Thesis education motivating students’ motivation and performance students.
2
, Thesis education motivating students’ motivation and performance students.
Summary
This research was conducted at School X in grade Y. The school must deal with the problem
of unmotivated learners and low results. The children are not motivated to learn, have
unmotivated attitudes, and they show unruly behavior during classes. They don’t do their
homework; they don’t listen to the teacher and they bully each other during class. The
children are from x and have an unmotivated environment. The following research question
was set by reference to the problem: “How can a teacher from School X stimulate the
autonomous motivation of children of grade Y from an unmotivated environment?”.
Literature has been studied and questionnaires administered to teachers and students to get
an answer to this question. Also, there are two lessons, the one lesson the children received
free choices in the processing of the material, the other lesson they did not.
Research has shown that structure, autonomy support, and interaction improve the three
psychological needs: competence, autonomy, and relatedness (Deci & Ryan, 2020). The
experiment proved that working with the direct instruction model provides structure and that
giving free choices in the processing of the material improved motivation and performance.
3
, Thesis education motivating students’ motivation and performance students.
Content
Introduction.........................................................................................................................................6
1. Problem analysis.............................................................................................................................7
1.1 Practical problem.......................................................................................................................7
1.2 Relevance of the research.........................................................................................................7
2. Theoretical framework....................................................................................................................8
2.1 The education system of PLACE.................................................................................................8
2.2 Motivation theory.....................................................................................................................10
Operant conditioning..................................................................................................................10
Basic needs.................................................................................................................................10
Self-determine theory.................................................................................................................12
2.3 Ecological System Theory........................................................................................................15
3. Problem statement........................................................................................................................16
3.1 Research objectives.................................................................................................................16
3.2 Main question & research questions........................................................................................16
3.2.1 Research questions............................................................................................................16
3.3 Hypothesis...............................................................................................................................16
4. Research strategy.........................................................................................................................17
4.1 Research group........................................................................................................................17
4.2 The Data collection method.....................................................................................................18
4.2.1 Survey................................................................................................................................18
4.2.2 Observe..............................................................................................................................18
4.3 Plan of action...........................................................................................................................18
4.3.1 Research activities.............................................................................................................19
4.3.2 Implementation..................................................................................................................20
4.3.3 Planning.............................................................................................................................21
5. Results...........................................................................................................................................23
Sub question 1...............................................................................................................................23
Data collection............................................................................................................................23
Subscale scores..........................................................................................................................23
Relative autonomy index............................................................................................................24
Sub question 2...............................................................................................................................24
Data collection............................................................................................................................24
The influence of teachers............................................................................................................24
Results questionnaires................................................................................................................25
Highlights observations...............................................................................................................27
Sub question 3...............................................................................................................................27
Data collection............................................................................................................................27
4
, Thesis education motivating students’ motivation and performance students.
The influence of parents.............................................................................................................28
Sub question 4...............................................................................................................................28
Data collection............................................................................................................................28
Autonomy support during lessons..............................................................................................28
The work of the children.............................................................................................................30
Children’s reaction......................................................................................................................30
Math teachers’ reaction..............................................................................................................30
6. Conclusions, recommendations and discussion............................................................................31
6.1 Conclusion................................................................................................................................31
6.2 Recommendations...................................................................................................................33
6.3 Discussion................................................................................................................................34
Bibliography......................................................................................................................................35
Appendix A, Logbook and reflection..................................................................................................37
Appendix B, Letter principal School X...............................................................................................37
Appendix C, Questionnaire children..................................................................................................37
Appendix D, Questionnaire teachers.................................................................................................39
Appendix E, Observe scheme............................................................................................................42
Appendix F, Lesson plan Control lesson............................................................................................44
Appendix G, Lesson plan Experiment................................................................................................46
Appendix H, Worksheet Control lesson.............................................................................................48
Appendix I, Worksheets Experiment lesson......................................................................................51
5
, Thesis education motivating students’ motivation and performance students.
Introduction
“When you’re not doing your homework, you will never get a good job.” “Make your mother
proud!” and “Well done!”. “It seems like the children of today don’t want to learn. I always did
what the teacher asked me. Why don’t my students do so?” teachers are saying. The
teachers have a difficult job. They don’t only have to teach the children but also have to
motivate the children to learn. Every teacher has his own way to motivate the children. I’m
graduating from the teacher training for primary school. During my teacher training, I saw
different tutors who were motivated in diverse ways. During my internship I used their
manner of working, but what will I do when I have my own class? How can I motivate my
students? How can I make sure that they want to learn? Can I motivate the children from an
unmotivated environment? Does a teacher have a grip on the motivation?
