No mantra for motivation
Aditi Mathur and Ratnesh Mathur
“I like logic and reasoning, but I prefer a gun.”
(From the movie – The Godfather)
So much for external motivation! And that is precisely how it works. And as most teachers and parents will vouch, soon the gun runs out of effective bullets.
Please answer a few questions:
- Will you get on a train if you don’t know where it is going? Will you do something if you don’t know why you should do it?
- Will you do something totally uninteresting? Something which looks, sounds, feels boring, especially if it does not appear essential?
- How would you like to do something when you do not have any say in how you do it, when you do it, how much time you can take to do it and what to do?
- How would you like to do something when you are not going to feel good about it at the end or when nobody really cares to appreciate your efforts (no matter what results)?
Since ‘No’ is an answer to almost all of the above questions, is it surprising that external motivation rarely works? Yet we still believe that motivation is something that we can do to children! If the horse isn’t thirsty what is the point of pushing it to the water hole?
There is only one kind of motivation that will yield results and that is the one initiated by the SELF. Let’s accept we cannot motivate others and that internal motivation is the only motivation that can work. Hence, the best way to motivate children is by not trying to motivate them. What we can and need to do is provide an environment that will make them feel motivated from the inside.
Here is how
1. Set/Clarify goals: If I am clear why I am doing something and what I am going to achieve by doing something, them I am actually ready to do it. Even a two year-old child, when he sits with building blocks, has some goal in his mind – ‘this is how and what I want to do with blocks today.’
We need to clarify the purpose behind something, help children set goals for themselves. Not only does this help in planning the task, it is also a great life skill, and makes children focus on the task, and understand its relevance. One must also realize that different children have different reasons to do or learn something.
2. Make it fun: If you can make the task interesting. Remember how Tom Sawyer (Tom Sawyer is the title character in Mark Twain’s Novel, ‘Adventures of Tom Sawyer”) got the whole wall white washed? For some reason, we think the classroom is a serious place. In today’s corporate world, workplaces have been transformed – there is music in the background, each desk is colourful, people do dance jigs in between, candy surprises are served in the middle of an important meeting and so on. You can come up with your list – better let children drive this – every week in your class have a fun team – whose responsibility is to make the environment enjoyable.
Join in the fun if you can.
3. If I decide, I abide – delegate decision-making: Deciding to want something is in itself one of the greatest motivators. First prepare yourself to give them the control. Then let go of your control – and let them lead – don’t we want them to become leaders for tomorrow? Make one team which will decide on lesson plans. Make one team which will decide on homework plans. Make one team that will decide on tests and assessments and so on – here are some examples of delegation:
My Assembly: Every day five children are given five minutes during the assembly. They can do what ever they want in those five minutes including do nothing. They can show, perform, share, interact, do an activity, music, art, culture,.. there is no limit. No teacher will guide them – it is 100 per cent theirs! Children can choose whether they want to be part of this or not. They can make their own team of five (from across different ages).
My School, My voice: Create a system where any child can give any kind of feedback, suggestions, changes or ideas to the school. The child can give the idea in writing, or drawing or can voice/video record it (dedicate a computer with webcam for this). The only constraint is that it cannot be their parents’ idea – rather they should keep this idea secret from their parents. Each idea will be documented by the school – and responded to by the management team. If the child wants, he/she can remain anonymous while posting this. The suggestions/feedback could be about anything – time table, holidays, study methods, exams and tests, teaching, teachers, school facilities, bus service, school dress, logistics, sports, homework, etc.
The aim behind doing this is to tell the child that what he/she thinks is important and that the school believes in him/her. If you push my car from behind, well, I will go somewhere, but I will only drive when I am being pushed. If you show me the lovely places, tell me why I should go there, tell me the different routes, give me a car that is fun to drive, then I can go on my own.
No sir, we are not talking motivation, we are talking inspiration!
And let’s remember, while striving for perfection can de-motivate, striving for excellence motivates!
The authors run an open unschool called Aarohi and invite all readers to visit and see how open learning can be an amazing way to work with children. They also conduct training retreats and online training for teachers and parents. Visit www.aarohilife.org.
