Education is often associated with necessity.
At the thought of free, education without compulsion, adults often ask questions about it, how to motivate a child to learn, make it learn fractions, history of the Roman Empire, the structure and physiology of the slipper. Their fears often go even further: whether the child will not be illiterate, Will it not "dissolve" doing "what your heart desires", will he not grow up into an anti-social unit. In short, is it fear for it, or in the absence of coercion, in the form of homework, degrees, right, awards, comments, parent-teacher meetings, man is willing to learn.
There are several sources of this concern:
- own experiences of compulsion related to schooling and often not the best memories of relations with adults at school,
- the parent's beliefs often drawn from the family home, that coercion and control are good, a proven way of educating and shaping the character, teaching a child,
- lack of faith, that the child can self-motivate based on appropriate relationships with adults,
- lack of a supportive relationship with adults, who will help him discover his own needs and emotions,
- lack of knowledge about other ways of upbringing,
- lack of ability to adequately support the child in his spontaneous exploration of the environment, the pursuit of knowledge.
Why We Take Action?
Two types of human motivation to act can be distinguished. Outside, which consists in engaging in a given activity to achieve external benefits (obtaining approval, receiving the award, assessment, or avoid punishment or failure). The second type is self-motivation, based on the propensity to take various actions due to their content, pleasure, satisfaction, the ability to meet needs.
This division has to do with the concept within- and extrinsic control. The external person makes his actions and choices dependent on other people, from external circumstances, from what others will think or say, will they receive praise, acceptance, they will gain social prestige. Choices the person makes, which is dominated by external steering, may result in inadequate recognition of your needs and predispositions, and as a result - wrong choices, np. field of study, professional work, extracurricular activities ... A long-term effect of decisions made in this way may be a dissatisfaction with personal and family life, no sense of agency.
In turn, a person undertaking independent, inner-steer decisions, as opposed to an outsider, has a greater sense of meaning, agency and influence on one's own life.
Motivation in the light of psychology - the most important reference points
There are several sources of intrinsic motivation:
1. Needs. Maslow, one of the fathers of humanistic psychology created a well-known pyramid of needs. At the very bottom are physiological needs, a little higher - the need for security, then - social approval, respect and recognition, and at the very top, self-realization. Harmonious development takes place in the situation, when lower order needs are satisfied - the so-called scarcity needs. In other words, we can effectively self-realize, if the physiological needs are optimally met, we feel safe, accepted and respected. E.g: we will not be willing to analyze Macbeth's motivations, when our stomach rumbles, someone throws a diary and threatens, in the company of thirty other people, with, and a friend kicks us under the bench. Although the adaptability of children is unbelievable and most of them find themselves in such conditions, it is the emotions arising in this situation that systematically deprive them of their natural joy from acquiring knowledge.
2. Social learning. Looking at these, who are doing something eagerly, persistently, with pleasure, we will become interested sooner and we will try to undertake new activities more willingly. That is why parents who perform their professional work or household chores with a sense of satisfaction stimulate curiosity more than those, who feel frustrated and irritated. Father passionately swinging a chisel, planing a pine shelf is more likely to inspire a child than nagging at his customers, a lawyer buried in papers. Of course, not the profession is important here, but the joy derived from the activities performed and the accompanying sense of meaning. Not only parents can be a good model, also, grandmother, uncle, neighbor, siblings, a colleague or teacher with passion.
3. Emotional reinforcement. Observing your emotional reactions and discovering the needs behind them is one of the strongest sources of motivation. Motivation is closely related to emotions, emotions with needs, and the latter - with a sense of agency and influence on their own lives. Children have their own preferences, likes and motivations, which, however, are not always taken seriously by adults. Often way, how children signal their needs, preferences and emotions is not readable enough for their parents. Drawing the child's attention to satisfaction, which he experiences in communing with the environment(for example, by showing empathy), gives the child support in discovering their interests, needs and opportunities.
How (and whether?) motywować dzieci?
The use of ill-considered reinforcements (np. penalties and rewards) is one of the most popular educational methods. They often help to get a child to change behavior quickly, however, they do so at the expense of the child's psychological integrity and contribute to the development of extrinsic control (więcej o wpływie kar i nagród można przeczytać). Z kolei wsparcie dziecka w rozpoznawaniu własnych emocji i potrzeb, highlighting its resources, paying attention to action, effort (instead of just the effect), the question about the purpose and meaning of the undertaken activity support internal motivation, fully respect the personality and needs of the child and build a bond.
Instead of praising and rebuking, w wychowaniu opartym na szacunku dajemy dziecku swoją presence, mindfulness and empathy. To support the child in self-reflection and self-reflection, próbujemy wspólnie z nim dostrzec, what was most important to him in this action, how it felt, which helped him, and what was difficult, possibly - what were the consequences of the decisions made.
Kiedy dostrzegamy wysiłek dziecka, work put into something, perseverance, involvement, dedicated time, nie tylko wspieramy motywację wewnętrzną, but we teach to understand psychological mechanisms, which drive us (awareness of emotions and needs), we develop the ability to think abstractly, creativity and mindfulness. If a child needs adult support in an activity performed, he primarily offers his presence, mindfulness and empathy. Może się także posłużyć Feedback, to help your child recognize the effects and effects of their actions. To appeal to the child's intrinsic motivation, adult maybe (using a language that is close to the child) ask about intentions, motivations, the functions of the child's activity, about his preferences, likes, needs, inspirations.