The research takes place at School x in a x (PLACE). The school suffers from the problem of
unmotivated learners and low results. During various observations, I found out that many
teachers find it difficult to keep a grip on the class and motivate the children. The teachers
give punishments and yell a lot at the children. The children are not motivated to learn, have
unmotivated attitudes and they show unruly behavior during classes. They don’t do their
homework, they don’t listen to the teacher, and they are bullying each other during the class.
The learners at School X come from x. The environment of these children is not motivated
and they live with the thought of everything happening to you and you can’t change your fate.
During my conversation with the supervisor of the learning support he said: “They think
because they are born in a x, they will never make it. But that’s not true.”
A teacher wants to teach things to his students. A teacher would like students in the class
who are happy and motivated to learn, because if the students are motivated to learn, they
are open to the information the teacher wants to teach them.
According to Stevens (2002), learning outcomes will arise spontaneously when students are
autonomously motivated (motivated from inside). Therefore, I believe teachers should get
more information about how to stimulate the autonomous motivation of the children, so the
children will learn more from the classes and the teachers will get more satisfaction from their
work.
The school wants to motivate teachers and learners, because when they are motivated,
they will achieve the highest results (Stevens, 2002). This will be an important advantage
for the school because the school likes to have the highest possible results. For children, it
is also important to get the highest possible results. Satisfactory results mean a better future
for these children.
We talked several times about motivation during my teacher training, but I have never
delved into the theory about motivation. I did a lot to motivate the children during classes, so
they were motivated to learn. But this has always been directed to external motivation. I
would like to delve into the theory of motivation in general. In addition, I want to focus on
promoting autonomous motivation by children from an unmotivated environment. During my
internship in a special needs school in the Netherlands I had to deal with children from an
unmotivated environment. Also, at the school in PLACE, teachers must deal with children
from an unmotivated environment. For me, this is an important motivation for this research,
but it is also important for teachers at this school and all other teachers in the world who
must deal with this problem.
6
, Thesis education motivating students’ motivation and performance students.
1. Problem analysis
The practical problem is based on observations of different lessons and conversations with
teachers, children, the principal and the supervisor of the learning support.
1.1 Practical problem
The school must deal with the problem of unmotivated learners and low results. The children
are not motivated to learn, have unmotivated attitudes and they show bad behavior during
classes. They don’t do their homework; they don’t listen to the teacher and they are bullying
each other during class. Also, their results are below average.
The teachers find it difficult to make sure the students are paying attention and to keep the
learners motivated. The teachers give punishments to the children and yell a lot. There is
almost no discussion between pupils and teachers because the classes are overcrowded.
Also, the teachers declare and show that they are not motivated to teach anymore.
The school wants to motivate teachers and learners, because when they are motivated, they
will achieve the highest results (Stevens, 2002).
The problem arises during the lessons. Five minutes after the teacher starts his/her lesson,
the children are not paying attention anymore; they talk with each other and walk around the
classroom. It also takes place at the houses of the children. The children don’t do their
homework.
It is a big problem that teachers and children are not motivated at school. This has a bad
influence on the results of the children. According to Stevens, the children would be learning
spontaneously when they have intrinsic motivation (Stevens, 2002). When the learners have
the intrinsic motivation they will benefit more from the education. The better the education,
the better the result. And the better the results, the better the future for the children. A good
result will provide better job opportunities, but not only will the result provide a better job
opportunity also a good attitude. Intrinsic motivation is the foundation of a good attitude (Deci
& Ryan, 2020).
The learners at School X are coming from x. Most of the parents aren’t educated or haven’t
finished all years of education. They don’t have a lot of money to spend and the children
must take care of the little brother and sisters. The environment of these children is not
motivated and they live with the thought of everything happening to you and you can’t
change your fate. During my conversation with the supervisor of the learning support he said:
“They think because they are born in a x, they will never make it. But that’s not true.”
1.2 Relevance of the research
This research is interesting and valuable to read for all teachers or other people and settings
who must deal with unmotivated children at primary and secondary school. It is important to
have knowledge about intrinsic and extrinsic motivation because then you know how to
stimulate motivation to achieve the highest results. This research is targeted to the children
from x of X but these children aren’t the only one with this problem. Also in the Netherlands,
there are children who are growing up in unmotivated environments. Their parents have bad
experiences with a school of their own childhood and they transfer it to their children. As a
teacher you must know how to stimulate the intrinsic motivation of these children.
