Esthetic, Ethical and Religious 1. Love of beauty, harmony, rhythm, rhyme, etc. 2. Moral impulses, love of doing right, conscience 3. Admiration for moral qualities in others 4. Reverence, worship, religious aspiration and exaltation All these are teaching resources, ready for use or easily aroused. They are the springs of action which the teacher must direct if he would govern or teach. According as it is directed the same impulse may impel the child to the most virtuous conduct or to the most vicious. The same innate motives may drive him successfully through all the tasks of school years or they may drive him out of school. Principles of Motivation.-A few guiding principles which will aid in determining the choice of motives may be given: 1. No motive is good unless it motivates. It is the softest of "soft pedagogy" to allow a duty to remain undone because an appeal to a lofty motive brings no response 2. Tendencies strengthen by their exercise. Of several impulses, give practice to the one that needs to be developed rather than to one that is already objectionably conspicuous; for example, arouse the courage of the timid child and the modesty of the brazen one 3. Arouse higher motives in preference to lower. The latter are primitive, deep-rooted in our subhuman antecedents, always present, easily actuated, and will take care of themselves. The former are efficient but easily displaced and need development. Do not permit a child to perform a task through selfish rivalry which he will do through coöperation or æsthetic interest 4. Higher motives must grow, slowly, through long exercise, nourishment, and encouragement. They cannot be taught or given, nor can they grow through neglect or disparagement. Because a child "lacks a sense of honor" is reason enough for trusting him as much as possible. Through little victories only does he gain strength for bigger ones 5. Make permanent rather than temporary connections. With a given sort of activity seek to connect the impulse which should always motivate it. Composition work should be done through a genuine desire to express thought, and the study of literature through a love of its beauty and its dramatic interest. These should not be unnecessarily supplanted by a temporary rivalry for grades nor by a group incentive 6. Ideally, each task should set off its appropriate motive directly. In Nature's education this is true, and it would be true in an ideal curriculum taught with ideal methods. This is the ultimate standard of economy and efficiency. Students of childhood are coming surely to agreement on the conclusion that any activity so foreign to the native impulses of the child that it cannot directly stimulate an effective motivation is by that fact not adapted to the stage of the child's development. Intellectual tastes, like tastes gastronomic, are normally good indices of one's real needs, but both are easily perverted. Motives thus directly called forth by the work itself, instead of by a mediating incentive, are reasonably sure to be wholesome and well adapted 21. Social Motivation [VOELKER, Paul F., The Function of Ideals in Social Education, pp. 35-36. New York, Teachers College, Columbia University, 1921.] Social motivation grows in an atmosphere of social service, where each one is taught by means of active participation in group affairs to give something, to do something for the welfare of the group. Long-continued participation under such conditions will result in an "habituation to a sound moral working order." Social education must furnish the motive for all other forms of education,-vocational, physical and cultural; otherwise the purpose of the efforts will vitiate their results. . . . Social education must set the goal, not of material achievement or individual success, but of the service of mankind. It must create the desire in every individual for a social solidarity, and take the ideal of service as its chief end. 22. Purposive Behavior In a modified behavioristic program of psychology it is necessary to include purpose as well as stimulus and response. In the first place, purpose is to be regarded as an inner force. It is an inner response to some external stimulus which in turn acts as a control stimulus to further reactions. Unlike ordinary reflexes or simple reactions which are over with once they have acted, purpose persists. That aspect of purpose which tends to persist is the tendency toward some end or goal. A stimulus-response psychology must have a place for purpose since it is this element which acts persistently in situations and directs the individual in a certain direction. In addition, there must be a place for conscious fore-knowledge of the goal toward which the act is directed. However, imagination and will, as well as pur pose, function when the individual's consciousness is controlled by the future. 23. Incentives and Attention The laws of readiness and effect have their source in instinct, basal capacity and habit. Pupil activities that are closely associated with or involve the activity of these satisfiers are said to be motivated. The motive, urge or drive imparts its impetus to the material with which it is associated. The motive is a reaction to some objective stimulus. The stimulus that gives rise to a motive is called an incentive. In using incentives for the purpose of arousing motives, purposes, drives or urges, the teacher should (1) choose those that are appropriate to the child's stage of development; (2) those that are most applicable and natural to which attention is desired; (3) those that are most universal in their appeal; (4) those that will be found in life situations in child and adult life; and (5) the highest type that will produce the desired reactions. 