Such a concept as the motivation of the educational activities of younger students is necessary to explain the activities and behavior of the child. This is a topical problem both theoretically and practically. It occupies a central place in pedagogy and educational psychology.
Formation of life position
When a child enters school, his attitude towards life changes. Teaching is the leading activity. The student learns about new rights, duties, system of relations. The educational motivation of younger students consists of several elements. In the process of work, needs, goals, attitudes, a sense of duty, and interests arise. Motives can be inside the school and outside it: cognitive and social. For example, the social factor when a child strives to graduate with honors.
The first group includes cognitive motives, wherestudents acquire new knowledge. Educational and cognitive will help to gain knowledge. Self-education is aimed at self-improvement.
Formation of the motivation of educational activity of younger students occurs at the moment when there is an influence of social motives. Students receive knowledge that helps to be useful and needed by society, their homeland. The child seeks to take a certain position, a place in relation to others. During social cooperation, there is interaction with other people, an analysis of the ways and forms of their cooperation.
Features and characteristics of activities
It is important to pay attention to some factors of educational motivation of younger students. In the first grade, children strive for knowledge, they like to learn. By the end of primary school, the number of such children is reduced to 38-45%. In some situations it becomes negative. The motives associated with surrounding adults dominate: “I like the teacher”, “That's what my mother wants.”
Slowly this approach is changing, children do not want to do school duties. They don't make an effort, they don't try. The teacher loses authority. The child is more likely to listen to the opinion of a peer. There is a formation of collective relations. Emotional well-being depends on the student's place in it.
The formation of learning motivation in younger students occurs under the influence of some factors:
- It is necessary to choose the right study material.
- Organize activities in the lesson.
- Select collective formsactivities.
- Suggest options for assessment and reflection.
With a he althy motivation for the educational activities of younger students, students are pulled up. By the age of 8-9, students are selective in relation to individual subjects. Motivation manifests itself in a positive and negative way. It is important to take into account the formation and influence of factors. Age, personality characteristics matter.
Ways of formation: what to look for
In order for the formation of educational motivation in younger students, it is necessary to instill in schoolchildren ideals and images. The first way is called top-down movement. It is represented by the system of moral education. Students identify their behavior with the motives provided by society. The second method is used, in which the student is involved in various activities. This is how moral behavior is gained. Motives become real.
For development, various methods of motivating younger students for learning activities are used. However, not all of them for a long time keep the desire to work in the classroom, to gain knowledge. Students should develop a positive attitude towards learning. For this to happen, the teacher must know what students like to do in the classroom, which causes positive emotions.
One of the examples of motivation for learning activities of younger students is the creation of conditions under which students are ready to overcome obstacles. They will be able to test their own strengths and abilities.
Basicthe tasks of increasing the educational motivation of younger students are:
- Mastering the methods of study and formation.
- Studying age characteristics.
- Introducing ways to increase the desire for knowledge.
- Doing extracurricular activities.
- Creating a bank of our own developments.
- Generalization and dissemination of positive experience.
When forming the motivation of educational activity of younger students, the ability to form meaning appears. Relevance is determined by the fact that the teacher creates the prerequisites. Subsequently, by the end of school, motivation takes on a certain form.
Which methods are considered effective
The choice of ways to form the motivation of educational activity of younger students is to use them. This approach will help to avoid an indifferent attitude to teaching, and come to a conscious and responsible attitude. The object is all the components of the motivational sphere, the ability to learn.
Positive motivation is subsequently formed. If initially impulses arise in disorder, they are characterized by impulsiveness and instability, with maturation they become mature. Separate motives come to the fore, the individuality of the individual is created. It includes a holistic inner position of the student.
The pedagogical essence of the motivation for the educational activity of younger students is already determined by the time they arrive at school. At this stage, there is an inclusion in a new activity, an internal position is formed. It is important for the student and adults. There is a desire to go to school, to carry a briefcase. Observations of students show that the influence is exerted by the conversations of other children who are less satisfied with the moment they are in school, the grades they receive. However, the growth of culture, television, the Internet increases the objective assessment of what is happening.
Important Points: Positives and Negatives
An important point in the relevance of the motivation of educational activity of younger students is considered a favorable attitude towards school. Here, children become inquisitive, their interests expand, they show interest in environmental phenomena, take part in creative games, play stories. They help to realize social interests, emotionality, empathy.
Briefly about the motivation of the educational activity of younger students, it is necessary to say about curiosity. Openness, gullibility, the perception of the teacher as the main person, the desire to listen and complete tasks serve as a favorable condition. There is a strengthening of the motives of duty and responsibility.
Among the negative aspects in the development of motivation for educational activities of younger students, the following characteristics are distinguished:
- Often ineffective methods that can't sustain activity for long.
- Instability, situationality, fading desire to gain knowledge without the support of a teacher.
- The student cannot give a precise definition of what is of interest in the subject.
- No interest in overcoming learning difficulties.
It all leads to a formal and nonchalant attitude towards school.
