Importance of Motive in Teaching and Learning

by Puja Mondal
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It is not enough to activate an organism. The energy released is ineffective unless action is directed toward
some object that is capable of satisfying the drive.Improvement in learning will only take place when
activities are converged upon well-defined and attainable goals.

Learning cannot be successful without persistent, selective, and purposeful effort. This principle has far-
reaching implications for educational procedures. The need for adequate motives for doing school work is
clearly just as great as the need for adequate motives for doing any other type of work.

1. Interest:
One of the appeals that have been employed in effective motivation is the appeal to interest. The term
interest, as used here, means the attention that piece of subjects-matter draws from the learner. In addition
to its being a feeling of worth, interest is dynamic. It is motivating force that incites us to attend to a person,
a thing, or an activity.
Interest, in other words, can be the cause and effect on an activity. It is not an end in itself but rather a most
important means to that ultimate end of growth and development. By creating a proper mental set, interest
guarantees attention and paves the way for “activity leading to further activity,” Interest is closely related to
urges, drives, or motive.
The pupil who is interested to a certain degree of intellectual fascination always becomes a good student.
Interest and drive are concomitants of acquired ability. Interest, to be effective, must be natural and must
exist because of the character of the individual’s mental make-up and the nature of the subject presented.
The so-called, acquired interest, or created interest as it is sometimes called, is in reality another form of
motivation. The fundamental thing in motivation is the recognition, on the part of the learner, of the
connection that the mastery of the subject has with something he desires to secure. The natural interest
and curiosity of the pupil will be impelling only when the pupil comes into contact with new materials that are
brought to him in such a way as to arouse mental appetite. Usually a pupil’s degree of interest in a subject
is in proportion to the teacher’s personality and her power to arouse enthusiasm. One’s interest is of highly
motivating import. Interest is stimulated and increases in its intensity. The teacher should utilize the pupil’s
interest as a drive to more excellent work. Herbart believed that the fundamental aim of education should’
be to develop many-sided interests. The child’s interest, whether native or acquired, must be ascertained
and utilized in the classroom. The teacher must take advantage of it. According to Professor. H. Home
“interest is the oil which lubricates, the wheels of the classroom machinery.”
2. Personal Development:
Another appeal that maybe made strong with many pupils is the appeal of the value of subject- matter as a
means of bringing about definite personal development. The pupil maybe made to feel the need of
intellectual growth and the desire to attain such growth. The pupil may- value the subject as a mark of
personal attainment. For example, the pupil may study Spanish just to feel intellectually superior to those
who have never studied the subject.
The desire to be educated is worthy of being studied and employed as a means of motivating school work.
The motive of personal growth stimulates pupils to great efforts that they may grow in resources. All pupils
have great desire to know. The teacher must supply those under his care with satisfying information, and he
should endeavor to create conditions which will imbue them with the desire to grow, Besides, the school
should endeavor to pupils learn only things and processes which are of use and value in life situations.
UPP1002 Dr HAN & Dr RT : Group Discussion W1
 3. Instincts:
William James” in 1880 stated that a human being inherits a large number of instincts-that is, unlearned
modes of responses and that ever instinct is the equivalent of a fundamental and insistent urge or impulse.
He believed that certain situations would produce what has been called a “preparatory response” or
condition of readiness in the organism involved in an instinctive reaction. Likewise, Mc Dougall and
Woodworth (1918) agree that every instinct results in states of readiness and drives to action. Some
instincts can be utilized as motives or drives for school work. Some instincts are essentially good and their
satisfaction maybe availed of as a stimulus to learning. The undesirable instincts maybe thwarted by
neglect, substitution, and repression. Instincts that are useful in promoting learning are gregariousness,
competition, desire for social approval, manipulation, and collection. The teachers must recognize the value
of these innate tendencies is teaching and learning. Several experiments have revealed that children work
better and faster and improve more rapidly when working together under the spur of competition the when
wording alone. Psychologically, competition has been found .effective because it increases achievement.
Competition is effective in stimulating achievement.
Indeed, the pretense of a co- working group has the effect of increasing the efficiency and speed of the
individual, but the quality of the thought processes is usually superior when the performer g working alone.
When quality is the end in view, the presence of a co-working group is probably always beneficial, but when
judgment and reasoning are involved, or when the materials studied are different in nature, working alone
appears to be much superior.
It can be said therefore that some pupils are stimulated by the presence of their fellows and do better work
in groups; others can accomplish more when working alone. Then again differences exist according to the
nature of the work, some kinds of work being done best when alone, others being done in groups. Mayer
(1903) showed that boys do more work when working as a group than when they work alone. On the whole,
whether the individual works in the presence of others or alone, the differences are not very large.
Variations occur among individuals. In general, however, the highest quality of work is done by working
alone when the tasks are difficult; when quality and difficulty are not involved to so great an extent and high
speed is desirable, working in a group is most effective. Social facilitation has been found experimentally to
be an important factor for the motivation of achievement. The display of result gives definiteness to the urge
to succeed, to overcome assistance. The urge to surpass others, in all its manifold forms, is one of the most
interesting and important human urges. It is possible that both school and society have emphasized
competition at the expense of cooperation; if cooperation is a desired trait, opportunity must be provided for
pupils to practice cooperation. Competition between groups, if conducted properly, gives training in
cooperation. Group games and interscholastic athletics exemplify group competition. The school is now
being conducted in such a way that opportunity is given for the development of competition with the main
purpose of motivating learning. Rivalry is motivation with the goal of superiority in achievement.
Psychologically, rivalry has been found effective because it increases achievement. However, in teaching
and learning situations, too much emphasis upon competition may develop undesirable habits of behaviour.
4. Emotions:
Motives of a type predominantly emotional in character are found in the studies which use praise and
reproof, encouragement and discouragement, as a motivating device. Praise and reproof are found to have
specific motivating effects. Hurlock’s (1925) investigation found praise to be a stronger motivating stimulus.
Chase (1932) also found praise to be superior. In this type of motive the teacher employs verbal
commendation or censure as a means of influencing the pupil’s work. It is also intended to produce some
sort of emotional response within the pupil. Teachers have always employed sarcasm, commendation, and
censure as means of stimulating pupils. The early schoolmaster employed censure, sarcasm, rigid control,
compulsion, tension, and fear, as means of stimulating the pupils.
They, likewise, employed censure, sarcasm as the chief means of influencing pupils to take their work
seriously. From a review of the studies dealing with emotional motives, certain principles are established.
Praise is better than reproof as a motive for diligent work. It is better regardless of age, sex, grade, or
degree of intellectual maturity. It has been observed that both praise and reproof maybe effectively
employed as motivating influences, but praise is better from the standpoint of both immediate and remote
return. Some pupils respond better to censure then to praise, and there are some teachers who, because of
certain personality traits, can neither commend nor reprove pupils in an effective manner. In general, older
UPP1002 Dr HAN & Dr RT : Group Discussion W1
 children and children who are dull respond better to praise, and reproof has an unfavourable effect on them.
Reproof, on the other hand, may have a desirable effect on some of the brighter pupils, although on the
whole, praise is better. Poor pupils need praise and encouragement, but the bright pupils are so
accustomed to smooth sailing that occasional reproof may spur them to do better work. According to
Hurlock,” “boys respond to both praise and blame better than the girls do.” With younger and less mature
pupils, praise is likely to be more effective than reroof can be employed to great a advantage. The teacher
needs to exercise discrimination in the use of praise and reproof and also to be selective in its application.
Pupils also differ individually in their responsiveness both commendation and disapproval.

