Education
Introduction
Child development is a crucial process that considers different nuances. In the process of development, a child faces a variety of issues that require constant motivation and guidance. Ideally, the life of a child revolves around motivation and achievements. Motivation in child development refers to the act of arousing a person or a being into appropriate actions with a goal that is desirable in mind. In the child, several actions and goals lay in the future. Learning becomes a vital aspect in this case. Motivation, therefore, dwells upon appropriating critical desires to perform an action. Motivation can either be intrinsic (internally driven) or extrinsic (environmentally driven). The end of motivation rests in achievement. Achievement is the goal realization after a motivated attempt. This essay attempts to establish aspects of motivation in children with aspect to learning and achievement.
Relationship between Motivation and Achievement
Learning is the main objective why students are enrolled in schools. The learning process involves both the students and the teachers in terms of concentration and effort. Many different factors affect the ability and willingness of a student to learn. One of these is motivation. Motivation dwells on theoretical construct that become necessary to give details of the commencement, course, intensity, persistence as well as quality of a behavior that is directed towards a goal (Harter, 1981). Motivation exists in children but in different levels and types, which are intrinsic and extrinsic motivations. Intrinsic motivation is the motivation that derives its source from internal factors such as a real interest in the subject being taught or the need to feel personal skill at something (Guthrie, 2007). On the other hand, there is extrinsic motivation, which is affected by other people and factors beyond one’s self (Guthrie, 2007). For instance, encouragement from parents do to something may influence a child to have higher motivation. The child may excel at that activity just to please them. On the other hand, another example of extrinsic motivation is awards for achievement (Harter, 1981). When children know that there is a price to be won for high academic performance, they will work harder with the hope of beating the other children to the prize.
Motivation and Achievement
Motivation has often been perceived to affect the academic achievement of students. In fact, many have thought of it as the main determining factor thus making it the cornerstone of both parent and teachers in the facilitation of academic excellence. The main ideology is that how much a child wants to do something will affect the results attained. For instance if one child wants receives an award for being first in class, it is likely that this child will perform better than a child who was not offered an award. This has brought about the conduction of research to ascertain whether this is true. According to Ross (2011), many researchers have embarked on this search to try to prove the connection linking the two variables. However, this does not end the controversy since most of them have different outcomes therefore creating a dilemma of what exactly is the correct stand (Brophy, 2010, pp. 3-8).
Motivation and Parental Involvement
Fan and Williams (2009) investigate the various dimensions of parental involvement, and the manner they predict intrinsic motivation towards academic performance, specifically in mathematics and English. Teachers may have the access and information regarding children’s’ academic lives but they are not the only people who can be involved and monitor their performance. The research Fan and Williams (2009) finds that parent involvement has a positive effect on children in regards to their academic performance. In that case, parents are responsible for encouraging their children using different techniques and in the process raise their motivation. This in turn causes the children to work harder therefore raising their academic achievements. However, the study does not clearly provide the dimensions of parental involvement.
The dimensions of parent involvement are difficult to define since there is no provided guideline as to which actions by the parents fall under the category and which actions do not. Parental involvement can be described through a range of activities like overseeing homework and attending parent teacher conferences. Although the research managed to determine the effect parent involvement has on children motivation, it is also important to measure the different dimensions of the involvement for better details in results.
Irrespective of the lack of dimensions of parental involvement like period of association, love dispositions, and role modeling period, they were able to determine that parental involvement has a positive effect in their children. This positive effect is through the heightened motivation whose results were measured by the change in academic performance. As a result of the positive correlation between parent involvement, motivation and academic achievement, parent involvement has in many cases been offered as a remedy for school education. It is important for a parent to be informed of the proceedings of their children’s academic life. Monitoring the academic behavior will give the parents a chance to help and motivate where need be. This eventually translates to better performance and a high sense of self -esteem in the student (Weihua Fan, 2010).
