Motivating Kids To Achieve

Some of us think that achievement motivation is inherited. That is, some kids have it and some kids do not, or have less of it. It often seems like that because some children do inherit the mental properties that appear to help them be more organized and effective. Let’s apply this type of motivation to school work and school grades. When we do we discover that many school teachers believe that a portion of students are in their classes very unmotivated. I recently conducted a seminar for teachers and asked them what they thought. Many junior high and high school teachers said they believed up to 70% of their students were either unmotivated or only slightly motivated. I was surprised and you might be surprised too unless your child is one of these. Then you will know what the teachers are facing.

There are reasons for the fact that many of our children may not be motivated to achieve. One of these is the possibility that achievement motivation is not valued in our culture like it used to be. It can be included in stories, music, and other “influence,” methods so that children read, hear about it, and see it in action. But, our culture has taken a side trip on achievement and the whole idea seems less prominent in our literature and folklore.

We should also consider is what is happening in our schools. Consider the challenge facing teachers. Many do not get a lot of parental support and have difficulty managing students who represent real or potential problems with conduct and then disrupt the education of other students. They are measured by the student’s achievement test scores and so they arrange their teaching methods to focus on that outcome. This makes classrooms places where verbal intelligence and recall memory provide an advantage. When a child has less verbal skill and memory for bits and pieces of information they are left out of the main emphasis given by these teachers.

In some states, districts, and schools teachers feel unappreciated and teach like it. This means that instead of being enthusiastic and warm which requires emotional energy, many teachers husband their energy by developing work sheets and other devices to simplify their work and use them over again to reduce their work load. Thus, many of our children do not receive the energy which might encourage them on a day to day basis.

What do we do? Many of us motivate children by providing rewards for high grades or impose punishments if children do not achieve high grades. Others do nothing hoping their children will mature and see the importance of getting good grades. I propose something different.

It is not simply grades we are after. I believe parents could and should see schools as an opportunity for their children to learn academic material but also to learn the motivation to achieve. This is a life skill which they will need on many other occasions. The motivation to achieve will help them further their education, help them succeed in the work place, set goals and organize their lives, live up to their potential, and find life’s best opportunities for themselves. Now, how do we teach it?

There are several methods which I intend to write about in the next series of articles. Today, I propose that we consider this idea. Children can learn motivation by estimating and anticipating what they will do. For instance, we can ask children what they would do with a family problem, how they intend to solve one of their own problems. We can ask them to estimate the time it will take to complete a task such as homework, making their beds, and etc. We can ask them to estimate how much they can accomplish in a given amount of time, such as one hour. We can ask them to decide how they want to act in a social setting (a party) and then ask them if they were able to do what they hoped they would. Lastly we can ask them to set goals, develop a plan, and see if they can achieve them. Achievement motivation lies within the minds and hearts of those who have it. It can be taught.