5. Knowledge of Results:
A powerful motive in learning is the knowledge of results. In many teaching situations, the pupils hardly
know how they stand. They are not certain whether they are making progress, or whether their work is
highly satisfactory. Hence, a learner should be appraised of his progress or growth. This is a factor in the
stimulating situation for the individual is informed of the social relationship of rivalry and recognition.
The effect of “knowledge of result was first investigated by Judd in 1905. Book and Novel (1922)” found in
controlled experiment that every man and woman fell below his score when knowledge of results was
suppressed. When knowledge of result was added to the learning situation every subject of the experiment
surpassed the record he had when he had no knowledge of the results of his effort.
The made studies made by Thorndike and others1′ report consistent evidence of the motivation effect of
knowledge of results upon various kinds of both mental and motor behaviour. The success factor is
important in education for it serves as a motivating force.
Pupils, in general, want knowledge of results. The use of graphs and records showing their achievements in
different subjects like reading, arithmetic, and other activities will meet this need. They can observe, not
only their own progress, but also those of their classmates. Hence, they will be motivated to beat and to
improve their own records as well as those of their classmates. The desire for social approval will drive
them to work harder in order to improve their records. An objective knowledge of results is a highly
desirable motive to use in teaching. The types of motives mentioned are not all acceptable to- progressive
education. Traditional education has made more use of the competitive and acquisitive motive; on the other
hand, progressive education has stressed cooperation and sharing, in consonance with the democratic way
of life. It is the belief of the writer, using the eclectic approach, that in teaching and in learning both
individualistic and social motives are desirable as forms of motivation. If the understanding of the motives as
observed in the process of teaching is natural and functional, i.e., based upon the native equipment of the
learner and upon his daily life activities, the accomplishment of the purpose of education becomes more
certain as the process rises to the realistic and psychological level.
Motives are the chief sources of spontaneous attention and joyful effort. They are also the bases of potential
energy at the disposal of the teacher and the learner. It is generally- accepted in the field of education that
effective learning can be mentioned by a teacher who possess a dynamic personality and who reflects in his
own attitude the influences of a board and wholesome experience. Teaching and learning, to be effective,
must have motive.

UPP1002 Dr HAN & Dr RT : Group Discussion W1