Dear Parents and Carers,

As many of you would be aware, motivating children can be difficult. So too, engaging students in learning is an ongoing challenge. Research out of Harvard University points out that caring adults can help students develop the motivation systems that will serve them well, long into adulthood.

Encourage curiosity and exploration. Beyond their basic needs, children are motivated by exploration, play, mastery and success. Parents can reinforce these motivations rather than being overly fearful that children will get hurt — fears that can rub off. Caring adults whom children can trust can help them figure out what to actually be afraid of and avoid.

Don’t rely on incentives. The goal is to help kids develop their own inner fire to learn. Children can stop engaging in activities once they’ve been given a tangible reward for it. Systems focused solely on external rewards and punishments are unlikely to achieve sustained, productive motivation. Positive feedback is more likely to support healthy motivation.

Remind children that success is possible. We’re unlikely to be motivated to do anything if we think it’s impossible. A growth mindset — the belief that we can change and improve through practice— enables children to get motivated.  

Social interaction. From babies to adolescents, social interaction is a key to motivation, releasing natural opioids that activate the brain’s reward system. In our digital world, apps and screens can be supplements for learning, but in-person interactions remain essential.

Remember we all have different intrinsic motivators. A child intrinsically motivated to play sports, might respond well to constructive criticism from a coach but another student might respond more to encouragement and become discouraged by criticism. These different motivation systems may be due to children's genes and their life experiences, and they might require different approaches to motivate them.

Despite the common misperception that some people naturally have or lack motivation, science shows that the nature of parent/child relationships and opportunities for safe exploration affect the development of these systems — for better or for worse.

Kind regards to you all,

Rodney Little - Principal