Navinta Rani
Every organism is born within some kind of needs. Each
and every activity done in the life to fulfil the needs for its satisfaction is
not without motivation. Motivation is the process by which an organism is
stimulated to do any activity. But in the field of psychology, this word is
used in two forms of process and product of the process. In the form of
process, it is used in such a psycho-physiological process which generate the
emotional and conative energy in organism and stimulate him to do the specific
activity while in the manner of product, it is used in the form of that energy
or power which is originated by emotional perplexity and motivate him to do the
specific activity.
Motivation is referred in the dictionary in many ways
such as- desire, need, motive, goal, aspiration, wish, drive, aim, ambition,
wants, striving etc. Their meaning does not maintain uniformity. Conclusively,
it can define as a process by which an organism is inspired, goaded or coaxed
to do something. Motivation encircles many aspects of behaviour which involve
the individual to achieve his pre-determined goal. Thus, motivation is
purposive, without the presence of goal this process can not start. The word
"Motivation" has been derived from the Latin word "Movex"
or the "Motum" which signifies to move, motor, motion or to put into
action etc. as the etymological meanings. Therefore, motivation is a force that
compels an individual to act or behave in a particular direction and manner.
According to Woodsworth, "Motivation is the activity in progress".
F.J Mcdonald defines motivation very aptly as, "motivation is a change of
a power structure in a human being which is related to stimulus and reaching a
goal". He emphasises three dimensions of motivation such as - energy,
inspiration and desire. Maslow has advanced the theory of hierarchy of needs
ranging from basic physiological to self-actualization needs. According to H.W.
Bernard, motivation is involved in the stimulation of action towards particular
objectives. Thus, motivation refers to definite set of mind of the learner
which inspires him to reach his goal.
In educational psychology, motivation is both fascinating
and frustraiting. It is fascinating because all the organisms are engaged in
something while it is frustraiting because at times when we wonder about our
own motive. Motivation is the stimulation to act toward a particular objective
when previously there was little or no attraction to that goal. There are two
approaches for motivation such as - practical and mental hygiene approach.
Practical approaches including praise, pinning the good papers on board, visit,
drama, name on honour roll etc. is no satisfactory means of testing the relative
merits. Through mental hygiene approach, motivation should stem from
fundamental needs of learners. There should attack the cause not the symptom.
Self chosen motivations are better than those which are imposed.
In fact, motivation is an individual phenomenon. What is
true for one learner, may not suit the other one in the same or other learning
situation. So, continuous emphasis is being given on experiments and researches
in the field of motivational psychology and pedagogy. The following theories given
by different psychologists may be named general theories of motivation.
Behaviouristics Theories of Motivation- These theories are
propounded by Thorndike, Hull, Miller, Mowrer, and Skinner in which motivation
are largely governed by the principles of reinforcement. All human behaviours
are the result of some responses towards stimulus. Walia had concluded that all
behaviours are based on needs and drives.
Physiological
Theories of Motivation- The
profounders of these theories of motivation are William James, Rutherford,
Zangueill, Lashley, Kretchmer and Sheldon, Hebb and Steller, Morgan and Beach
who believe that some stimuli and motivation remains at the root of these
behaviour.
Psycho-Analytic
Theories of Motivation-
According to Freud, Jung and Adler, the human behaviour is motivated and
governed by semiconscious and unconscious will of human being who is motivated
to work on those activities which are pleasure giving.
Cognitive
Theories of Motivation- These
theories are based on an understanding and anticipation of events. Walia
describes that cognitive theories think of choices by persons among alternative
courses of action as depending upon the relative strength of the forces acting
on the individual.
Recent
Trends of Theories Related To Motivation- Hebb, Stellar, Mowrer and Kluckohn are working to
develop a single comprehensive theory of motivation. Steller (1954) proposed
that amount of motivated behaviour is a function of the level of neural
activity. Hebb (1958) explains reasonable assumptions about the operation of
nervous system. Mowrer and Kluckhohn (1960) believe that all behaviour stems
from drives which are produced by biological needs.
There are number of motives in our personal and social
life which are responsible for motivating our behaviour. These motives can be
broadly classified into two categories-primary and secondary motives, Primary
or intrinsic or natural motives include personal, physiological and innate
motives such as hunger, thrust, rest, steal, love, sex, ejection of waste from
body etc. while secondary or extrinsic or artificial motives consist of social,
psychological and acquired motives such as safety, protection, demonstration,
curiosity, knowledge, self-respect, general etc. Motivation develops in an
organism either by intrinsic or extrinsic motives but its nature is internal.
It develops in a organism in the form of internal energy or force which excites
and compels him to achieve the specific goal.
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Attain Aim or Adjustment
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Internal
Tension
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Need
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Obstacle
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Incentive
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Drive
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Motivation influences the both, learning process and
result. In fact, motivation is very important from the educational view point.
