Self-Regulation

What is motivation?

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Motivation...

• influences every decision people make (conscious and subconscious).

• theoretical construct used to explain human behaviour (single and repetitive actions).

• provides justified reasoning for an individual’s desires, thoughts, needs, and actions (Ryan & Deci, 2000).

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There are three main types of motivation: intrinsic, extrinsic and amotivation.

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Intrinsic motivation is doing an activity for its inherent satisfaction and value rather than for a separable consequence (Ryan & Deci, 2000). When intrinsically motivated, a person is moved to act for the fun, personal desire or challenge of completing a task regardless of external pressures or rewards (Ryan & Deci, 2000). 

 

Extrinsic motivation is used to achieve tasks that people do not want to complete on their own merit or when an activity is done in order to attain a separable outcome (Ryan & Deci, 2000). This refers to any external pressures, prods or rewards that act as incentives placing an instrumental value on the completion of a task (Ryan & Deci, 2000). In the classroom, this could be stickers, popcorn party, iPad time or any form of reward.

 

Amotivation is when an individual entirely lacks motivation for the task (Ryan & Deci, 2000).

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How does motivation connect with self-regulation?

 

For students to be self-regulated, independent and autonomous learners, they need to be intrinsically motivated.

 

Students will find inherent value in the task and complete the task out of enjoyment opposed to for an incentive. As a result the learning is more appreciated and retained for other situations. Research supports that students with higher levels of intrinsic motivation are more successful in school, and they are more likely to pursue higher levels of academic education resulting in increased employment opportunities (Taylor et al, 2014). Taylor and colleagues conducted a yearlong study that examined the role that amotivation, intrinsic and extrinsic motivation played in predicting secondary student academic achievement (Taylor et al, 2014). The study strongly supported that intrinsic motivation is the only type of motivation that is consistently and positively associated with academic achievement.  

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Self-regulation is the ability to “monitor and modulate cognition, emotion and behaviour to accomplish one’s goal and/or to adapt to the cognitive and social demand of specific situations” (Berger et al, 2007).

For more information see Self-Regulation page. With this understanding of self-regulation, when students are actively doing these things, they are more internally motivated to complete tasks. When implementing Self-Regulated Strategy Development, students have choice and a voice in the writing lessons and activities, giving them more ownership and responsibility for their learning, leading to increased intrinsic motivation (Taylor et al, 2014).

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The two types of motivation. Intrinsic is ideal.

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How does motivation benefit writing?

 

Being motivated to achieve a goal or complete a task can make all the difference in our attitudes, perception and reception of said goal or task.

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As explained, intrinsic motivation yields the best results!

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How does this impact student writing?

 

The more motivated students are to write and complete writing activities, the better success they will have.

 

Research supports that students who are more motivated produce final work that is higher quality and increased quantity with superior word selection, resulting in higher academic achievement (Taylor et al, 2014). Students also report enjoying writing more, and subsequent writing tasks (Taylor et al, 2014).

 

There is a positive relationship between motivation for writing and enjoyment of writing. When students enjoy writing, they are more motivated to write, and when students are more motivated for a writing task, the more they enjoy completing the task.

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References 

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Harris, K. & Graham, S. (2016). Self-regulated strategy development: policy implications of an evidence-based practice. Reading, Writing and Language, 3(1), 77-84

 

Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2000). Intrinsic and extrinsic motivations: Classic definitions and new directions. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 25, 54-67

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Taylor, G., Jungert, T., Mageau, G., Schattke, K., Dedic, H., Rosenfield, S., & Koestner, R. (2014). A self-determination theory approach to predicting school achievement over time: the unique role of intrinsic motivation. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 39, 342-358