Motivation Matters

"My general impression is one of extreme disappointment," Gerald Wheeler of the National Science Teachers Association told Education Week after the release this month of a federal study showing that students in urban schools struggled with relatively basic tasks in a test of their science skills. "I can't imagine these kids surviving in a scientifically literate society."

Having grown up in a family of scientists (my father, now retired, was a chemistry professor and my older brother is a chemistry professor), I remember the many conversations my father and brother have had over the years about why so few U.S. kids pursue scientific interests. My father and brother bemoan the perceived unwillingness of teenagers to tackle difficult subjects such as chemistry, physics, and biology that take discipline, focus, and commitment to navigate and understand. They point out that schools relying on history or English teachers to teach science were simply wasting their time, because the sciences demanded a teacher with superb subject matter knowledge.

As a self-described science idiot in a science family, I tended to keep my mouth shut when these conversations took place. But not anymore, because I think science is potentially the most fascinating subject you can learn about in school. Most schools and communities simply are not tapping into the potential power of science.

To get kids motivated to learn science--and to hang with it even when the going gets tough--requires a bigger picture approach that involves the whole community, as suggested by Science After School, a blog about science education. The author of the blog argues that generating more motivation to learn science starts with accepting the scientific process as something that children can understand and use to understand the world around them. And those opportunities, he says, must be provided to students who may not get such experiences at home.

Then, as my father and brother argue, make it a priority and find the resources to hire teachers with superb subject matter knowledge. But those teachers also must possess the unique skills necessary to turn that knowledge into relevant lessons about science.

In other words, make science relevant and make it available. And then set teachers and students on a course to rescue us from graduating a generation of scientifically illiterate citizens.

Posted by Kevin Bushweller at 6:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

We recently published a commentary in Education Week titled "The Wounds of Schooling," which makes the argument that for many people school is a harsh, discouraging, rigid environment that kills their creativity and love of learning. A fascinating discussion about the article is underway on our site and I encourage you to go there to see what others are saying and submit your own comments.

Here are my thoughts on this debate:

Although we have all had our fair share of discouraging, motivation-killing experiences in school (some more than others), I have a hard time believing that most of us have been terribly wounded by those experiences. The writer of the commentary and others who agree with her argue that the heavy emphasis on testing and rigid expectations in schools have had a harmful effect on students. Most thoughtful people would agree that too much testing undoubtedly has negative consequences.

But letting kids study whatever they want, at whatever pace they feel comfortable is a recipe for educational chaos and low expectations. I experienced this up close and personal in the 1970s when I attended an elementary school for one year that allowed us to work at our own pace. I was fortunate because my parents were both college educated and kept an eye on what I was doing in school. But the boys and girls from poor families whose parents were not as watchful suffered immeasurably from this approach -- I remember one girl who was barely reading at a second grade level when we were in 6th grade. (And despite my parents' watchful approach, I did not learn as much in that school as I did in another one in which students were pushed harder.)

Education simply needs to find a balance between these two extremes. Testing is necessary to ensure students are actually learning how to read, write, do math, and understand other intellectual concepts. But providing students with opportunities to investigate their world, stretch their creativity, and take risks is also an important role of schooling.

Finding this balance, many believe, is the key to a quality education. I was fortunate because I attended a high school that found this balance. That school fostered my creative side, while also ensuring that I had the basic academic skills necessary to survive in college and the working world.

Posted by Kevin Bushweller at 3:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

I love book reviews that make you want to jump out of your office seat, walk to the nearest bookstore, and buy the book.

That was the reaction I had to a recent review in TCRecord of a book titled Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol S. Dweck.

Based on the review (I still have to make that trip to the bookstore), this is definitely a book that gets at the heart of matters related to student motivation. It examines, for instance, how people often operate under two different mindsets, the fixed mindset or the growth-oriented one. The fixed mindset is set on the idea that traits such as intelligence and creativity are fixed at birth while the growth mindset sees such qualities as always in a state of improvement.

Dweck, who served as a featured guest in August for an Education Week chat, "Student Motivation: What Works, What Doesn't," writes about how children or adults who operate under the fixed mindset see success as confirmation of their innate intelligence or creativity and failure as proof that they are not smart or creative, according to the review. Those who are growth oriented, on the other hand, see success as confirmation of their progress or improvement and failure as a learning experience.

The conflict between these two mindsets gets at the very heart of what motivates people. I plan to read this book, in large part, because I think most of us prefer to operate under the growth mindset, but are often held back by the fixed one.

What mindset do you or most of students have? Fixed or growth?

Posted by Kevin Bushweller at 3:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

"One of the most sickening realities teachers face is when they hear of the awful things their little darlings do to each other while we sit thinking they are wholly engrossed in the school-world we create for them."

That was a recent post by a teacher who writes a blog called From the Trenches. She goes on to tell a story about two boys harassing and bullying a girl during a field trip. It's a troubling tale, and a reminder to educators that what happens outside the realm of academics could have particularly damaging effects on student motivation.

The teacher's story sparked memories of my own school days, especially those days when I had just moved to a new school and was destined to be tested by the local bully. As a new kid in high school, I was in a French class in which a boy (who often came to class high on marijuana) would sit behind other boys and smack them in the back of the head. For the first month of the semester, I had an A in the class, but felt very uncomfortable going there because I knew what I would do if he smacked me in the back of the head. I would do what I had done at other schools when I was the new guy on the block -- I would turn around and punch him and probably get suspended.

To avoid that scenario, I started skipping French class and going to the library instead. I even skipped class one day when we had a test. I got a zero and my grade dropped to a C. The teacher was concerned, but I never told her why I was skipping classes.

There was never a fight and I eventually returned to the class. But I sat through every class worrying if he was going to smack me and how my parents would react if I fought back and was suspended. I did not do very well in the class.

Posted by Kevin Bushweller at 6:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)