Efficiency depending on the factors used
Diagnosis of the motivation of the educational activity of younger students allows us to identify some of the main points. At first, schoolchildren are interested in writing letters and numbers, in getting marks, and only later - in gaining knowledge. Cognitive motives go from some factors to principles and patterns.
By the age of 8, schoolchildren pay more attention to drawing, modeling, solving problems, but they do not like to retell, learn poems by heart. Interest is shown in tasks where you can show independence and initiative. Among the features of the educational motivation of younger students is the willingness to accept the goals set by the teacher. Students independently build a logical chain of important tasks that must be completed in a certain sequence. They name the stages of solving problems, determine the properties of goals. Weak goal setting leads to a lack of attention in the lesson. They note failure in the classroom, unwillingness to learn, gain new knowledge.
Development of motivation of educational activity of junior schoolchildren is closely connected with the emotional sphere. It will be positive if you get good grades. Students are impressionable, direct in the manifestation and expression of emotions. They are reactive, switch quickly. As you get older, there are changesrichness and sustainability.
Motivation of educational and cognitive activity of younger students is being rebuilt. Subsequently, it is satisfied, develops into a new type of relationship, takes on mature forms. There is an interest in new knowledge, patterns. The formation of new levels is necessary for quick adaptation in high school.
Formation of motivation: what path to take
To increase the level of educational motivation of younger students, it is necessary to accustom them to systematic and hard work. The student must acquire new knowledge, master various methods of action, comprehend the observed objects. Educational activities should have meaning, become an important goal in the life of every child. He should not just fulfill his parents' desire to bring home good grades.
Among the features of the motivation of educational activity of younger students is the use of adequate educational material. Only the presentation of information by the teacher, reading it in the textbook does not lead to any activity. It should be exactly what the student wants to know. Subsequently, the material is subjected to mental and emotional processing. Not every motivation suits every student. It is necessary to select exercises that give food to mental function, memory, thinking and imagination. The emotional sphere includes new impressions, positive and negative moments.
The teacher develops thematic plans, lesson plans, selects the illustrative material that students need. Information should be accessible to students, to enableshowcase their experiences. At the same time, the material is selected complex and difficult to satisfy their needs for the development of mental functions and vivid emotions.
Tasks to motivate the learning activities of younger students should form the desire and desire to learn. They should not be easy, as students lose interest. New knowledge will show that the student knew little before. The studied objects are shown from a new perspective. Each lesson is designed in such a way as to solve a serious problem. Thus, the formation of motivation aimed at the content of the lesson takes place.
Ways to organize lessons
When studying the motivation of educational activities of younger students and its types, educational material will be needed. For its assimilation to be effective, all parts and their ratio are important. The result is the quality of education, developing and educating factors. Success is guaranteed if there are goals aimed at mastering the material. The teacher must properly organize activities, determine the nature and structure of the lesson.
It is important to teach students to study a section or topic on their own. To do this, follow these steps:
- Motivational.
- Informative.
- Reflexive-evaluative.
At the first stage, students realize why they need certain knowledge. Schoolchildren are told about the main task, what exactly they will have to study. Under the guidance of the teacher, they find out whether the existing knowledge is enough, what needs to be done,to solve the problem.
Stages of the lesson: setting goals, objectives and ways to solve them
Among the examples of motivation for learning activities of younger students at this stage, there are several points. They create an educational problem situation, with the help of which they introduce students to the subject of study. To do this, the teacher selects several techniques depending on the individual characteristics of the children. Together they formulate the main task, discuss problems and ways to solve it.
With the help of a learning task, they show the landmark to which students direct their activities. Everyone sets a goal. As a result, they get a system of private tasks that constantly maintain a motivational tone. It is important to bring students to self-statement of the problem and the opportunity to find several solutions.
With the right approach, students know how to control their activities. After setting the learning task, understanding and accepting it, the students discuss what points to follow in order to obtain a positive result. The teacher will indicate the time and deadlines until the completion of the process. This will create clarity and understanding of what needs to be done. Then they are told what knowledge will be needed to study the topic. In this way, each student will be able to evaluate their own work. Some students are offered tasks that will help fill in the gaps, repeat the learned rules. After that, they move on to gaining new knowledge.
At the cognitive stagelearn the topic, master the learning activities. It is important to apply such techniques that will give students the maximum amount of knowledge for their clear understanding and solution of the educational problem.
With the help of modeling, the understanding of a new topic becomes conscious. Students visualize what plan needs to be followed in order to gain new knowledge. The teacher, with the help of visual material and certain actions, shows what needs to be remembered and performed to get the result. This is how schoolchildren gain experience in creative activity and thinking.
At the final reflective-evaluative stage, students analyze their own activities. Everyone gives self-assessment, compares the results of their activities with learning objectives. The organization of work is designed to ensure that students receive emotional satisfaction. They should be glad that they overcame difficulties. This subsequently affects the desire to learn, gain knowledge, apply them in the classroom and in everyday life.
Formation of Motivation: Problem Statement and Solutions
For a positive effect, it is necessary to create problem situations. This will influence the desire to listen in the lesson in the process of carrying out activities. As soon as the student begins to act, motives arise and develop. The process should be interesting, cause joy.
