Motivation of children to study advice to parents. Motivation for learning: how to form a student's desire to learn? Looking for intrinsic motivation
Photo: Dmitriy Shironosov/Rusmediabank.ru
One of the most important factors successful learning is the right motivation of the learner. Most of the time the student spends in mastering the material. This requires concentration, perseverance, a desire to learn.What traditionally motivates a child to study?
Good marks;
Encouragement of parents and teachers;
Success;
Gifts and bonuses;
The prospect of getting ahead or catching up with peers;
Fear;
Forecasts for future success or failure in a life career;
The joy of knowing;
Possibility of self-realization.
It has its own nuances. The child cannot compare his achievements with the successes of other children. He seems to be closed in his own online space. The only criterion for its success is the result of assessment by the teacher. Sometimes it's just the number of points scored on a test. But a more detailed description of his answer is also important for the child. This is where distance learning has significant advantages over a regular school, where the teacher and student are limited by the time of the lesson, and the teacher simply does not have time to give a qualitative assessment of the student's efforts. This is possible in an online school. Neither the teacher nor the student is limited in time.
An important role is played here by the dialogue between the teacher and the student. Both written and oral online communication. Students need to receive quality feedback. This further encourages him.
Working in groups allows the teacher to create a situation of success for the child next to their peers. A virtual student can show himself to classmates, argue with them, see and hear their opinion about their achievements in live communication. Comparison and competition is one of the traditional forms of motivation.
A frequently used stimulus in learning by parents and educators is fear. This method is based on the fact that the child is afraid that if he does not do some work, he will receive undesirable consequences. Suppose the parents deprive the child of some benefits. They will not allow him to play computer games, they will limit his independence. This is a system of stick and carrot.
Fear motivates a child to some extent. But this is low quality motivation. In this case, the child performs tasks in bad faith, not in order to gain knowledge, but in order not to be punished.
Fear, material incentives, assessments, forecasts for the future, competition, struggle for superiority are factors of external motivation, they are unstable and often focused on negative sides personality (envy, vanity, greed, etc.).
The most persistent effect is intrinsic motivation, a conscious and joyful desire for knowledge, as a source of endless development, self-realization, search and achievement of concomitant success. Such motivation can be called cognitive motivation.
Conscious motivation
In learning, the main role is played by cognitive. That is the motivation of conscious action. When a child performs work not out of fear and not in order to stand out from a number of peers or receive a reward. But in order to gain knowledge. Become smarter, expand your horizons, rise in your personal development.This is the most difficult motivation for a child who is not yet aware of himself as an independent person, does not understand his place in society, does not understand that some knowledge of biology or physics can help him become successful and happy. Therefore, the task of the teacher is to find these incentives. Increase his motivation.
How to do it? This is a matter of technology. Pedagogical excellence. The most important thing in any educational process is maintaining interest in the subject being taught. Very often, the teacher wants to go as deep as possible into his subject and saturates the lessons with unnecessary and hard-to-digest information. Complex, poorly digestible information, controversial and problematic, used without taking into account the age and psychological characteristics of the child does not contribute to his internal motivation. The task of the teacher is to make the material as accessible as possible. And at the same time interesting, visual and stimulating to expand knowledge. Illustrated lessons are always more advantageous, and those that encourage the child to co-create, to search. They turn him not just into an absorber of ready-made information, but into an information getter. In a person who himself discovers laws, develops theories, gets to the bottom of the essence.
On the other hand, studying cannot be constant entertainment. Sometimes, or rather, often it requires effort (mental, physical, psychological). And sooner or later the child will have to come to terms with it. And the task of the parent is to convey this to his child so that he does not look for easy ways, without getting any result from watching beautiful cartoons or funny pictures.
How to motivate a child to independent work and study?
This rather difficult question often becomes the main selection criterion. educational institution for parents. They would like the child to study with pleasure and easily. The student is always more interested in learning that he likes and that demonstrates his success. He may ask: "What do you need to study for?"
“If you study well, I’ll buy you… I’ll let you… I’ll give you… you can…”- so parents sometimes lure their child into a network of learning.
Unfortunately, children do not perceive the proverb “Without labor you cannot catch a fish from a pond” for the simple reason that they do not need to work to catch a fish. Why stress? They have everything. And delicious food, and entertainment, and favorite toys, and prestigious gadgets. Parents do not give them the opportunity to dream, they quickly and without problems fulfill any children's desire.
This is wrong, because it devalues what you want. What is given easily and always available will never be the subject of a struggle for its possession. Will not make a person experience the joy of achieving a result. And vice versa, the more inaccessible something is, the more desire a person has to achieve, achieve, receive.
