Motivation for Education

Having recently been busy with a number of different projects in different schools - all of which happen to be "higher-level" schools where parents fight for a place for their children there - I got to thinking about an observation that I made a long time ago that was recently refreshed for me.

Why are some students so keen and eager to learn while others are not?

I think part of this boils down to the first post I made, especially two of the questions: "What am I doing here?" and "How will this benefit me?"

There is the question of motivation. A student who is uninterested or unmotivated will not display eagerness to learn.

It got me to thinking about why there is such a disparity in attitudes. After all, these are supposed to be bright students (they were specifically selected for the program) who have done well academically.

One of my trains of thought went to their families. Could it be that they are not disciplined at home to focus on the work they need to do, be it homework from school or household chores? Could it be that the parents did not have much of an education and thus cannot help them with questions they have? Could it be that the parents are too busy to satisfy their curiosity and questions?

Every person has a streak of curiosity. However, I have learnt that if, at an early stage, I am constantly unable to get answers, I lose interest and thus lose motivation.

Could it be that we need to educate parents on how to engage their children so they can nurture a learning environment at home? Perhaps we there are larger societal changes that are needed for this to take place. After all, a busy parent has hardly enough energy to handle the incessant questioning of a curious child.

This is no small problem. A lack of motivation in a few members of a class often leads to a general lack of motivation in many more. It also affects the teacher and lowers the overall education experience. In time, if not handled well, it can affect the entire school.

Is this over-presumptuous? Perhaps it can be seen that way. Nevertheless, this is a big question with no simple answers. I hope to come up with a better solution in the near future and hope to revisit this again.

A Word on Examinations

Professor Freddy Boey very generously gave me 15 minutes off his busy schedule to answer a few of my questions and one of the things that struck me was a word on examinations:

"Don't let examinations get in the way of real learning."

We have become excellent examiners but not necessarily better teachers. The learners are the ones who suffer as a result. 

Personally, I have seen individuals who are fascinated by a non-examination subject but are forced to drop it or postpone its study in favour of one that will be assessed by an major examination.

In no way am I suggesting that examinations should be abolished. They have their place and it is an important one.

However, education goes far beyond examinations, written tests and grades. Education is the lifeblood of innovation, ideas and interest. It should be embraced as such.

Never Enough

"Never Enough" - a statement that demands continuous, dynamic improvement can also be a symptom of greed, perfectionism or ingratitude.

We apply this positively In innovation, business, creativity, faith and good works.

We apply this negatively in material goods, criticism and entitlement.

Which of these situations are you applying "Never Enough"?

Pain or Pleasure?

Our motivations are governed by two things: Pain and Pleasure - we wish to avoid pain and we wish to attain pleasure. 

The thing to remember is: We fear pain more than we love pleasure.

Perhaps one of the best ways to illustrate this is with an addiction. The withdrawal symptoms of smoking are pretty nasty and cause a lot of pain and discomfort. A couple of smokers that I know have told me that they smoke because they "have to" (to avoid pain) and not because they "want to" (to attain pleasure). In fact, when probed further, they say that they derive less and less pleasure from smoking as time goes on but continue to do so in order to avoid the withdrawal symptoms. They are aware that they should stop and often want to stop but the pain is too great for them and they don't.

In our daily lives, we often encounter situations where these motivations come up and the desire to avoid pain seems greater: 

Should I stay back to help out? It will make my colleagues happy and grateful but I'm tired.

My friends want to go to that cafe there but I don't like the food they serve. I know I'll disappoint them, though.

I can help my boss with an errand since it's on my way home but I don't want my colleagues to think I'm a bootlicker.

In such situations, we weigh the pleasure we may get against the pain it may cause and often find the pain to be of greater weight.

However, our perceptions are ours and we can always associate more pain with NOT doing what we want to.

So these could be the scenarios:

Should I stay back to help out? It will make my colleagues happy and grateful but I'm tired. BUT if I don't help, they will stay back even longer and I will look like a bad team player.

My friends want to go to that cafe there but I don't like the food they serve. I know I'll disappoint them, though. BUT I could just go and just spend time with them so they don't think I'm a spoilsport. I can always order a drink and grab a bite to eat later.

I can help my boss with an errand since it's on my way home but I don't want my colleagues to think I'm a bootlicker. BUT if I don't help him out, one of my team members may be called away to do it and we have one less person to get this project done.

This is certainly not easy and it requires a fair bit of mental gymnastics. However, as with all things, practice makes perfect.