Gonzales-DeHass (2005) in their investigation of the relationship between parent involvement and student motivation found that there is a positive correlation between parent involvement and the student’s motivation to learn. It is their opinion that the perception that a child has concerning his or her parents and towards academic achievement is a great influence on their motivation to achieve academic goals. According to this research, the teachers, parents, and friends have a great impact on the school performance of a child. This implies that the role of parents is not only manifested through involvement but also through the parenting style, they use.
Different parents have different techniques of bringing up their children. Some prefer to expose their children to certain environmental conditions they believe shall mould their personality. Others also prefer to live each day relieving the children in soft care and tenderness. Regardless of their approach, parents and other role models teach the children what is important in life. If the way the students were brought up does not incorporate studies as important then this may negatively affect the student’s motivation to learn. The parent and teacher opinions do not always correlate. This means that the parenting style used with a child may have negative effects on performance. As soon as a teacher discovers this, it is important to handle such situations carefully. Therefore, teachers have to guide these children to learn what is important and therefore influence their motivation.
According to Ross, (2011) this research suggests that parental involvement is positively correlated with student motivation based on the difference in students’performance as measured through the difference in academic achievement. He continues that if a student has low motivation, he or she is likely to have lower academic performance as opposed to the student with high motivation. The findings of the research state that students with parent involvement exhibit a responsibility to learn. Parents affect the children’ intrinsic and extrinsic motivation constructs. Through physical rewards like money and presents, extrinsic motivation is attained while when parents praise and congratulate their children intrinsic motivation is achieved. Parents therefore have a great impact on the motivation levels of children. This then transforms to academic achievement. Children with parent involvement are likely to perform much better than the children who lack such involvement (Holbein, 2005).
Awan (2011) conducted a study to examine the achievement motivation and its relationship with achievement. In the study achievement, motivation refers to extent to which individuals differ in their need to strive to attain awards. Ross (2011) who propounded that when students have high achievement motivation, they will act in ways that will help them outperform other students asserted this finding. High achievement motivation signifies a high level of desire to attain a certain goal. Students who have high achievement motivation will therefore demonstrate traits that go hand in hand with the high performance. This type of student will do anything to acquire the location they desire to be. The results of this study affirmed that there was a high correlation of achievement of motivation, self-concept, and achievement. Achievement motivation therefore greatly influences the academic performance of students. The lack of it therefore causes the opposite effect on the students. The higher the achievement motivation, the higher the self-concept of the student will be. This is because high achievement motivation means the higher the desire and therefore the higher the level of satisfaction on achievement (Noureen, 2011).
Achievement motivation may be influenced by different factors in the society. As stated before, a child with high achievement motivation will express the urge to outperform other children. Though this can come about merely because of genuine interest in the subject and the desire to perform well (Latham, 2007). He continues that the most effective example is of that of a class with a reward for the student who attains first place. In many cases, this acts as an instant inspiration for achievement motivation. This motivation then gets the students to try and work harder in order to achieve the prize. In the end, achievement motivation will get all the students to have better performance though it was for the prize. Despite the incentive causing the achievement motivation, it always leads to better academic achievement. Furthermore, after the achievement there is a sense of self-concept realized by the students. This is a sense of confidence and pride for the achieved goals (Ross, 2011).
Othman and Leng (2011) examined the relationship between self-concept, intrinsic motivation, and self- determination with academic performance. They argue that the reason why there is a difference in the performance of two equal minded children. The research was to determine whether in such a scenario there is a possibility that the difference in intrinsic motivation could be the determining factor for the difference in performance. The findings stated that the intrinsic motivation of a child has a weak effect on the relationship with academic performance. It was not likely that motivation was the determining factor in the difference in performance of children with the same capabilities. They found that other factors such as school climate and the family environment among other factors have a stronger direct impact than motivation. In their argument, they input that academic achievement is more directly affected by extrinsic achievement than intrinsic achievement. The theory therefore puts down the ideology of intrinsic motivation having an effect on academic achievement (Leng, 2011).