24. Motivation (Teaching Suggestions) [BURTON, William H., Supervision and the Improvement of Teaching, pp. 57-64, New York, D. Appleton & Co., 1922.] (Adapted.) Learning takes place best under conditions of clear, undivided attention. Forced attention is not effective for learning. Spontaneous attention and interest are two names for practically the same thing. Voluntary attention, however, precedes interest, instead of following it as was commonly supposed. The problem of the teacher is to get attention, either that kind which is equivalent to interest, or such a degree of voluntary attention that interest will develop. We need to fear no weakening effects upon the children merely because school work is made interesting to them. Parker, in his texts on method sets forth logically and emphatically that the socalled "sugar-coating" to secure interest is not a nambypamby procedure as many think, but properly applied, is a cold scientific efficiency measure." 2 S. C. Parker, General Methods of Teaching in Elementary Schools. (Boston, Ginn & Co.), p. 214. Parker, however, is aware of the abuses that have led to criticism. He cites the case of children who became so interested in the fireworks used in a demonstration of a volcanic action that they no longer cared for bays and mountain ranges. The chief source of spontaneous attention which is so beneficial for good learning is in the instinctive interests possessed by all normal human beings. It is to be advised against the use of instinctive fears, such as fear of physical pain or fear of sarcasm and ridicule. Emulation should be used very carefully, as it is susceptible to wrong focus by the learner, though with some individuals it may be used to advantage. Interest in rhythm, jingles and interest in games can be utilized in scores of drill devices, in learning phonics, words, combinations and tables. Interest in construction finds a ready outlet in making towns, farms, radios, doll dresses, or cutting out illustrations for stories. Many teachers make the mistake of suppressing and over-riding many interests instead of turning them to account. The youth who causes an uproar by wiggling his ears and appearing in an old derby hat can be made an ally and exponent of good order when his talents are directed in the proper channels as in dramatization. The problematic aim, so important in good teaching, is partly based on the pupil's puzzled interest and a desire for mental activity. The psychological reasons back of the problem of motivation are equalled by the sociological. Appeals based on social approval often prove effective in winning boys back to loyalty and good behavior. Even though certain manifestations of instinctive behavior may be embarrassing, the wise teacher can direct these instinctive interests to pedagogical ends. Many teachers who are popular with their pupils state that the class does exceptionally well when they are brought to a realization of the need and worth of the subject-matter itself. Ideally, this should perhaps be the principal motive. QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS 1. William James tells of "remembering classes in which, instruction being uninteresting, and discipline relaxed, a buzzing murmur was always to be heard, which invariably stopped for as long a time as an anecdote lasted." Explain why such was the case. 2. What is meant by secondary passive attention? Give an illustration of secondary passive attention from your own school experience. 3. Explain the following: Miss Moxley has her fourth grade class out in the fields studying nature. She bids her class to "See that cardinal bird in the tree. There it is." But no pupil saw it for quite a while. Finally, Robert saw it, and then wondered why he had not seen it before, and why his classmates were so stupid that they could not see it. 4. Comment on the following: Tom is quite able to study his lessons although there is much noise and every other pupil seems to be talking or moving about. 5. Explain why Ralph, a certain high-school child, does not hear what is being said in the class although he is not asleep. 6. What should be done about errors in English that we find in civics work? Is it right to ignore them? On the other hand are we justified in turning the pupils' attention from civics content to the errors in English? 7. Why is it bad psychology to dwell upon children's errors in either spelling or language work? to learn the multiplication combinations in serial order and in tables? 8. Tell why the admonition of the high-school science teacher that the pupils "be neat in their work about the laboratory," is not a good one. Give ten concrete directions that may be used to replace the general direction. 9. Is it possible that some things may be uninteresting to us only because we do not know enough about them? 10. What can be done in an eighth grade to develop the ability to concentrate? 11. List the possible motives that a child might have in being dishonest in school. How can dishonesty in school work be overcome most effectively? 12. Purpose and mental attitude are conditions of attention. What cognizance should the teacher take of this fact? 13. Of what value is forced attention? 14. What is interest? What is its educational importance? 15. Suppose a high-school student comes to you and asks how he can get interested in geometry, what advice would you give him? 16. What are motives? What guiding principles will aid you in determining the choice of motives? |