As teachers, we have to ask ourselves what are goals are for our students. We want them to leave our class with an understanding of the material we teach them, but is this our only goal? We know we do not want them to memorize material just long enough to take a test or write a paper. We want them to understand the lessons we spend countless hours preparing. We also want them to become motivated lifelong learners. The question is how do we go about this almost seemingly impossible task? There are two types of motivation: extrinsic and intrinsic. According to “Intrinsic Versus Extrinsic Goal Contents in Self-Determination Theory: Another Look at the Quality of Academic Motivation” by Maarten Vansteenkiste, Willy Lens, and Edward Deci, to achieve our goals, we will need to use not only intrinsic motivational goals, but also the language that is associated with it.
Extrinsic motivational goals focus on things such as grades, teacher and peer acknowledgment, and parental approval. Intrinsic motivational goals focus on things such as personal growth, community contribution and connection. When intrinsic goal setting is in place, there is “less focus on external indicators of worth,” (Vansteenkiste et al., pg.24) which means learning and performance are better. Using intrinsic goal framing provides deep level processing and yields better test scores. Extrinsic motivational strategies take away from the natural intrinsic motivation in students. Brophy agrees and states, “expected tangible rewards undermine intrinsic motivation” (Brophy, pg.133). One thing Cinda does effectively in her classroom to promote intrinsic motivation is the creation of community. The students connect to one another in many ways throughout daily learning activities. They participate in history by being placed in groups that use jigsaw learning. I too will use community to help promote intrinsic