7
2
, Thesis education motivating students’ motivation and performance students.
Summary
This research was conducted at School X in grade Y. The school must deal with the problem
of unmotivated learners and low results. The children are not motivated to learn, have
unmotivated attitudes, and they show unruly behavior during classes. They don’t do their
homework; they don’t listen to the teacher and they bully each other during class. The
children are from x and have an unmotivated environment. The following research question
was set by reference to the problem: “How can a teacher from School X stimulate the
autonomous motivation of children of grade Y from an unmotivated environment?”.
Literature has been studied and questionnaires administered to teachers and students to get
an answer to this question. Also, there are two lessons, the one lesson the children received
free choices in the processing of the material, the other lesson they did not.
Research has shown that structure, autonomy support, and interaction improve the three
psychological needs: competence, autonomy, and relatedness (Deci & Ryan, 2020). The
experiment proved that working with the direct instruction model provides structure and that
giving free choices in the processing of the material improved motivation and performance.
3
, Thesis education motivating students’ motivation and performance students.
Content
Introduction.........................................................................................................................................6
1. Problem analysis.............................................................................................................................7
1.1 Practical problem.......................................................................................................................7
1.2 Relevance of the research.........................................................................................................7
2. Theoretical framework....................................................................................................................8
2.1 The education system of PLACE.................................................................................................8
2.2 Motivation theory.....................................................................................................................10
Operant conditioning..................................................................................................................10
Basic needs.................................................................................................................................10
Self-determine theory.................................................................................................................12
2.3 Ecological System Theory........................................................................................................15
3. Problem statement........................................................................................................................16
3.1 Research objectives.................................................................................................................16
3.2 Main question & research questions........................................................................................16
3.2.1 Research questions............................................................................................................16
3.3 Hypothesis...............................................................................................................................16
4. Research strategy.........................................................................................................................17
4.1 Research group........................................................................................................................17
4.2 The Data collection method.....................................................................................................18
4.2.1 Survey................................................................................................................................18
4.2.2 Observe..............................................................................................................................18
4.3 Plan of action...........................................................................................................................18
4.3.1 Research activities.............................................................................................................19
4.3.2 Implementation..................................................................................................................20
4.3.3 Planning.............................................................................................................................21
5. Results...........................................................................................................................................23
Sub question 1...............................................................................................................................23
Data collection............................................................................................................................23
Subscale scores..........................................................................................................................23
Relative autonomy index............................................................................................................24
Sub question 2...............................................................................................................................24
Data collection............................................................................................................................24
The influence of teachers............................................................................................................24
Results questionnaires................................................................................................................25
Highlights observations...............................................................................................................27
Sub question 3...............................................................................................................................27
Data collection............................................................................................................................27
4
, Thesis education motivating students’ motivation and performance students.
The influence of parents.............................................................................................................28
Sub question 4...............................................................................................................................28
Data collection............................................................................................................................28
Autonomy support during lessons..............................................................................................28
The work of the children.............................................................................................................30
Children’s reaction......................................................................................................................30
Math teachers’ reaction..............................................................................................................30
6. Conclusions, recommendations and discussion............................................................................31
6.1 Conclusion................................................................................................................................31
6.2 Recommendations...................................................................................................................33
6.3 Discussion................................................................................................................................34
Bibliography......................................................................................................................................35
Appendix A, Logbook and reflection..................................................................................................37
Appendix B, Letter principal School X...............................................................................................37
Appendix C, Questionnaire children..................................................................................................37
Appendix D, Questionnaire teachers.................................................................................................39
Appendix E, Observe scheme............................................................................................................42
Appendix F, Lesson plan Control lesson............................................................................................44
Appendix G, Lesson plan Experiment................................................................................................46
Appendix H, Worksheet Control lesson.............................................................................................48
Appendix I, Worksheets Experiment lesson......................................................................................51
5
, Thesis education motivating students’ motivation and performance students.
Introduction
“When you’re not doing your homework, you will never get a good job.” “Make your mother
proud!” and “Well done!”. “It seems like the children of today don’t want to learn. I always did
what the teacher asked me. Why don’t my students do so?” teachers are saying. The
teachers have a difficult job. They don’t only have to teach the children but also have to
motivate the children to learn. Every teacher has his own way to motivate the children. I’m
graduating from the teacher training for primary school. During my teacher training, I saw
different tutors who were motivated in diverse ways. During my internship I used their
manner of working, but what will I do when I have my own class? How can I motivate my
students? How can I make sure that they want to learn? Can I motivate the children from an
unmotivated environment? Does a teacher have a grip on the motivation?