Of course, it is possible to motivate a child both with the help of material incentives and with the help of the promise of new opportunities that the child will receive in exchange for his own. These may be quite strong incentives, but they are temporary. When a child achieves the purchase of a tablet, a bicycle, a scooter, etc., he will stop learning.
That is, in order for him to continue his studies, the parent will have to find a new bait. A material incentive motivates to achieve a situational result. And we need to ensure that the motivation is stable, internal and does not depend on the presence of a bicycle and other interesting gadgets.
What internal motivators can be used?
Gaining knowledge is necessary for the realization of a dream.
Gaining knowledge makes you independent.
Gaining knowledge expands the space of your existence.
Gaining knowledge will help you find your place in life, your calling.
Gaining knowledge will teach you how to be happy.
Gaining knowledge brings a person self-confidence, joy, happiness.
Factors that can contribute to motivation:
Believe in yourself. (I can do it! I will achieve high level! I will force myself to do it! I'll go to the end!)
Awareness of one's abilities as insufficiently developed. Ignorance is a constant stimulus to development. (I still can’t solve this problem, additional knowledge is needed! I still don’t know how to write an essay at the proper level, but I want to learn!)
Reasonable praise.
The role of parents:
To form cognitive motivation, parents should:
be interested in the child, his studies;
help in the implementation, advise, not do the work for him, encourage independence and initiative;
to bring to the child that his failures are not the result of his inferiority, lack of quick wit and intelligence, but a lack of effort (did not finish teaching, did not finish);
praise children for their success, stimulate growth.
Student role:
Each child has his own natural inclinations, which he can develop or ruin if he does not develop them. Developing what he has, a person acquires new inclinations that help him achieve success. If a person does not go forward in his development, he does not stand still, but begins to degrade. This is especially noticeable in today's fast-paced world, where thousands of discoveries are made every day. You can't stand still! But in order for the child to understand this, you need:
Enthusiasm. The interest of the child in the result.
intrinsic motivation. Why do I need it? What for?
Organization of the process in such a way that it captivates. How, when, how much time to spend on it?
The role of the student in teaching is enormous. It can be said that she dominates the role of an adult who can control, force, stimulate, but this will never have an effect if the child himself does not develop his own internal cognitive motivation to study. The task of an adult is to help him do this.
The problem of lack of interest in learning is very relevant and often discussed, but, as in any aspect of education, it cannot be solved unambiguously. There are a variety of opinions about how to stimulate a child to study, they all have a right to exist. What are the options?
1. Praise
The family creates conditions under which the child himself wants to learn. If a child appreciates the attitude of his parents, feels the love and respect of his relatives, he understands perfectly well how important his serious attitude to learning is for them. And he knows that if something doesn’t work out for him, adult support will always be there. In such a family, praise for good, high-quality studies, and not for grades, means a lot and serves as a good incentive to study.
2. Adequate self-esteem
It is an important point in increasing interest in learning. It is necessary to teach the child to believe in himself and his strength,. “You will succeed in everything” - this attitude should be actively cultivated by parents, then the student’s attitude to the educational process will change.
3. Gifts
An incentive for good studies and a worthy completion of the term can also be gifts that the child has long dreamed of, or joint interesting trips organized by parents during the holidays.
4. Competitive spirit
A child’s interest in learning appears when his pride is hurt: “Am I worse than others? I can study as well as my best friend, girlfriend, brothers, sisters!” Stimulates interest in learning and the desire to win the attention of a classmate or classmate that appears with age. Parents need to do their best to support such a positive competitive impulse in the child.
5. Committed to achieving long-term goals
For an older age, the desire to acquire in the future, to continue learning further in accordance with their interests, can serve as an incentive.
6. Cash reward
IN Lately more and more often you can hear from parents that they encourage their children to do well in school with money. Many even weekly. Probably, this method can also be considered stimulating. But what happens? The incentive for the child, it seems, appears, but not to acquire full knowledge, but to look for options for getting good grades. Any methods available to him are used: cheating, deceit, arguing with the teacher about an underestimated, in the opinion of the child, grade.
Parents who choose this option of encouragement should understand that the child in this situation is most often driven by the most common calculation. Such stimulation is unlikely to bring tangible benefits, especially in moral terms. As a rule, they give money to parents anyway, there is no need to associate it with studies. After all, you can have not very high marks in one subject, and, at the same time, with enthusiasm to master other favorite subjects of the school curriculum.
