How to reengage and motivate students who are checking out of school鈥攂oth mentally and physically鈥攊s a top priority for educators, especially as students are misbehaving and skipping class more now than they were before the pandemic.
As much as one-quarter of all students were chronically absent in the 2021-22 school year, according to separate analyses by the and the in partnership with a researcher from Stanford University. Seventy percent of teachers said in an EdWeek Research Center poll from earlier this year that their students continue to misbehave more now than they did in 2019.
But wanting to motivate students to try their best in school is not the same as knowing how to, and common myths and misconceptions about motivation might be foiling educators鈥� efforts.
One big misconception is that today鈥檚 students are unmotivated.
While 86 percent of 13- to 19-year-olds surveyed by the EdWeek Research Center in February said they feel motivated to do their best in school, 67 percent of educators鈥攖eachers, principals, and district leaders鈥攕ee their students as motivated.
And when it comes to the lingering effects of the pandemic on students鈥� motivation, the gap between educators and students is even wider: Only 38 percent of teens said that as of this year, the pandemic has made them less motivated to do their best in school while 80 percent of educators say the pandemic continues to affect their students鈥� motivation.
To tackle other common myths and misconceptions about students鈥� motivation in school, EdWeek put this question to three experts on motivation and engagement: If you could bust one myth about motivation, what would it be? They shared their answers during an EdWeek K-12 Essentials Forum focused on student motivation and engagement, which took place on Sept. 21.
Myth #1: Students who are not motivated never will be
Students鈥� interests, social identity, and values all affect their motivations, but teachers can also influence kids鈥� motivation and engagement, said Jennifer Fredericks, a professor of psychology at Union College in Schenectady, N.Y.
鈥淪ome kids are going to be harder to motivate than others,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut with the right supports, the right tasks, setting up the right social environment, I think we can increase their motivation.鈥�
One aspect of motivation that is often underemphasized, said Fredericks, is how important relationships and a sense of belonging are to motivating and engaging students.
Teacher-student relationships are an important aspect of motivation for all ages, she said, and the teacher-student relationship is especially influential in the elementary years.
鈥淚鈥檝e done work with teachers working with disengaged kids, and those kids are harder to develop relationships with, but we know that a teacher relationship with a kid who is either not motivated or is disengaged has even more of a positive benefit than [with] a kid who might be able to get motivated through different ways.鈥�
Myth #2: Motivation is simply about wanting to do something
People often see motivation as simply wanting to do something or not, said Emily Q. Rosenzweig, an assistant professor of educational psychology at the University of Georgia. But motivation is complex and dynamic, she said, and there are many pieces that influence it.
鈥淵ou can feel confident, you can want to do well, something can be really relevant to the person you want to be, or it could just be fun and exciting, or you can be getting something out of it鈥攁ll these different factors can motivate people,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 just very important to think about it as everybody is motivated for something in the learning context, it鈥檚 just not always something we as educators expect or necessarily even prefer.鈥�
There are several strategies for how teachers can help support student motivation in the classroom, such as giving students opportunities to relate lessons to their lives, goals, and identities, said Rosenzweig, as well as making students feel successful.
鈥淵ou really can鈥檛 underestimate the power of making sure students feel confident to succeed and just being sure to draw students鈥� attention to their success,鈥� she said.
Giving students voice, autonomy, and decisionmaking power in their education is also an important tool for increasing their motivation and engagement, said Fredericks.
Myth #3: Motivation is easy to recognize
Imagine a motivated and engaged student, and the picture many of us are likely to conjure up is one of a child sitting straight-backed at their desk with their hand raised with a locked elbow.
But there is no single 鈥渓ook鈥� to motivation and engagement, said Carlton Fong, an associate professor at Texas State University鈥檚 college of education.
鈥淔or quite some time, we have operated with motivational theories that we thought were universal but really they were normed and thought of with mostly white middle-class students,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e really need to think about how different students learn and how motivation is culturally bound and situation-specific, and it鈥檚 inherently social-cultural.鈥�
Students鈥� upbringing, families, communities, and cultures all feed into what may motivate a student and what it looks like for that student to be motivated, he said.
鈥淐oming in with Western goggles is not really going to be a good way to think about, 鈥極K, what鈥檚 motivating or demotivating my student,鈥� but actually thinking about it in this cultural context,鈥� Fong said.
Teachers need to know their students as individuals鈥攖hat鈥檚 nothing new鈥攂ut it鈥檚 important to take that a step further and see students鈥� motivations as unique as well, said Fong.