Their use is essential for motivating learning, developing healthy aptitude and
effect for desirable behavioral change. In learning the factors which influence
motivation, encouragement has the special significance in the form of
admiration and criticism. Awareness directly influences development and
educational achievements of the students. Awareness is influenced indirectly,
by attention, interest and rate. Aspiration is produced among the students from
clarity of objectives, child's ability, capacity and continuous knowledge of
progress. The use of punishment is most effective in case of indiscipline or
committing an unsocial behaviour at proper time and in a proper measure. Needs
are considered to be the mother of inventions. So, it is the duty of the
teacher of makes the student to feel the need of subject matter and keep in
emotional state of the child's mind. When the student establishes emotional
relationship with knowledge, he can easily get motivation. Students should be
acquainted with their progress from time to time, so that the students become
active and motivated to gain more and more knowledge. The teacher can motivate
the students for new knowledge by organising competition through individual or
collective basis. Besides these, school environment, debates, councils,
interest, habits are some other factors influencing motivation.
Techniques of Motivation - We know learning is the natal tendency of
man but reaching in the school of the students shows that they are motivated to
learn, how much? it is another
thing. On the back of their motivation, there may be one or two or more
motives. Motivation is such a strong medium by which the desire of the learner
to learn can be made strong. It's use creates among the students such an
internal power by which they are motivated toward learning by themselves with
interest, attention and encouragement. Thus, motivation is the golden road for
learning. The highest goal of learning is procurement of maximum achievement
which depends upon the combination of ability and motivation. A motivated
student learns more easily and more than his capacity. It is essential
epitomizely to analyse the techniques of enhancing the learner's motivation
which are as follows:
Reward and Punishment- Reward is the best motive to make the
students expert. It brings about satisfaction among the students and increases
their moral through which they are motivated to learn and makes them the master
of the skills. Punishment is an opposite technique to motivate the students in
the direction of desirable behavior. The students try to change their behaviour
to save themselves from the punishment. But reward and punishment both should
be given vigilantly.
Praise and Reproof- The excellent work and proper behaviour of
the students should be praised by the teacher by which they will be encouraged
and their will power enhances. The technique of reproof of wrong work is most
effective and useful for bright, medium and for poor students. The technique of
praise and reproof motivate the students to perform the desirable activity
again and again and as a result they develop more interest in that activity.
Success and Failure- Success develops the satisfaction and
self-confidence among learners because if
they get the knowledge of success in the very beginning, they may
proceed forward in their work very
enthusiastically. On the other hand, failure function motivates the learners to
accept a challenge and get force and reinforcement for their work. If the
learner is discouraged by his failure the teacher should make such effort that
the learner may succeed.
Competition and Co-operation- Sometimes rivalry based competition and
cooperation on the level of collective and individual work is the best motive.
It creats the spirit of healthy competition with the cooperation of others and
develops the feelings of struggle and vigour among the learners. The spirit of
giving and taking cooperation frees the learner from tension and also encourage
him ready and curious for learning and group work.
Novelty- Within the curriculum, the teacher should create the
interest and curiosity about the subject matter among the students using the
various and new teaching methods and also changing the techniques of
presentation of contents. This technique of motivation makes the students
ready, spontaneous and energetic for learning and teaching activities and they
are also curious and concentrate their attention to the subject matter. Thus,
novelty brings more momentum in the process of learning.
Interest- is the most important technique of motivation to
attract the learner’s attention because by nature students are curious to know
everything they come across. The teacher should have patience to eradicate the
various problems coming in the
subject matter. Teaching&learning should not be exclusively book-oriented.
Multidimenational activities like writing, singing, playing and acting with the
help of audio-visual aids should accompany with them. Thus, attention is fixed
and interest should be around in the direction of learning among the students.
Self Importance- Every individual awares of his self-respect
and he does not allow his personality to be run down before others. If,
anything hampers his respect then his mental stability becomes imbalanced. The
teacher should take necessary steps to secure this in the students. If the
students feel secured of his own-self, he is motivated to learn better in order
to maintain the standard of his personality.
Besides
the above mentioned techniques of motivation, there are some more other
techniques to motivate the learning such as-to make the class environment
lively and interesting. The aptitude of the students should be changed through
the desire and level of aspiration and they may be motivated for high level of
learning. The teacher should be acquainted with the student's progress with the
help of learning curves and examination-results. In additions to these, other
techniques are games, collective work, participation in social work, knowledge
of needs, teacher's behavior etc. which can be used to motivate the students
for learning.
In
the end it may be concluded that motivation is one of the strongest means of
learning. The teacher can use different types of means to take the students
toward the goal and in this way he can bring the desirable change in their
behaviour. But whatever means of motivation he is using, he must keep in his
mind of their age, maturity, mental state, subject matter, goal, nature of
skills and their environment. It is must for him to motivate them to learn in
the classroom. It is an art itself, the teacher should be expert in this art.
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Smt. Navinta Rani
(Director)
Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia
Institute
Sikri Kalan, Modinagar, GZB