There are enough ways to stimulate a child for interest, we emphasize, for an interest in obtaining and assimilating new knowledge. So there is no need to translate studying proccess on the rails of business, evaluating good marks in monetary terms.
Convince your child that the ability to learn is an invaluable asset that anyone needs. Such a skill will certainly render an invaluable service more than once in life.
How do children in your family feel about learning?
Read the advice of a psychologist in our material.
Psychologist Anastasia Ponomarenko will tell you simple rules that will help you properly motivate a child who does not want to study. She will tell you what to do and what are the main mistakes parents make when trying with all their might to force their child to learn lessons.
Anastasia Ponomarenko
psychologist Charitable Foundation"Way back home"
Parents often have to use force, to persuade a child who does not want to study. And I would like my beloved child to do his homework, without a reminder, attend school with pleasure, so that in the diary there are only excellent marks! However, parents often do nothing to motivate the child to study, to interest him in one or another subject. It is much easier to force students to learn through blackmail and threats, but in late adolescence, this method also ceases to work.
But to create motivation in a child to learn new things, to study, there are simple rules . Only parents should follow these rules, first of all. Of course, you will have to mentally and physically strain, but the game is worth the candle.
Rules for successfully motivating a child to study
So, how to motivate a child who does not want to learn.
No child's question should be left unanswered.
Never dismiss his "why" no matter how busy you are. By answering all his questions in detail and with interest, you form an attitude in your child that the process of learning new things is interesting, important, and you, as parents, encourage this.
Support all cognitive hobbies of the child.
If you like chemistry - buy an encyclopedia on chemistry, if you like music - write it down in. Go together (this is important) to public lectures, exhibitions on topics of interest to the child, taking into account age. And then be sure to discuss: what are the impressions, what did you like and what did not.
Buy autobiographies of great people in areas that interest your child.
After reading the book discuss it . What interested? What helped the main character in professional activity? Would you be able to? How could you help him with this?
Do not forget that the child is greatly influenced by his environment.
Create it! Enroll your child in an interesting section or circle. Learn about various public organizations, clubs. Unobtrusively offer to go and have a look. If the majority of friends are active, study well, your offspring will definitely try to be no worse - the law of social psychology.
Ask about the atmosphere at your child's school.
Very often, teachers have such a poor command of the subject, or are so rude to students that they kill any desire to learn. Walk on parent meetings- it helps a lot in clarifying the atmosphere. And, if - immediately transfer him to another school. And it is better to seek justice later, when the child's psyche is safe.
Find out also about the guys in the class.
Who is the leader? How many excellent students? How are they treated - mocked by "nerds" or respected? The environment of the child should stimulate him to new successes. And if this is a weak class, he will not have the motivation to study - he is already the smartest.
Don't overreact.
And don't compare your child's progress to siblings or classmates. Remember: in any situation, you are his ally. Be sure to praise for good grades - create positive reinforcement. Ask about the bad ones: what prevented you from doing better. Need help - help, but within reason. Agree, “help” and “do it for me” are two different things. Find the right balance of approval and control.
Make sure your child has adequate exercise
The fact that the child does not want to study may be due to a very high workload. In this case, it must be reduced in order to avoid a nervous breakdown. And in any case, there must be a balance between rest and work.
Don't judge a child's abilities by their grades.
Remember: smart doesn't always have good grades. And vice versa.
And most importantly: it is impossible to motivate a child to study with threats and punishments. You can only force me to memorize the material, and then for a short time. Children are very smart, they will always find a way to deceive you.
The process of motivating a child to study is the daily work of adults, especially parents. This is a constant psychological inclusion in the life of the child, in his interests, his aspirations. The hand of parents should constantly lie on the pulse - what to tell, what to protect from, where to cheer.
Now there comes a time when you have to constantly learn, acquire new skills in order to remain a professional. Previously, a person graduated from one institute, chose one profession, worked in one place until retirement. Now times have changed, and many have to relearn several times throughout their lives - the requirements for professional activity are changing so quickly.
Therefore, it is so important that the child believes in his school years: learning new things is interesting, important, it brings pleasure. With such an attitude, he is not afraid of any conflicts in the labor market.
“You are not interested in anything”, “do at least something already” - such words can often be heard from parents. What can we do to keep our children interested?
It is difficult to find a child who would be happy to clean his room, wash dishes, get up early in the morning to go to kindergarten or school. When children are forced to do something difficult or uninteresting, at best they refuse. Often these situations lead to conflicts and swearing. We've put together expert tips to help you learn how to "manage" your kids. You will be able to motivate your child to learn, develop and complete various tasks instead of forcing him to do so.