The research takes place at School x in a x (PLACE). The school suffers from the problem of
unmotivated learners and low results. During various observations, I found out that many
teachers find it difficult to keep a grip on the class and motivate the children. The teachers
give punishments and yell a lot at the children. The children are not motivated to learn, have
unmotivated attitudes and they show unruly behavior during classes. They don’t do their
homework, they don’t listen to the teacher, and they are bullying each other during the class.
The learners at School X come from x. The environment of these children is not motivated
and they live with the thought of everything happening to you and you can’t change your fate.
During my conversation with the supervisor of the learning support he said: “They think
because they are born in a x, they will never make it. But that’s not true.”
A teacher wants to teach things to his students. A teacher would like students in the class
who are happy and motivated to learn, because if the students are motivated to learn, they
are open to the information the teacher wants to teach them.
According to Stevens (2002), learning outcomes will arise spontaneously when students are
autonomously motivated (motivated from inside). Therefore, I believe teachers should get
more information about how to stimulate the autonomous motivation of the children, so the
children will learn more from the classes and the teachers will get more satisfaction from their
work.
The school wants to motivate teachers and learners, because when they are motivated,
they will achieve the highest results (Stevens, 2002). This will be an important advantage
for the school because the school likes to have the highest possible results. For children, it
is also important to get the highest possible results. Satisfactory results mean a better future
for these children.
We talked several times about motivation during my teacher training, but I have never
delved into the theory about motivation. I did a lot to motivate the children during classes, so
they were motivated to learn. But this has always been directed to external motivation. I
would like to delve into the theory of motivation in general. In addition, I want to focus on
promoting autonomous motivation by children from an unmotivated environment. During my
internship in a special needs school in the Netherlands I had to deal with children from an
unmotivated environment. Also, at the school in PLACE, teachers must deal with children
from an unmotivated environment. For me, this is an important motivation for this research,
but it is also important for teachers at this school and all other teachers in the world who
must deal with this problem.
6
, Thesis education motivating students’ motivation and performance students.
1. Problem analysis
The practical problem is based on observations of different lessons and conversations with
teachers, children, the principal and the supervisor of the learning support.
1.1 Practical problem
The school must deal with the problem of unmotivated learners and low results. The children
are not motivated to learn, have unmotivated attitudes and they show bad behavior during
classes. They don’t do their homework; they don’t listen to the teacher and they are bullying
each other during class. Also, their results are below average.
The teachers find it difficult to make sure the students are paying attention and to keep the
learners motivated. The teachers give punishments to the children and yell a lot. There is
almost no discussion between pupils and teachers because the classes are overcrowded.
Also, the teachers declare and show that they are not motivated to teach anymore.
The school wants to motivate teachers and learners, because when they are motivated, they
will achieve the highest results (Stevens, 2002).
The problem arises during the lessons. Five minutes after the teacher starts his/her lesson,
the children are not paying attention anymore; they talk with each other and walk around the
classroom. It also takes place at the houses of the children. The children don’t do their
homework.
It is a big problem that teachers and children are not motivated at school. This has a bad
influence on the results of the children. According to Stevens, the children would be learning
spontaneously when they have intrinsic motivation (Stevens, 2002). When the learners have
the intrinsic motivation they will benefit more from the education. The better the education,
the better the result. And the better the results, the better the future for the children. A good
result will provide better job opportunities, but not only will the result provide a better job
opportunity also a good attitude. Intrinsic motivation is the foundation of a good attitude (Deci
& Ryan, 2020).
The learners at School X are coming from x. Most of the parents aren’t educated or haven’t
finished all years of education. They don’t have a lot of money to spend and the children
must take care of the little brother and sisters. The environment of these children is not
motivated and they live with the thought of everything happening to you and you can’t
change your fate. During my conversation with the supervisor of the learning support he said:
“They think because they are born in a x, they will never make it. But that’s not true.”
1.2 Relevance of the research
This research is interesting and valuable to read for all teachers or other people and settings
who must deal with unmotivated children at primary and secondary school. It is important to
have knowledge about intrinsic and extrinsic motivation because then you know how to
stimulate motivation to achieve the highest results. This research is targeted to the children
from x of X but these children aren’t the only one with this problem. Also in the Netherlands,
there are children who are growing up in unmotivated environments. Their parents have bad
experiences with a school of their own childhood and they transfer it to their children. As a
teacher you must know how to stimulate the intrinsic motivation of these children.
7
