaningful assignments, they would be motivated to learn.

What are the strategies to develop students' intrinsic motivation for learning with a global mindset?

The challenges of a globalized society will be faced by today's youth in the future. Education must equip students for situations like this. Today's educators must support students in acquiring a global perspective and equip them to work cooperatively with others from around the world to solve urgent problems (Lister, 2019). Having a global mindset is the ability to view the world broadly and constantly look for unanticipated trends and opportunities that could present a threat or an opportunity to attain one's personal, professional, or organizational goals (Rhinesmith, 1993). The right skills and knowledge should be provided through various strategies by teachers to support the development of students’ global mindsets in the classroom. The following are some intrinsically motivating tactics to enhance student performance, self-esteem, and global mindset:

• Autonomy in Learning: Students should be given autonomy while learning in the classroom. When students feel that they have some influence over their education, their intrinsic motivation increases, they are more likely to stick with difficult academic tasks, and they learn to assimilate material at a deeper level (Usable Knowledge, 2016). Instead of making children read a specific work, I think we should let them choose their own. Improving their learning skills in areas that are relevant to their lives helps students develop their critical thinking, enabling them to become more responsible people in society as they get older. 

• Relatedness: Promoting relatedness in the classroom is another way to motivate students intrinsically. I believe that students should be made to feel connected and cared for by others in the classroom. It can happen if we design activities that enable them to collaborate with others. For instance, an activity like a group project can bring students together and make them feel connected because they are sharing their ideas and thoughts. This would improve their sense of belonging through meaningful relationships and the understanding of diversity and its importance. Moreover, their self-esteem will be boosted by better well-being and strong intercultural relationships (Dubberke, 2017). Separation in the classroom is a risk, but through relatedness, their physical separation with teachers, peers, and teamwork is reduced in the classroom, and they get an opportunity to share their knowledge with their peers (Usable Knowledge, 2016). Such activities would not only enhance their social skills but also help them become good self-leaders. 

• Competence: It is essential to help students become more competent. Teachers should provide students with challenging activities to show them that there are high expectations for them. Students shouldn't be forced to feel terrified of failing or subjected to harsh feedback. It shouldn't replace internal motivation. Instead, it is our duty as educators to arm students with the knowledge they need to do the task at hand and to instill confidence in their capacity to meet the standards. Students become more driven to learn and more adept at handling issues as they become aware of their abilities. Such instruction would provide pupils with a sense of agency and give them the tools they need to deal with challenges in life. 

• Making students feel that education is a choice, not a requirement: Teachers should ensure that their students feel education is a choice, not a requirement. Students should be encouraged by making them feel that they are doing their best and are making the right choice through the hardship they are putting in during their learning (Briggs, 2013). Students should be reminded that they are making the right choice by showing up and working hard in school as they are preparing for life. For this, developing students to have a growth mindset is essential. Since a growth mindset tends to embrace lifelong learning and the delight of incremental personal progress in students, it has a good impact on motivation and academic achievement and helps them understand that their intelligence or personality is not a permanently fixed attribute (Ng, 2018). Such actions will shield them from the risk of failure. 

• Students' Building Purpose of Learning: Students have a reason to pay attention and learn when there is a purpose. Students need to feel as though they are making a difference and striving toward something valuable (Beachboard, 2020). I can add purpose to my lesson if I include why that particular concept or skill would be important to learn and ask students why they are learning the particular concept or skill. Sometimes, community challenges can be added to the lesson to add purpose so that students grow with the understanding and analysis of the problems of their community and can apply the knowledge gained in real-time situations relating to the issues of the world. A student's engagement and motivation are increased when they understand why or how studying can alter their lives (Beachboard, 2020).

In a nutshell, I have realized that as a teacher, we have a greater role to play in intrinsically motivating our learners to adopt a global mindset. In the classroom, I should help my students cultivate trust in their success so that I can prepare them to challenge the obstacles that they are going to face. I should be enabling them to understand that they have their worth. In doing so, I should always be positive while providing them with feedback, and it should be based on their performance without making it personal. I should never forget to stimulate students’ cognitive curiosity with the use of a variety of strategies. Students should be involved in the conceptual investigation for personal growth as well as to develop a sense of social values. Most importantly, a teacher should find out their students' unique interests to promote autonomy in the classroom.

How can we assess students' progress in becoming global citizens while promoting individual creativity and diversity?

A good assessment process is required to develop globally focused students who nurture personal creativity and diversity and to produce rigorous students who are capable of self-leadership and are capable of contributing to an international community. Every individual student should be assessed to check their wholesome development as global citizens. The assessment should focus on whether students are competent enough at using their discipline in regional, governmental, and global contexts and whether they act in environmentally responsible ways or not. Moreover, they should also be assessed on their capabilities in respecting diversity, and the capability should not be based on their knowledge and skills but should be based on the way they think and behave (UNSW, 2021). To carry out the assessment successfully, I believe that we should align the learning outcome of the lesson taught in the classroom with the assessment design appropriately. To align it well, we need to establish appropriate and assessable assessment standards with achievable rubrics for the assessment. All assessments should be guided by rubrics.

