Motivation

As a teacher in my 11th year of teaching, I should have a pretty strong grasp on student motivation, especially because I've taught seniors most of my years as an educator.  As I watch hundreds of my students walk across the stage in their cap and gown each year, one would think that I sit in my seat, feeling proud of having motivated my students to work toward a successful senior year.  However, I am, in my 11th year of teaching, unable to tell you how to motivate my students toward academic success.  Before your jaw drops in shock and disbelief, let me break it down for you on a personal level. 

Motivation for Me

My main motivation to succeed in school was driven by a desperate need to rise out of poverty.  My parents' combined income was below $20,000, we were surviving as recipients of welfare, and our home was located in a crime-ridden town that sat outside of West Philadelphia.  No matter how much my family struggled financially, my father refused to let me get a job.  "Studying and getting a scholarship is the most important job you have," he told me.  He also sat me down my Freshman year of high school and told me that he did not have a single penny saved for my college education; therefore, it was up to me to get a scholarships and to secure financial assistance. 

I was motivated by a desire to create a better life than my parents had.  During my high school year, I was the vice president of the student council for two years, graduated in the top 5% of my class, spoke at my high school graduation, and was invited to attend Dickinson College with enough scholarship, grants, and financial aid.  During my college career, I was the president of an organization, the co-founder of another organization, a member of an honor society for education majors, and spoke at the baccalaureate ceremony. 

Motivation for my Husband

My husband was raised by two college educated parents in the town of Carlisle.  He grew up on a beautiful farmhouse on 15 acres of land.  However, he never found motivation in school. 

During his high school career, his report card was filled with Cs, Ds, and the occasional F.  He boasts of never actually reading a single novel in English class and is still frustrated at the age of 33 that he was tracked into the lower level courses, away from all of his friends.  All he cared about was art and doodled in the back of the class, bored with the content.  College was the next step, not for any reason except that's what everyone does.  During his college career, he went from being an animation major to a graphic design major.  After graduation, he went back into school to become an art teacher, only to quit the profession a few years later to become a photographer. 

Here's the catch!  We are both hard-working individuals who truly love what we do and are making enough money to own a home, raise a child, get fancy and eat out, go on vacation, and donate money to various charities. 

Motivation for my Students

I used to think that I can instill motivation by stressing the importance of education.  Clearly, if I had students like my husband, that does not work.  I used to think that if I showed my struggling students enough care and investment, I could motivate them.  I've had countless students who I contacted, begging them to complete their work, trying to cut deals to help them across that stage, but there was nothing I could do.  Then, there are those students, kind of like me, who just stayed motivated.

I've tried the flipped classroom model, humor, technology, personal anecdotes in lessons, tough love, instilling fear, monologues and inspirational speeches... you name it!  I may be completely and utterly wrong, but I don't think that I, as a teacher, have the power to truly motivate my students to academically succeed (there have been the handful that have proven me wrong).

What I can do, instead, is provide the opportunity for my students discover passion through the subject I teach, to ignite even the smallest flame that might grow to a blaze of motivation.  It was when my husband found his passion for photography that his motivation kicked in.  It was my passion and desire to create a better life for myself and for my family that drove me.  I've seen my students, who were dead to the academic world, come alive when they discovered a hidden love.  Therefore, I've shifted my mindset from student motivation to student passion.  And you know what?  They may not discover it with me, and I'm okay with that.