The study however does not completely rule out motivation as a determining factor (Othman and Leng, 2011 p. 65). The researchers think that extrinsic motivation like the offering of money and prizes has impact that is more direct on academic performance (Othman and Leng, 2011). Achievement is maximized when students are competing for something. For instance, a class that has only five prizes for the first five students will motivate the entire class to compete for the first five positions. This competition for limited incentive has the best influence on academic performance. Intrinsic motivation like interest and the will to acquire self -satisfaction may not be challenging enough to influence the overall performance. When a child is learning just for the pleasure of knowing new things, it is probable that learning will go at the pace that the child desires. However, when there is a prize to be won, the child will more often than not push an extra step to higher and better academic performance.
Metacognition, Motivation, and Achievement
According to Dunlosky and Metcalfe, metacognition refers to the art of knowing. In knowing, the individual begins to know that he knows the subject of the discussion. The dominant usage of this terminology dwells upon appropriation of certain skills to solve certain problems. In motivation, the knowledge about knowing and the regulation of such knowledge creates an internal drive towards the achievement. Therefore, according to Dunlosky and Metcalfe, the art of metacognition creates an internal drive that leads to achievement. This creates the relationship between the three concepts on a rank scale.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the studies discussed above prove that motivation is a big part of the student in regards to academic achievement. Motivation is the willingness and effort put when attempting to achieve a specific goal. It refers to the craving to attain a programmed goal or objective. There are two types of motivation. These types include intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Othman and Leng (2011) are of the opinion that intrinsic motivation has little to do with the academic achievement of a student. Other studies found that intrinsic motivation is highly affected by the surrounding environment especially by parents and teachers. Parents have the responsibility of getting involved in their children’s academic life. This is because their encouragement and praises do a lot for the intrinsic motivation of the children therefore heightening their levels of academic achievement.
Though having different approaches to the matter, these studies indicate that motivation correlates positively to the academic achievement of the students. Intrinsic motivation is provided through praise and encouragement. Extrinsic motivation on the other hand is done through physical incentives like money. All the studies have strongly supported the role of extrinsic motivation in the academic achievement of children. There is a possibility of difference in the academic performance of two equally minded children. According to the studies, this can be attributed to the difference in motivation of the children. This therefore seals the duty of both the parents and the teacher in making sure that each youngster is acquires good motivation, both in class and at home. This is because lack of motivation may negatively affect the academic achievement of the child. The findings of the studies support the reason why motivation through parent involvement has been used as a remedy for poor academic performance in schools.
References
Brophy, J. E. (2010). Motivating Students to Learn. London: Routledge.
Dunlosky, J., & Metcalfe, J. (2009). Metacognition. Los Angeles: SAGE.
Guthrie, J. T. (2007). Reading motivation and reading comprehension growth in later elementary years. Contemporary Educational Psychology,vol32,282313.http://www.appsta e.edu/~koppenhaverd/rcoe/5710/read/motivation/guthrieetal06.pdf
Holbein, A. R.-D. (2005). Examining the Realtionship between Parental Involvement and Student Motivation. Educational Psychology Review .
Latham, G. P. (2007). Work motivation: History, theory, research, and practice. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.
Leng, N. O. (2011). The Relationship between Self Concept, Intrinsic Motivation, Self Determination and Academic Achievement Among Chinese Primary Students. International Journal of Psychology Studies .
Noureen, R.-U.-N. A. (2011). A Study of Relationship between Achievement Motivation, Self Concept and Achievement in English and Mathematics at Secondary Level. Inetrnational Education Studies .
Ross, B. H. (2011). The Psychology of Learning and Motivation: Advances in Research and Theory. Burlington: Elsevier Science.
Susan Harter (1981), A New Self-Report Scale of Intrinsic versus Extrinsic Orientation in the Classroom: Motivational and Informational Components
Weihua Fan, C. M. (2010). The Effcts of Parent Involvement on Student's Academic Self-efficacy, Engagement and Intrinsic Motivation. Eduacational Psychology , 53-74.
