The Ethics and Craft of Student Motivation

I ain’t doing this.

Papers crash to the floor.

The student leaves in a huff.

In the classroom, to quit can be an act of human assertion.

When assessing, students have to feel as if they have a fighting chance. Otherwise, it is psychologically safer to shut down and not invite in the hurt. 

So, as instructors, how do we respond? Do we attend to their anxiety by lowering the risk? 

I argue the opposite: we don’t lower the bar; instead we give them the tools to reach it and the drive to want to. 

Motivation is an essential part of education, just as important as curricula and assessment.

It does not happen by magic, though, but instead is attended to through deliberate action and repeated choices. 

Deep motivation is not a product of engineered incentives or  lowered expectations: it is deeply cultivated through structured signals, moral trust, and the give-and-take of results in the classroom. Motivation, then, is not just emotional, it is developmental, structural and moral.

As such, it’s in our best interest to attend to and cultivate motivation in our spaces.

The Simplest Motivation: Explaining Why

In the classroom, the leader walks a fine line between domineering authority and caring cultivation. 

Sometimes we ask students to do things just because. 

Other times, do right by our students and explain why they are being asked to do something.

Though seemingly minor, the act of giving an explanation, a why, gives depth and purpose to the task.

For many children in particular, their innate curiosity and nascent rebellion demand an answer to: why should I do this.

At a base level, an explanation of why is a form of respect. I value your time and thus need to show how it fits in with the larger plan.

Motivation, at its core, is giving a cognitive push in the right direction. 

More like an ignition switch than a heavy lift, motivation taps into something already in the learner and unlocks it. 

The Psychology of Purpose

But then, how do we describe motivation? That invisible pull towards doing or achieving.

Deci and Ryan articulated the most resonant theory of motivation I’ve come across.

The idea of a three-legged stool–connection, autonomy, competence–on which our sense of self rests rings immediately true.

These legs, when present, allow us to feel secure in the moment; when one is missing we feel under threat and likely to shut down. 

But, there are many types of motivation, levers to pull in the classroom, that go beyond this model.

Yes there are extrinsic and intrinsic rewards, but there’s also the excitement of simply adding a timer to an activity. 

The easiest to deploy motivational structure is praise. But even praise has its own nature and intricacies.

Starting Out: Signals for Growth

Raw feeling alone does little to motivate a reluctant learner without structure. Deep intrinsic motivation often develops after it is jump started by extrinsic rewards.

Part of attending to the learning process is giving the learner signals early and often that they are on the right track.

Praise, verbal or otherwise, should be lavished after students take the first step towards greater understanding.

Some may see Pavlovian conditioning. I do not.

We must recognize learning is an inherently risky thing: when trying something new, you are letting down your mental guards in order to engage with something you are unproven in.

When you teach a new concept you’re asking students to build a new schema, a new mental house. Starting out, the component pieces may not look like much, and this lack of definition stirs unease. 

But, as the house begins to take shape, the thing being built starts to inhabit itself. The product is within reach. Praise is less necessary.

In the classroom, the early responsiveness can come in many forms: grades, rewards, even verbal affirmations. But, the more structured the praise, in response to things that lead to excellence, is easier to follow.

Sometimes, though, structure becomes boring. Predictability brings comfort, too much comfort leads to complacency. Random rewards can inject a bolt of energy, shaking up what is predictable and re-orienting the learner towards the rewards of the endeavor. 

One research team, Lichtenberg and colleagues, studied how random rewards in video games significantly boosted motivation and enjoyment. 

A sudden surprise –a random shout-out, a tangible reward, an unexpected hands-on activity– can spark new life. 

This shows us that short-term motivation can fluctuate, going up and down in response to our outcomes and moods. 

But, I’ve also noticed a different, more long-term motivation that has the potential to sustain and drive. 

Implicit Motivation

I love it when trust yields inquiry. I once had a student named T–. He was quiet and liked to sit with his headphones in, much to my chagrin. 

It started small. Pointing out something good on his paper, as incomplete as it was. Later it was bigger, calling on him deliberately when I knew he knew the answer. 