There is one real story how a man potty trained his little daughter by giving her candy. Once, when there were no sweets at hand, he tried to give the baby an “imaginary” chocolate bar. The girl smiled, jumped up from the pot, but it turned out to be empty. Dad asked his daughter a question about what it was. She replied that she pretended to pee in the pot.
This story is a clear demonstration of how smart and resourceful children can be. Despite their age, kids quickly get used to the environment and find ways to earn encouragement without fulfilling the requests of adults. Moreover, research shows that the reward system has only a short-term effect.
Small rewards for completed tasks help to overcome a temporary crisis - for example, when a child begins to learn letters or numbers. The reward motivates the little person to do something. Only over time, he begins to depend more and more on the reward: if the baby loses it, he stops trying. The same thing happens with adults: as long as a person is paid, he works conscientiously. If a person loses his salary, he will simply stop working, because he will not have motivation.
This rule also applies to activities that bring pleasure. An interesting experiment was conducted by scientists at Stanford University. They gathered a group of children and invited them to draw with markers. Pastime in itself is interesting, only this time they also paid for it. The children really enjoyed drawing, but when they stopped being paid, they refused to continue. It can be concluded that reward kills passion and interest in even pleasant activities.
How to form positive habits in a child, if not with the help of small bribes? Experts say that the task of parents is to inspire children. Focus your child's attention on how nice it becomes when you acquire a new skill, and mom and dad are proud of you. So he will begin to feel satisfaction from his successes. Has your child learned to ride a bike? Praise him, tell him that he should be proud of himself, because it was difficult to master this skill. The feeling of own mastery motivates to develop further.
Talk to your child like an adult
An important element in creating motivation in a child is tête-à-tête conversations. All children are curious, so you just need to invite them to listen to how it works and why this and that is needed - such conversations kindle interest in various things and activities. It also stimulates intellectual activity.
Imagine such a situation. For cleaning the room, the mother promises her son ice cream. Dad does not encourage the child in any way, but the kid fulfills his request to fold the toys with great zeal. How is this possible? It’s just that the father every time admires how pleasant it is to be in the room after cleaning, how smart his son is. So the child will feel like an adult and independent.
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If children refuse to do something, adults need to put themselves in their place, experts advise. This will help you find suitable arguments and prove to the child the importance of the work that he has to do. Your son doesn't want to clean his room and says he's tired after training? Offer him a tasty meal first, and then get down to business. Do not use the words "must", "should", "should". If the child finds it difficult without your help, offer it.
When a child does something, ask him about his feelings and sensations. He will be pleased with your attention, so a pleasant association will appear. It is also useful to offer your child your help, expressing your sympathy in this way. He will understand that his parents are on his side, and there is no point in fighting with them.
Consider your child's abilities
Remember one simple thing: if the child does not know how or cannot do something, then any bribes and punishments will be useless. Remember how proud the little one was when he first wrote his name or put on his shoes himself. He rejoiced in repeating these actions, because the feeling of mastery inspires. Draw this analogy with skills that the child does not yet have.
Avoid criticism and coercion
Almost all babies enjoy doing different tasks of their parents, but you need to adapt your requirements to the characteristics of the child. If he likes to lay out the washed linen on the shelves, and adults criticize him for slowness and carelessness, this kills all the excitement. So let your child do what he is interested in. Do not criticize him if he does not succeed.
For the child to do what he does not like, show your imagination. If the girl loves dolls, have the doll ask her to clean up the scattered toys. Give children the right to choose between brushing their teeth before bathing or after bathing, helping mom with sweeping or washing dishes. The feeling of freedom and control over the situation enhances motivation, while coercion causes only negative reactions. Children love to feel independent. So let them think that it was not their parents who forced them to do something, but they personally made such a decision.
Show your gratitude
Did the son himself wake up in the morning on an alarm clock and get ready for school? Daughter slept all night in her bed and did not run to her parents? Be sure to tell the children that all this is very important to you and you appreciate it.
Every child wants to please their parents, and a response in the form of gratitude and praise is the best motivation. Tell your child how much you appreciate his success, but focus not on the result, but on the effort and progress made.
Show a good example
Many will be able to recall this situation: the child asks or asks for something when you are talking on the phone, and you ask him to wait and turn away. In such cases, children continue to pester their parents and end up throwing a tantrum in order to get attention. The problem is not even in the tantrum itself, but in the fact that the child will remember this model of behavior. As he grows up, he will do the same. Therefore, either end the conversation on the phone, or tell the child how long he will need to wait.
