Method of Motivation

5.4 Method of Motivation

Methods of Motivation:-

1. Needs- As the famous proverb puts it, “necessity is the mother of invention.” This is borne out by the fact that not only children but even adults feel impelled to act, to do something only when they perceive a need. Hence it is obviously desirable for the teacher to make the learners feel a need for the lesson which is to be taught to them.
2. Attitude- Motivation plays a very profound role in developing the desired attitude in children. And it is self evident that children perform the desired work better when a favorable attitude is developed.
3. Interest- Children learn that lesson fastest which interests them. For this reason, the teacher should employ some complementary materials for introducing a lesson so that he can arouse their interest in that particular lesson.
4. Habit- The habits of children play a significant role in the development of new knowledge. If fresh knowledge can be based upon the knowledge acquired earlier, it helps in the development of lesson as well as the learning.
5. Emotional state - It is desirable for the teacher to pay full attention to the emotional condition of the children, he is teaching. Besides, he must do his best to ensure that children have an attitude of love, not of hatred, towards the subject being taught to them. If he succeeds in creating an emotional bond between the child and the knowledge to be taught, he will achieve rapid success in motivating the child and thus preparing him for rapid learning.
6. Reward and punishment - Motivation is very powerfully influenced by the availability of rewards and punishment, because the sole intention behind providing either rewards or punishment is to exert a favorable influence upon the child’s potential behaviour.
7. Competition - In schools, students, are generally seen exhibiting a keen desire or tendency to compete with each other, to secure some prize, or to get more marks than their classmates in tests and examinations, etc. The teacher can take advantage of this tendency to compete and exploit it for imparting new knowledge to his students.
8. Knowledge of progress - It is desirable for the teacher to keep on acquainting his students with their progress, because this sustains their motivation and keeps them actively engaged in the activity.
9. Fear of failure - Occasionally, the teacher should also confront the students with the fear of failure, because some students are better motivated for diligent work when the threat of failure hangs over them.
10. Level of aspiration - In this context, the reference to level of aspiration means that students should be taught only those tasks which accord with their physical and mental maturity. Experience has clearly established that whenever the level of knowledge or activity is beyond the children’s capacity to grasp or perform, they develop a strong aversion to it.
11. Seminars and conferences - In the present age, stress is often laid upon collective learning and working. It also observed that children do more work when in a group.
12. School environment - The environment prevailing in any school should itself be capable of motivating the student. The child should be able to draw motivation from the environment itself. Schools possessing an unsuitable environment are often productive of inactive, dull and indifferent children. However, it is a fact that the environment of the school is created jointly by the teachers and the students.