Page 66 - Powerful Social Studies for Elementary Students 4th Edition

38 Powerful Social Studies for Elementary Students
applications to life outside of school) and instructional methods that fostered involve- ment (students spent most of their time engaged in active learning and application activ- ities, not just watching and listening). Other research reviewed by Brophy (2010) similarly concluded that sustained student motivation to learn curricular content and skills results from what Mitchell called “hold” factors. More specifically, the key to moti- vating students to learn is to structure the curriculum around big ideas and develop them, with emphasis on their connections and applications to life outside of school.
Students do not need to enjoy school activities in order to be motivated to learn from them, but they do need to perceive these activities as meaningful and worthwhile. There- fore, you will need to make sure that your curriculum content and learning activities are in fact meaningful and worthwhile, and develop the content and scaffold your students’ engagement in the activities in ways that enable them to see and appreciate their value.
In this regard, it is helpful to apply the notion of a zone of proximal development to motivation as well as learning. If the content domains and learning activities they encounter at school have been well selected, students can come to appreciate their value. However, exposure alone may not be enough. Just as it is important for you to scaffold the cognitive aspects of your students’ engagement in learning activities, it is also important for you to scaffold the motivational aspects. Besides conveying big ideas and modeling strategies for applying them, convey reasons why these ideas are worth learning, explain when and why they might be used, and model how it looks and feels when we use them (e.g., by expressing appreciation of growth in your own knowledge, artistry, or crafts- manship). Besides coaching by drawing attention to key points at each step in a learning process, provide goal reminders and encourage students’ appreciation for the learning domain and for their own developing knowledge and skills. Finally, besides providing feedback about the correctness of responses and how to avoid mistakes, call students’ attention to developments in their knowledge or skills, to signs of artistry or craftsmanship in their work, or to unique “signature” elements that reflect their personal style of operat- ing in the domain.
Induce appreciation for a topic or activity by explaining why students should value it. Better yet, arrange for them to experience this themselves by engaging them with a ques- tion or problem that requires content for its solution. Much social studies content has value as grist for developing insights into the human condition or advances in personal identity and self-actualization. Stories about people in the past or in other cultures, for example, usually can be framed with reference to enduring dilemmas with which your students can identify. In addition, the stories can be rendered in ways that help students appreciate how the experiences of people from another time or place compare and con- trast with their own experiences in insight-producing ways.
These and other considerations involved in addressing the value issues related to motivating students to learn will be elaborated in subsequent chapters. For now, bear in mind that even though most discussions of motivation emphasize praise and rewards or strategies for making learning fun, research findings point to structuring the content around big ideas developed, with emphasis on their connections and applications as the key to motivating students to learn.
The Social Context’s Effects on Motivation
The relationship between the social context and students’ motivation is straightforward: stu- dents will be more motivated to learn and better able to concentrate on doing so when the classroom climate is collaborative and supportive than when it is competitive and judgmen- tal. This is one reason why we place so much emphasis on establishing a learning community in your classroom. See Table 2.2 for examples of extrinsic and intrinsic motivation.
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