Igniting a child’s thirst for knowledge and fostering their enthusiasm for self-driven learning is the pinnacle of education.
I have a niece who comes from a well-off family with a harmonious relationship with her parents. She is obedient and well-behaved, but she has one issue: she lacks interest in studying. Whenever the topic of studying is brought up, she becomes irritable. Her family tried various methods to motivate her, such as monetary rewards for good grades or threats of sending her back to her hometown if she didn’t improve. However, none of these tactics worked. It seemed she was impervious to both incentives and threats, like a modern-day embodiment of Liu Hulan. Eventually, through some external interventions, she completely transformed and went on to earn a PhD. We will discuss the specific strategies used in the following case study.
From my observations, many children are similar to my niece. They show no interest in studying, regardless of whether they are motivated by rewards or driven by fear. At most, they might make a slight effort under pressure, but getting them to study voluntarily seems nearly impossible. The question arises: do they not understand the importance of studying? Do they enjoy being nagged, criticised, or scolded? I don’t think so. I believe they understand, but they lack intrinsic motivation.
The Irish poet W.B. Yeats once said, “Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.” This quote, widely cited by education experts, suggests that a “cramming” approach to education is not ideal. It can cause children to lose interest in learning and the ability to learn independently. Only by igniting a child’s thirst for knowledge and fostering their enthusiasm for self-driven learning can we achieve the highest level of education. I believe that igniting this fire requires a certain power, and that power is intrinsic motivation.
When I was in middle school, I was not interested in studying. In fact, I was considered a poor student by my teachers. During the first semester of my third year, my homeroom teacher said to me, “Since you don’t study and disrupt others, it’s better if you don’t come to school anymore. We will still give you a diploma when you graduate.” I was furious. Was I so despised? Was I really worse than others? Determined to prove them wrong, I began studying hard and managed to get into a regular high school, albeit barely.
Looking back, it was my teacher’s harsh words that ignited a fire in me and awakened my intrinsic motivation to learn. To answer why awakening intrinsic motivation is important, we must first understand what intrinsic motivation is and its benefits.
What is Intrinsic Motivation?
Intrinsic motivation is an internal state or tension arising from unmet needs, driving an organism to engage in activities to satisfy those needs. Simply put, it is the internal force that drives us to do something because we feel a lack of something important. For example, if I am very poor and need money, the need for money will push me to take action, and this force is intrinsic motivation.
So, does studying count as a need? Absolutely! However, studying is a higher-level need that arises only after basic physiological, safety, belonging, and esteem needs are met. If a person struggles with basic needs like food, clothing, and safety, discussing studying with them seems unrealistic. Therefore, the prerequisite for awakening intrinsic motivation for studying is to first satisfy basic needs.
For children, parents must ensure their physical and mental health, confidence, self-worth, and good interpersonal relationships. Only then can we consider how to awaken their intrinsic motivation to learn. Imagine a child in a household where parents constantly argue, and the family is on the brink of collapse. This child is unlikely to have any desire to study.
When parents ask how to improve their child’s academic performance, we first address these foundational issues, as they are essential for awakening the child’s intrinsic motivation.
Benefits of Intrinsic Motivation
We’ve all heard of the “carrot and stick” approach, which means rewarding good behaviour and punishing bad behaviour. Rewards and punishments are forms of extrinsic motivation. Compared to intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation has several issues:
- Lack of Sustainability: The biggest problem with rewards and punishments is that they only work as long as they are present. Once they are removed, the child may immediately stop the desired behaviour.
- Shifting Responsibility: Learning is the child’s responsibility. However, rewards and punishments can shift this responsibility to the parents, causing the child to feel that they are studying for their parents, which lowers their engagement.
- Short Half-Life: If parents use rewards and punishments as leverage, this leverage quickly loses its effectiveness, requiring parents to constantly increase the stakes to maintain motivation.
In contrast, intrinsic motivation offers clear benefits:
- Higher Engagement: Children see studying as their own responsibility, leading them to willingly engage in it without needing rewards or fearing punishment.
- Longer-lasting Action: Since children view studying as fulfilling their own needs, they persistently engage in it, continuously exploring new knowledge and overcoming challenges.