And it culminated with him engaging, questioning me, questioning the models we were learning, paper fully complete.

Our interactions strengthened T—‘s learning. But what undergirds this trust? What obligations do we have to the learner?

The Ethics of Motivation

Motivation is a type of influence. Like any influence it can support our collective goals of liberation and thought or it can be used to further agendas over utility.

Freire, paraphrased, said that if you are not working towards the goals of the community, you are indoctrinating them.

In his view, to respect the learner is to recognize the collective power of education to empower and resist. 

But in his writing is also a warning. Oftentimes, dominating forces push facts in a biased, self-serving way. We must make sure that coercion and manipulation is not a part of our pedagogy. 

Giving a student a piece of candy for doing something is fine early on when you are building trust. But later, when trust is built, there are stronger and more human ways to motivate.  

If we live in the extrinsic we limit our students’ potential. The relationship is power based, not forged through mutual growth. We are not inviting them into a deeper kind of admiration and execution of craft.

I once had a principal who was very stingy with praise. She offered structure to our work and conveyed to us how the fruits of our labor would further the goals of the community. I’d follow her anywhere. 

But in response to outputs –scheduling, speeches, professional development– her critique was plenty, her affirmation rare. 

Though not always pleasant, I never worked harder for anyone. 

Sometimes there’s a mismatch between how good a student thinks they did and their actual performance level.

Here, we have an opportunity to put them on a straighter path.

When praise is expected, but withheld, the student has a reckoning.

If done right, if it is done with humanity, it tells the student that I, in fact, expect more from you. 

Liberatory Education: The Fight

I got the greatest motivation advice from my college rugby coach.

It came a few years after I had graduated, I had started coaching a girls rugby team. In our second year, we made it to the finals.

I had called him to ask for advice.

What he said: Give them something to fight for.

There is a secret motivation deep within us, one we tap into only from time to time. This motivation is drawn from those around you: what would you do for your mother? Your child? Your people?

There’s a motivation to fight for something beyond ourselves.

People fight and die, driven by this motivation.

In the classroom, this type of pedagogy is hard to achieve. 

You can, though, discuss past instances where education transformed not just an individual’s trajectory but that of their community or their family. 

Often, it’s the small justifications for why we are doing what we do that sticks the best. 

Motivation is often invisible, the result of realized aspirations tapped into by a strong practitioner. 

In the classroom, these invisible moves show up in a variety of ways: rewards systems, praise boards, deliberate verbal affirmations and regular calls home. Sometimes it’s as simple as getting their papers back quickly. 

Tapping into the deep desires of those in front of us and saying the right words, those words that land and resonate in the bones, makes the work a moral imperative instead of a mundane task.

So I repeat those eternal words: give them something to fight for. 

Practical Recommendations 

Attend to the motivational impulses of those in front of you. 

When designing PDs, go beyond the knowledge and skills and attend to the motivation that drives great work. When designing lessons, include specific language as to why what you are about to say will make those in front of you better. 

When delivering your material, find points to pause and ask people to do something. Turn and talk, stop-and-jot, or even just stop and reflect. These moments give you insight into thinking and an opportunity to praise. 

Lastly, know your craft. Know what you are teaching so well that you can identify seeds of greatness in the most nascent of practitioners. Calling out and elevating these moments brings people in. 

You then are not executing craft, but embodying it.  

In every moment we teach, we have the opportunity to stoke the fires of motivation. 

That is the power, and responsibility, of this craft. 

Works Cited

1. Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (1985). Intrinsic motivation and self-determination in human behavior. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-2271-7
2. Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2000). The “what” and “why” of goal pursuits: Human needs and the self-determination of behavior. Psychological Inquiry, 11(4), 227–268. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15327965PLI1104_01
3. Freire, P. (2000). Pedagogy of the oppressed (30th anniversary ed.; M. B. Ramos, Trans.). Continuum. (Original work published 1970)
4. Lichtenberg, J., Tormala, Z. L., & Han, S. (2017). Random rewards increase motivation and enjoyment in video games. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 71, 133–146. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2017.02.008