Internalization In Education

To be moved to do something, you must feel involved and eager to accomplish a goal. Everyone has different levels of motivation, making it difficult to address large groups of people using the same type of motivation. In schools, we have many children struggling to stay interested in their work. There has been an increase of children diagnosed with ADD and ADHD. Children diagnosed with ADD have almost tripled in the last 15 years. The cause of this increase is unknown but maybe it is our approach to education in America. The United States education standards have stayed constant for many years, through change and modernization of society. The way we motivate students needs to change. We extrinsically motivate students with physical rewards that actually undermine their intrinsic motivation. On top of trying to motivate them through various rewards, we threaten students, give them deadlines, and create competitive pressure. We try and control their behavior but when students feel controlled their intrinsic motivation fades. Without …show more content…
We must give students challenges that they are capable of doing and providing an optimal level of challenge. Given students capabilities, we must give them appropriate work to match their skill level. Internalization will occur if they are able to comprehend a goal and have the skills to accomplish that goal. Without internalization they will not value the work they are doing and amotivation will occur. Companying this feeling of competence, we must join it with a sense of autonomy. Independence and self-direction enhance intrinsic motivation by giving students a feeling of autonomy. In a study done in 1981, Deci, Nezlek and Sheinman found that “autonomy-supportive (in contrast to controlling) teachers catalyze in their students greater intrinsic motivation, curiosity, and the desire for challenge (Ryan,