- Greater Sense of Achievement: Without relying on external rewards, any progress or breakthroughs give children a strong sense of accomplishment and joy.
Take Fan Deng’s father, a university mathematics professor. Fan Deng described how his father loved solving math problems and considered it a form of relaxation. When a person views learning as a form of relaxation, they don’t see it as a burden but as an enjoyable activity. This is a classic example of intrinsic motivation at work.
How to Awaken a Child’s Intrinsic Motivation to Learn
Before diving into the methods, remember that awakening a child’s intrinsic motivation requires first satisfying their basic needs. This is crucial!
Unconditional Love and Support: Parents should provide unconditional love, understanding, care, and encouragement. This is a fundamental parental duty and the first step in motivating a child.
Once these needs are met, awakening a child’s intrinsic motivation involves three key strategies:
1. Provide Ample Learning Autonomy
Autonomy means the child wants to learn from the heart, without being forced. Learning should not be about pleasing parents or avoiding punishment but driven by a genuine desire to learn.
I remember my third year in middle school. When I decided to study seriously, I didn’t need my parents to urge me. I would go to my study room voluntarily and take breaks according to my schedule. If my parents reminded me to study, I would tell them that I knew what I was doing and didn’t need their constant reminders. Gradually, they stopped interfering.
When children can decide what and when to study, their sense of autonomy is released. This is especially important for teenagers, who value making their own decisions.
As parents, we tend to control our children, often intervening excessively. This inadvertently takes away their autonomy. For example:
- Supervising Homework: Homework is meant to consolidate daily knowledge and should be done independently by the child. However, due to pressure from teachers and parental anxiety, parents often interfere, which shifts the responsibility from the child to the parents.
- Choosing Extracurricular Classes: Parents often select classes based on their preferences, ignoring the child’s interests. This takes away the child’s autonomy.
- Overmanaging Daily Life: When children enter primary school, they can handle many tasks independently. However, parents often overmanage, believing the child is still immature. This fosters dependency and reduces the child’s sense of responsibility.
To awaken intrinsic motivation, parents must transfer the responsibility of learning to the child. Allow them to decide what, when, and how much to study. Additionally, give them choices in their daily lives, encouraging independent decision-making.
2. Help Children Experience the Joy of Learning
To cultivate a sense of achievement in learning, two conditions must be met:
- Competence: If a task is too difficult, repeated failure will lead to giving up. In learning, if the material is too challenging, children will lose interest.
- Timely Feedback: Positive reinforcement is crucial. Just as video games provide feedback through rewards for small victories, children need similar reinforcement in learning.
Parents can:
- Lower Learning Difficulty: Temporarily adjust the difficulty of the material to a manageable level. If a child struggles with Year 8 content, start with Year 7. This helps them experience success and gain confidence.
- Create Feedback: Like the supportive teacher in “Bottom-tier Character Tomozaki,” provide constant positive feedback. Celebrate small progress to help children see their capabilities.
3. Cultivate Intrinsic Goals
Having goals, big or small, is essential for maintaining direction and motivation. When children understand the purpose of their studies, they are more likely to stay motivated.
Meaningful Goals: Children may not resonate with abstract goals like a “better future.” Instead, find goals they can relate to and feel passionate about. For instance:
- Self-Actualization Goals: Many successful people have grand visions. Help children identify their own dreams, such as becoming a scientist, astronaut, or entrepreneur, and connect their studies to these aspirations.
- Altruistic Goals: Encourage goals related to helping others or serving society. For example, a young girl named Catherine was deeply moved by a documentary about malaria in Africa and started a campaign that saved many lives. Connecting learning to such noble causes can be highly motivating.
- Basic Needs Goals: If the above goals seem too abstract, leverage basic human needs. For instance, my niece was fascinated by handsome celebrities and dreamed of attending a prestigious university with many attractive peers. This desire became her motivation to study hard.
In summary, awakening a child’s intrinsic motivation to learn relies on:
- Providing learning autonomy.
- Helping them experience the joy of learning.
- Cultivating intrinsic goals.
The ultimate goal of education is to ignite a child’s intrinsic motivation. However, children are still
