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  Education
Lesson Plans: Understanding The Cause (Part 1 of a 4 part series) By Ben Dawson web posted March 1, 2010 EDUCATION – This is a special “Lesson Plans” article written with parents in mind, but I do hope a teacher somewhere will be able to use the content as well. As teachers, we all have those “challenges” in our classroom that keep things lively. It might be the bully that constantly stirs the social environment, or the severely hyperactive student that continually gets off track. Most veteran teachers have learned “tricks of the trade” to keep this kind of interruption to a minimal; however, most of us are still perplexed by the child that is not a behavior problem, yet simply does not make adequate progress because s/he is unmotivated. So many times we, as teachers, know that the unmotivated child’s parents must help us in order to turn the student around before it is too late - hence the reason for this article: Part One: “Understanding The Cause” Motivation- A concept that has truly been an enigma to me because the unmotivated child is one of the most perplexing of all classroom behaviors. Let’s think about what motivation is, where it derives, and how we, as parents, can cause it to be a vital part of our children. It comes from the base word “motivate” which the dictionary defines as: *To impart courage, inspiration, and resolution. To encourage, inspire, stimulate, cheer, embolden, hearten, inspirit. To stir to action or feeling. To move, to work. We should all care if our children are motivated because no one wants to see their child headed for failure. Initiative can make the difference between the successful and the unproductive. Let’s face it, even when students find the contents of a classroom enjoyable and activities interesting, learning requires a lot of effort and sustained concentration. The enthusiasm your child displays toward learning can make or break what their future will hold. After interacting with students for a lifetime, it is my observation that the unmotivated child usually stems from one of three causes. All of which we as parents can play an important role in correcting. The first, and most often observed, reason for a child to lack motivation is because they have met with previous failures and have a fear of not succeeding. This is the child that feels that s/he is dumb and cannot live up to the expectations of others. It is easier for them to disguise their actions as “not caring” than it is for them to face the fact they may fail again at yet another task. This child is severely lacking in self-confidence and cannot see his/her own self worth. In reality, they are longing for success. The second reason a student is unmotivated stems from laziness. This is the child that has not been given enough responsibilities. Often times s/he has been allowed to sit in front of the TV for hours, play countless video games, or talk endlessly on the phone. This child has had little structure in life, and the discipline for not completing a task has been inconsistent and sporadic at best. Many times this child has been over stimulated (as far as too much entertainment) and under stimulated mentally during the formative years. Since discipline has not been consistent, this child would rather risk not doing a task; after all, the odds are in his/her favor that nothing will be done about it (and please understand right now that fussing, yelling, or verbally abusing is not discipline!) The third reason a child might be unmotivated is due to poor health. This is the child that has an improper diet, stays up too late at night, or does not get enough physical exercise. This may also be the student that is under mental duress because of some stressful situation at home or at school. Children cannot take the emotional roller coaster we sometimes think they can. The result is an aloofness or a lethargic behavior we categorize as being unmotivated. Even though these three reasons seem catastrophic, there is time to make amends. With prayer and determination, we as caring parents can turn the tide for the unmotivated child. So, how do you go about encouraging- inspiring- arousing- exciting- stimulating- provoking- spurring- impelling- rousing- goading- inflaming- kindling- egging on- and piquing your child when it comes to school work? The main ingredient can be summed up in two words: Personal Sacrifice. It is going to take a great deal of sacrifice on the part of the parent before the child develops the intrinsic motivation that is necessary for success. A parent must give of himself in every aspect of the child’s life: mentally, emotionally, physically, and even spiritually. But hey, it is so much better to sacrifice a little now than it is to take care of unproductive adult offspring later. In the upcoming four parts of this series, I will offer insight and suggestions to (hopefully) help concerned parents stimulate motivation in their children. © Copyright 2010
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