We also read:
How to motivate a child to study and work / psychologist Roman Edvakin
At what age should a child be taught to help around the house?
We rarely think about intrinsic motivation. These are our sincere desires, and to explain our condition, one word is enough - “I want”. Children enjoy listening to the music of their favorite band, making something with their own hands or reading adventure novels because they enjoy doing it.
External motivation is different - from pocket money to grades at school. It comes down to the phrase: "Do like this - and you will get this."
Psychologist Alfie Kohn in the book “ Punishment with a reward" warns not only parents, but also teachers against various rewards. Some parents promise to take their child to the zoo for a good study, others buy gadgets or even pay money. The problem is that this does not work: the student studies just as badly, and in addition, he is also offended that he did not receive what he was promised!
Teachers are trying to motivate in ways that seem more noble: they introduce various titles (the best student of the month), give concessions to good students. Most often it happens like this: the same child becomes the best student of the month, and a narrow circle of schoolchildren, whose composition never changes, receives indulgences. The rest just feel like failures.
Why extrinsic motivation doesn't work
When we say, "Do this and you'll get this," the child is initially enthusiastic about the promise. At the same time, the instinct of self-preservation also kicks in.
The child begins to look not for a creative way to solve the problem, but for the most reliable and shortest.
He asks himself: “Why take the risk and take the test yourself? It’s better to write off from an excellent student, it’s more reliable. It turns out that there is a substitution of goals: not study for the sake of knowledge, but study for the sake of receiving an award.
External motivation can work great, but only together with internal. By itself, she does not move forward, but makes her “serve the number”, get what you want as soon as possible, cursing what you are doing for the sake of it.
What influences interest in learning
Kohn identifies three factors that affect motivation:
- Young children are ready to learn and do not require anything for it. They have highly developed intrinsic motivation: they study simply because they are interested in it.
- Those children who have retained intrinsic motivation learn effectively. And the rest are considered incapable, but this is not so. Some students get solid deuces, but at the same time they show themselves in other areas. For example, they know by heart dozens of songs of their favorite artist (and in algebra they cannot remember the multiplication table). Or they read fantasy avidly (whereas classical literature is not touched). They are just interested. This is the essence of intrinsic motivation.
- Rewards destroy intrinsic motivation. Psychologists Carol Ames and Carol Dweck found that if parents or teachers emphasize some kind of reward, then children's interest invariably decreases.
Where to begin
Returning motivation to study is a long process, and success mainly depends on parents. Adults first of all need to think about the three "C": content, cooperation and freedom of choice.
- Content. When a child does not comply with our requirement, we look for ways to influence his behavior. Start with something else: think about how reasonable your requirement is. Probably, nothing terrible will happen if in physics the child receives not only fours and fives. And the children ignore the request “not to make noise” not because they are naughty, but because of the psychological characteristics of their age.
- Cooperation. Unfortunately, this word is not familiar to many parents in the context of communication with a child. But the older your children are, the more often you should involve them in cooperation. Discuss, explain, plan together. Try talking to your child like an adult. It is not necessary to take with hostility the desire of a 15-year-old boy to become an astronaut. Calmly explain why you think this is unrealistic. Perhaps in your words, the son will find internal motivation for growth.
- Freedom of choice. The child should feel part of the process, then he will be more responsible in solving problems. When he misbehaves, ask him why. You may argue that you already know what it is, but try it anyway. Perhaps the answer will surprise you!
Looking for intrinsic motivation
It is not easy to correct the internal state of the child, but work in this direction can still bear fruit.
- Learn to accept your child. For example, you may not like the new image of your daughter, but you should accept it. In other words, it is not about indulgence, but about understanding.
- Talk heart to heart. If you and your child are close enough, just start by talking. Ask him what interests him and what problems arise in his studies. Find a way out together.
- Help your child decide what to do in life. Often there is no intrinsic motivation, because the child does not understand why he needs these formulas, endless rules and theorems. It is important to decide what the child wants to do after school. Long conversations with parents, career guidance consultations, and will help to understand this.
- Build the learning process around your child's hobbies. In studies, one should try to combine the sincere interests of the child (intrinsic motivation) with school subjects. This process is individual and requires great attention by the parents. For example, you can learn English with the help of your favorite movies (there are even entire programs dedicated to cult films). And a teenager who loves computer games will surely be fascinated by programming and the sciences associated with it.
To draw this inner motivation out of a child is the task of tasks. But for sensitive, thinking, sincerely interested parents, this will not be a problem.
Based on the materials of the book "Punishment by reward".