If teachers had to vote on what one of the biggest challenges, or even THE biggest challenge educators face, I would be willing to bet my classroom Nespresso machine that the majority of teachers would say keeping students interested and motivated. Chapter 6 of How People Learn II: Learners, Contexts, and Cultures delves into what motivation and how it is "critical to learning and achievement across the life span in both informal settings and formal learning environments" (National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine et al., 2018). Motivation is dependent on several key things like a student's belief about themself, their experience(s) with learning, and overall mindset. As educators it is our job to create an environment that emphasizes motivation in our students. This means demonstrating a classroom culture where students feel safe to take risks, where effort is recognized as much as outcomes are, and where learning is connected to their interests and goals. I think when students see relevance in what they’re learning (hello, authentic intellectual work!) and believe that their effort can lead to improvement, they are more likely to stay engaged and persist through challenges.
References:
Gura, M. (2020). Fostering Student Creativity. EdTech Digest the State of the Arts, Creativity, and Technology 2020: A Guide for Educators and Parents.
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine 2018. How People Learn II: Learners, Contexts, and Cultures. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/24783.
Rivero, V. (2020). A Whole New Class of Art. EdTech Digest the State of the Arts, Creativity and Technology 2020: A Guide for Educators and Parents.
Another great blog post! I think this summarizes the main point of chapter six well: motivation, goal setting, and how learner beliefs and other motivational influences affect student learning. One of the things I think of is how gamification helps with motivation in my students, or a concept I've run across called "low-stakes competition." These are competitions that you can have within or between classes that don't impact grades, but can have a significant impact on student behavior and engagement. The thing I like about low stakes competition is that it can be as elaborate or as simple as the teacher decides, and can be as easy as saying, "Alright, who's going to be the first class to turn in all their syllabi?" and developing an equitable reward (kids are always begging for bonus points, right?)
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