The teacher should be well aware of the design of the assessment task for students that allows students to contribute their background and experiences based on the global setting and implications, and the rubrics should be aligned with those backgrounds and experiences. Mostly, teachers should set the assessment tasks that engage in problem-solving in the context of their local communities rather than the international context. They should also be examined through group assessment, allowing them to collaborate and solve problems so that interaction becomes rampant. Most importantly, technology should be used as an assessment tool by engaging students through the creation of online learning communities so that diversity is assured to foster cross-cultural perspectives.

Strategies for developing the notion of education for sustainable development (ESD) that will engage and appreciate the variety of all students in today's classrooms while also strengthening the connection to the local community

Because it teaches students to engage, be active, and have knowledge of nature, equality, and social justice, expanding consciousness and shaping better human conduct, ESD is a suitable educational program for every school to educate students in natural and social settings. Additionally, it gives students the tools they need to be committed to a sustainable society and preserve natural and ecological systems to maintain their standard of living. Some of the activities that a school can do to develop the idea of ESD are as follows:

• The school can instruct students on how to reuse and recycle the waste generated on campus. It can be done by involving students in group projects where they are tasked with gathering rubbish that is present across the school campus and sorting it into recyclable and non-recyclable materials. Ask them to create new items for the school using recyclable garbage, if possible.
• Schools can promote greening activities by encouraging gardening work in their schools. Through critical thinking, it will promote the sense of greening and its importance. training students about the environment and encouraging students to become environmental advocates in the school and their community. It will develop their self-leadership with a high sense of responsibility.
• Economics and science teachers can promote critical thinking lessons on renewable and non-renewable sources of energy and how to conserve our natural resources. At the same time, the school can come up with a whole school approach to saving energy by not using electricity during the daytime in the school, especially the lights. It will make them aware of the importance of the conservation of natural resources and the proper usage of available resources for sustainability. On the other hand, schools can replace all the bulbs and tube lights with energy-saving materials.
• Schools can create awareness about carbon emissions and enforce a restriction on the use of any product that produces carbon or other dangerous gases.
• Engaging students through several projects makes them reflect on how their small actions affect the world. This promotes peer engagement and supports each other in learning about sustainability.
• Teachers should develop action-based learning activities that allow students to analyze data instead of using pre-analyzed data to promote sustainability. The school should also engage students through a variety of activities involving students through cooperative learning, field trips, role play, real-world inquiry, place-based learning, and project-based learning, and engaging students in the decision-making process so that along with their learning they can also conceptualize the community around them through systemic thinking.
• The school should embrace cross-pollination or interdisciplinary that involves the use of resources on one's campus community and beyond.
• The school should frequently invite guest speakers to give sustainability talks and help students see their subject as a part of a larger network of ideas and conversations.

While utilizing a variety of teaching strategies, I believe it's crucial to bring critical reflection into the classroom, especially when using active learning strategies like discussion groups, learning journals, and reflective accounts. We must teach students about the importance of sustainability. Students should understand the relevance of the subject they are learning so that they can be equipped for future decision-making.

References

Beachboard, C. (2020). Help Students Build Intrinsic Motivation. https://www.edutopia.org/article/help-students-build-intrinsic-motivation

Briggs, S. (2013).  25 Ways to Cultivate Intrinsic Motivation. https://www.opencolleges.edu.au/informed/features/intrinsic-motivation/

Dev, P. (1997). Intrinsic motivation and academic achievement what does their relationship imply for the classroom teacher? Remedial and special education, 18(1), 12-19. https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/f364/a526307f73cbf8bbc44622d22449dcd5a406.pdf

Dubberke, S. (2017). 5 Ways to Develop a Global Mindset. https://trainingindustry.com/articles/strategy-alignment-and-planning/5-ways-to-develop-a-global-mindset/

Lister, J (2019). How Can We Foster a Global Mindset in Today's Students. https://hundred.org/en/articles/how-can-we-foster-a-global-mindset-in-today-s-students

Ng, B. (2018). The Neuroscience of Growth Mindset and Intrinsic Motivation. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/322724104_The_Neuroscience_of_Growth_Mindset_and_Intrinsic_Motivation

Rhinesmith, S. H. (1993). A manager's guide to globalization: Six keys to success in a changing world. Homewood, IL: Richard D. Irwin.

UNSW. (2021). Assessing Global Citizenship. https://www.teaching.unsw.edu.au/assessing-global-citizenship

Usable Knowledge. (2016). Intrinsically Motivated. https://www.gse.harvard.edu/news/uk/16/09/intrinsically-motivated