Intrinsic Motivation and Learning

As a student in a Master of Education program studying to become a licensed special education teacher for elementary students the relationship between disability, anxiety and motivation to learn is of particular interest. As a student teacher I have seen a lot of students with disabilities who struggle with motivation. I have to wonder if it is because they might not believe that they can succeed. Maybe the seeming lack of effort and interest in school because it is easier to not try than risk failing. Is there something teachers and schools can do to help promote student motivation?

There are a few things you should know about motivation related to learning and academics. First, it is well established that intrinsic motivation is strongly and positively correlated with academic achievement (Gottfried, 1985; Corpus et al., 2009; Gottfried, 2001; Lepper et al., 2005). Higher levels of intrinsic motivation are related to higher levels of academic achievement. Conversely extrinsic motivation is negatively correlated with academic achievement (Lepper et al., 2005). External motivators are actually associated with lower scores of academic achievement, particularly for middle school students. The important point is that intrinsic motivation, not extrinsic, is what learning environments should be prioritizing.

Second, academic intrinsic motivation declines between the ages of 9 and 16 (Gottfried et al., 2001). A number of studies (Corpus et al., 2009; Lepper et al. 2005; Henderlong, 2009) have replicated the findings making the decline a phenomenon that is perplexing and troublesome given the strong correlation between intrinsic motivation and academic achievement. Corpus et al. (2009) found that even between fall and spring of a single school year intrinsic motivation, and academic achievement, declined and that the decline was steeper for middle school students compared to elementary school students.

Third, students that perceived their learning environment to promote mastery goals focused on understanding concepts, effort and improvement, had higher levels of intrinsic motivation compared with student who perceived their learning environment to be performance goal based and focused on “social comparison of ability, competitive grading, and rewarding work with no mistakes” (Corpus et al. 2009, p. 156).

Lastly, supportive learning environments that promote belief in academic ability, competence, sense of belonging, differentiation of instruction and autonomy are associated with higher levels of intrinsic motivation (Gillen-O’Neel et al., 2011; Byrd, 2015; Corpus et al., 2009; Martinek et al., 2016). And as one might expect academic anxiety is associated with lower levels of intrinsic motivation (Gottfried, 1985; Gillen-O’Neel et al., 2011).

As educators and parents of students navigating elementary and middle school it is important to keep in mind the individual strengths and needs each student brings, and that what might look like lack of motivation may be a lack of support, a lack of having basic psychological needs met in the learning environment. Supporting students emotionally and academically, focusing on effort and understanding, and acknowledging and celebrating differences to reinforce self efficacy, can help promote intrinsic motivation, which research says is very strongly related to academic success.

References

Byrd, C. M., (2015). The associations of intergroup interactions and school racial socialization with academic motivation. The Journal of Educational Research, 108, 10-21

Corpus, J. H., Mc-Clintic-Gilbert, M. S., Hayenga, A. O. (2009). Within-year changes in children’s intrinsic and extrinsic motivational operations: contextual predictors and academic outcomes. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 34, 154-166

Gillen-O’Neel, C., Ruble, D. N., Fuligni, A. J. (2011). Ethnic stigma, academic anxiety, and intrinsic motivation in middle childhood. Child Development, 82 (5), 1470-1485

Gottfried, A. E., Calfee, R. C. (editor). (1985). Academic intrinsic motivation in elementary and junior high school students. Journal of Educational Psychology, 77(6), 631-645

Gottfried, A. E., Fleming, J. S., Gottfried, A. W. (2001). Continuity of academic intrinsic motivation from early childhood through late adolescence: a longitudinal study. Journal of Educational Psychology, 93(1), 3-31

Henderlong, J., McClintic-gilbert, M.S., Hayenga, A. O. (2009). Within-year changes in children’s intrinsic and extrinsic motivational orientations: contextual predictors and academic outcomes. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 32, 15-166

Lepper, M. R., Corpus, J. H., Iyengar, S. S. (2005). Intrinsic and extrinsic motivational orientations in the classroom: age differences and academic outcomes. Journal of Educational Psychology, 2, 184-196

Martinek, D., Hofman, F., Kipman, U. (2016). Academic self-regulation as a function of age: the mediating role of autonomy support and differentiation in school. Social Psychology Education, 19, 729-748

Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2009). Promoting self-determined school engagement: motivation, learning and well-being. In K. R. Wentzel, & A. Wigfield (eds.), Handbook of Motivation at School (171-196). New York, NY: Routledge.