Download Raymond N Dawsonia January 13, 2015 Motivation Essay There

Raymond N Dawsonia
January 13, 2015
Motivation Essay
There are several things that determine the motivation of a student, as a teacher
it is a constant job to challenge, peak interest, and make the learning seem more fun
than chore. When determining motivation theories, the Hierarchy of Needs model,
developed by Abraham Maslow is the most pertinent to the levels of the motivated
student.
The theory of Hierarchy of Needs is structured in regards to necessities essential
to our basic human needs. There are 8 levels (previously 5) that are associated with
the HNM (Hierarchy of Needs Model).
In observing the class between teacher and student, you can tell that the student
is comfortable with the teacher. The student makes a comment, “I have a lot of work
to do”, which makes it seem like the students mind is not focused on the lesson plan.
Overall, the student does well with remembering the words and also can create
sentences applicable with the level. There were points were the student was
frustrated or confused, but the teacher made quick and effective adjustments,
making all the questions relatable to the student’s actual life. For example, “What
were you doing at 1am?” the student answers with the proper verb and rapidly “I
was sleeping”. There seemed to be a breakthrough when the lesson was directly
dealing with what the student had done the day before. This proved to me that the
Hierarchy of needs of each student would be subject to change for unknown
reasons. When you find the reason that as a teacher you must be engaged to
motivate through that need.
I believe that the student’s Hierarchy of Needs for learning the English language
would be Level 3. This deals with the basic need of relationships or bonds. The
student is a receptionist at the actual academic establishment, which means that
there could be several reasons for her intrigue in learning the language. Her reason
could be to interact with the students, it may be to help her translate administrative
work, or just to give the language “a try”. In Maslow’s theory of HNM, it is stated that
the student’s motivational level can only increase once that person’s needs are met
for all previous levels. Therefore, if a person does not have the basic necessities of
water, food, shelter they will remain at Level 1 because they will first need to obtain
those essential elements before moving forward to Level 2 (Safety Needs).
The theory of Hierarchy of Needs is a very interesting topic, but there seems to be
elements that are missing from these particular situations. For instance, the student
is from Brazil and is clearly operating at Level 4 (at minimum) for both the cultures
of Brazil and Argentina. When broken down to cultures it becomes quite a dynamic
situation, the student is living in an area where they are operating at a Level 4 of
hierarchy of needs, but in learning English they are operating at a Level 3.
The other motivation theory would be “Behaviorism”, this theory created by B.F.
Skinner, is based on operant conditioning. In this theory there are no studies or
understanding of intrinsic qualities because those things e.g. self-esteem, emotional
status cannot be truly measured. Instead, the theory observes extrinsic behavior of
humans. Behaviorism is based on the reinforcement; reinforcement allows the
continuation of actions whether it is positive or negative. Vocabulary that correlates
with Behaviorism is:
Positive Reinforcement- Strengthening a behavior by providing a rewarding
consequence.
Negative Reinforcement- Strengthens behavior because it removes an unpleasant
experience.
Punishment- Opposite of reinforcement because its purpose is to weaken or
eliminate a response rather than increase it.
In the classroom activity I observed definite examples of behaviorism being
practiced. For example, when the student was correct in their answer, the teacher
would follow-up with positive reinforcement of “Good job!” This positively
reinforces the proper actions that will help motivate the student to continue their
path to learn English. On the opposite end, if the student would do something
incorrectly the teacher would correct them by saying “I do not understand”; the
students immediately would repeat themselves to correct their error (negative
reinforcement). This would prove that negative reinforcement works as well
because the student is self-correcting through only a slight hint to repeat their
answer.
In closing, there are several factors that determine the success of the learning
process for a student. One of the major external factors would be the teacher, with
enough positive reinforcement (when necessary), structured lessons, and
enthusiasm to teach; the student should be able to have enough confidence to tackle
the specified subject. Intrinsic qualities would rely heavily on the intention of
learning, determination to succeed, and patience. These external and internal
behaviors would be just a portion of what it takes to motivate a student, it is up to
the unit of student and teacher to combined compromise their perspectives to make
this relationship worthwhile.
Bibliography
Abraham Maslow
Businessballs.com (1940) Abraham Maslow- Hierarchy of needs and diagrams of
Maslow’s motivational theory – pyramid diagrams of Maslow’s theory. [online]
Available at: http://www.businessballs.com/maslow.htm
McLeod, S. A. (2007). Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. Retrieved from
http://www.simplypsychology.org/maslow.html
B.F. Skinner
Intructionaldesign.org (1950) B.F. Skinner – Operant conditioning. [online]
Available at: http://www.instructionaldesign.org/theories/operantconditioning.html
McLeod, S. A. (2007). B.F. Skinner - Operant Conditioning. Retrieved from
http://www.simplypsychology.org/operant-conditioning.html