Characteristics of Motivating Class
- Relevance: The content of the class should be, in some way, related to the child's life and daily experiences. New information should build upon previous knowledge and there should be an observable, meaningful connection to the real world. Students need to feel that schoolwork is valuable and important.
- Control: Students need to feel that they have some degree of control and influence over the learning activities. Children respond well to being allowed to make decisions and choices. These activities do not require the teacher to surrender her position of authority; they merely give the students a sense of independence and autonomy
- Balance of support and challenge: The effective, motivating teacher continually strives to balance support and challenge. If the teacher assigns challenging work but fails to provide the support and structure that the child requires to be successful at the task, the child will not be motivated. Conversely, if the educator provides tremendous support for the child but the curriculum is not sufficiently challenging, the child will not be motivated. This interaction between support and challenge should shade every classroom decision made by the teacher
- Social Interaction: As much as possible, classroom activities should feature some degree of interaction between or among students. Learning pairs, small-group work, interactive classroom discussions provide students with an opportunity to interact and work toward common goals. This is motivating and energizing for many students.
- Safety and Security: Children simply cannot learn if they feel unsafe, threatened, or insecure. The classroom environment must be tolerant, accepting, welcoming and secure. One of the primary roles of the teacher is to protect the physical and emotional well-being of the students. Motivation cannot exist in an environment where children feel or fear embarrassment, humiliation, or isolation.
Maybe some ideas or thoughts to share with teachers.