All schoolchildren have a need for thinking, understanding what is happening around. It is important to remember that in order to develop thinking, it is necessary to select and dose the material correctly. Perception by the senses makes itneutral, so does not cause a desire to act.
In the lower grades, the teacher does not ask a question, but suggests moving on to practical work. A task or a story will not help cause a problem situation. After the student has taken action, you can ask a question.
Motivation of a student is as important as an accessible presentation of educational material, organization of search activities. All methods arouse interest in the content of educational material, form positive motivation.
The need for collective learning
It is important to use group work in the lessons. This makes the learning process efficient. The formation of motivation occurs only when included in the activity. It is group methods that involve all students in the work. Even weak students complete the task.
For the formation of motivation to take place in a positive way, the student must be the subject of the process. He must feel that he is organized personally for each student, and the goals and objectives are his own.
The teacher organizes a personality-role approach. Then each student will play his role. He will be able to become an assistant teacher, oppose him, advise other students. Roles are performed for a certain period of time. The teacher is the organizer and leader.
The use of various forms of interaction in the lesson allows you to differentiate activities. Then the tasks will become feasible for each student. When choosing the form of the lesson, take into account the age of the students, the characteristicsclass.
Evaluation is important. On the one hand, evaluation is a kind of motivation, on the other hand, it causes constant discussions. On the psychological side, points must be set. However, it should not take precedence over activity. If there is no cognitive need, the mark becomes ineffective, ceases to act as a motivation. Increasingly, educators are looking for new forms of assessment.
The main thing in the assessment is a qualitative analysis of the work. It is important to emphasize the positive points, to identify the causes of shortcomings. This is necessary for the formation of adequate self-esteem. Points should take second place. They point to existing gaps in the work. It is recommended to use the forms of peer review and peer evaluation. This allows you to form a reasonable attitude towards the mark.
Motivation research methods
The teacher uses several methods. Observation is often chosen to study motivation. It acts both as an independent method and as part of other research methods. These include conversation, experiment. In the process of observation, indicators of motivation are signs of student activity, the ability to isolate the method and result of actions, questions to the teacher, student answers. Observation is used in the classroom and in extracurricular activities.
The survey is divided into several options. They are made up of direct questions to reveal conscious motives. The selective view offers multiple answers to a single question. The student chooses the correct one. The questionnaire scale is a test,where it is necessary to evaluate the correctness of each option in points. The advantage is the ability to quickly obtain material for processing and analysis. Questioning is called the first guideline in the motives of the teaching.
With the help of a conversation or an interview, they deeply study the individual characteristics of motivation. It is necessary to establish psychological contact. The relationship between teacher and student is good.
Among the products of students' activities for the teacher to study are products of creativity. These are poems, drawings, essays, crafts, which allows us to characterize external and internal motivations. Compositions and conversations provide psychological material for identifying individual, personal relationships. The teacher makes a selection about the features of motivation in various areas of life.
If a student is interested in a subject, their performance increases. When studying the indicator, the subjective attitude to the mark is taken into account. There is no way to collect data, the main role is played by psychological analysis. Motivation for learning activity is the main concept that explains the driving forces of behavior and activity. The system determines the future development perspective.
Influence of external factors
When the time comes for a child to become not a preschooler, but a junior schoolchild, the child's inner attitude and objective state of affairs change. There is a subjective readiness for school. The motivational sphere is being rebuilt. The orientation in the cognitive and social sphere changes, concretization appears. The student strives to attend school, maturemotives.
After conducting pedagogical and psychological research, it was revealed that younger students have a large stock of knowledge for the formation of a motivational sphere. The learning process throughout the entire school period depends on this time. The teacher needs to use all the methods in one system, so that in combination they help in the development of motivation. Keep an individual approach, as some methods will help one student, but do not affect the other. Taken together, the methods are an effective tool for creating a desire to learn.
The main task of the teacher remains the use of methods that arouse curiosity. And it is the reason for the cognitive interest. To do this, they create a situation of success by giving tasks based on old knowledge. The classroom should be a friendly atmosphere of trust and cooperation. On reflection, they evaluate themselves, the activities of others. Use questions: “What did we learn?”, “Why was it difficult?”
During the lesson, the teacher creates a situation of knowledge deficit so that students can independently determine the goals. Students are given the right to choose using multi-level tasks. Educational material is correlated with a specific life situation.
Cognitive block forms a learning task. The student can independently highlight it in the lesson. He masters new ways of learning activities, self-control, self-esteem. The children like the unusual way of presenting the material. The lesson should be collaborative in order to jointly solve problems and resolve conflicts. Heuristic conversation, discussion, classification, generalization will help.
To attract to the evaluation activities use reflective rulers, feedback on the answer of others. Stimulate schoolchildren with appreciation, gratitude, verbal encouragement, an exhibition of the best works.
You can induce learning activities by more than one motive. A whole system is needed in which all motives are combined. Only in this way will the teacher be able to achieve results, and students will be happy to receive knowledge in the classroom.