PLE Post #2: Motivation Ch. 11

The theory of motivation that most interested me was the Goal Theory. Goal theory has two parts: Performance goals and Learning goals. Performance goals are when other people will observe us and we see an external judgment of competence or we will try to avoid negative judgment. The key point of a performance goal is that we feel like we NEED to do something so we won't get judged.

Learning goals, on the other hand, are internal and we WANT to learn something. This can be more rewarding because we are doing something for ourselves and not for the sake of others.

To motivate students in a classroom, they need to have both learning and performance goals. A child will not want to learn something if they don't want to--you have to include some type of intrinsic reinforcement. For instance, you could have students choose their final projects so they feel as though they have a say in the classroom. You could also figure out what topics students are interested in and want to learn about.

Performance goals are important too. Students love competition and want to look good in front of their peers. Having a game on study day was always motivating to me in the classroom because I wanted to win and look good in front of others. For behavior, you could have a poster board on a wall and if a student is doing what they are supposed to be doing, they can put a sticker next to their name. The first child to receive 10 stickers gets a price, such as a new pencil.

Here is a website that gives more information about goal theory and how it applies to education:
Goal theory