How boring is school? And what really motivates?
By Dr Tyler S. Thigpen
It’s no secret that the longer children are in U.S. schools, the more bored they become. There are three factors young people most frequently cite as the source of their boredom: the material isn’t interesting, the material lacks relevance, and the interaction with their teacher is poor (HSSSE).
The thing is—school doesn’t have to be boring.
As Guides, we see ourselves less as explainers and more as gamemakers, coaches, and mentors. Weekly we discuss and design incentives for learners (aka “motivators”) to make school fun, interesting, relevant, and engaging. Despite our best intentions, we assume we’re not perfect at this. So, recently we asked our high schoolers what really motivates them. Specifically, we asked…
Of all the motivators in The Forest School model, which of them really motivate you?
Which three motivators are most motivating?
On a scale of 1 (not at all motivating) to 10 (super motivating), how motivating are all of the incentives put together?
Twenty seven racially, economically, and religiously diverse high schoolers responded, and there are four major takeaways.
1. Our learners enjoy choice and autonomy most
The majority of learners reported being motivated when they are in the driver’s seat. They reported that the top 10 most motivating things at school are…
Choosing what they want to work on when (9 out of 10 report being motivated by this!!!)
Going at their own pace
Sitting where they want
Choosing their own apprenticeships
Earning a badge
The chance to meet experts
Meaningful Quest work that helps others
Making their own rules
Earning a diploma from a renowned high school
Making friends
Here’s the full list of motivators…
2. Individual learners are motivated differently
Though this is not likely a surprise, the survey data clearly shows that each incentive is powerful for some learners and less so (or not at all) for others. Learners prefer different freedoms and opportunities. At Forest we want to have a variety of such freedoms and opportunities so that each learner can “sink their teeth” into something fun, interesting, or motivating for them.
To achieve that goal, we offer individual and group motivators, as well as intrinsic and extrinsic ones. Individual motivators are designed for each individual learner, and group motivators are designed for two or more learners. Intrinsic motivation “describes the undertaking of an activity for its inherent satisfaction while extrinsic motivation describes behavior driven by external rewards or punishments, abstract or concrete. Intrinsic motivation comes from within the individual, while extrinsic motivation comes from outside the individual” (Simple Psychology, 2022).
Practical examples at our school are…
Individual intrinsic—set a life goal and align your schoolwork to it
Group intrinsic—make the rules as a team
Individual extrinsic—earn a badge for your work
Group extrinsic—a pizza party after completing a project
This most recent survey shows us that some of the motivators that we’ve designed appeal to the vast majority of learners while others appeal to only a few (and thus may not be worth investing in as much).
3. Individual motivators are more powerful than group ones
More than two-thirds of our high schoolers reported being motivated by three key individual incentives: Choose what you want to work on when; Go at your own pace; and Sit where you want. In fact, the top five motivators are individual (not group) incentives, including choosing apprenticeships and earning badges. The three motivators with the most #1 votes were also individual motivators: Earning a diploma from a renowned high school; Choosing what you want to work on when; and Going at your own pace.
For us, the message is loud and clear—learning programs that are designed to educate the masses must be replaced with personalized, customized learning approaches if learners are truly to be engaged in deep learning.
4. High schoolers are generally motivated to be at The Forest School
When asked “On a scale of 1 (not at all motivating) to 10 (super motivating), how motivating are all of the incentives put together?” the answers resulted in an average of 6.6 out of 10. Having worked with teenagers for 26+ years, I can tell you that a score of 6.6 out of 10 is a major win, ha! Here’s the actual spread of responses…
ok, So now What?
These survey results give caring adults clues as to how to keep children motivated towards learning. Here are a few thoughts I’ll leave with you:
To the educators…
Start letting go of control now. Give your learners choice, voice, freedom, and decision making whenever and wherever possible. I know it’s scary. But they can do it. Trust the process, and believe in their capacity. They’ll feel the confidence you put in them, and they’ll blow you away.
Don’t stress. It’s easier than you think. Giving learners your scope and sequence in advance and letting them work ahead changes when but not how much you plan. Seating freedom is simple, too. If you’re not comfortable letting go of that yet, then let them earn it. Awarding badges is proven effective in other fields and requires less grading. If you want to win their hearts and minds and inspire deep learning, then think of yourself daily as a coach, mentor, or gamemaker and less of an explainer.
Design and offer different types of incentives. No one motivator is a panacea. Your learners have preferences for incentives, and an exciting learning environment will include a suite of motivator options.
I know you’re probably worried about giving up time you would normally set aside to teach or explain things…don’t. Remember, culture eats strategy for breakfast. When kids are authentically motivated and actually want to learn, then they’ll take off and learn way faster than you can explain things to them.
To the parents and caregivers…
Trust the process! I know you want structure and accountability for your child. We do too! But we want to be strategic about the kinds of structure we give them. If we give them old school structure and accountability like rules, daily deadlines, seating charts, and grades, then research, experience, and testimonies from our children have shown decidedly that we can expect less and less engagement and buy-in over time. That’s a massive trade off! Structure and accountability at Forest definitely exist, but they look and feel different than we’re used to, which can feel unfamiliar, uncomfortable, and scary! At Forest, natural consequences usually take the form of missing out on badges, losing freedoms, falling behind, and having little to show publicly for their work. While these consequences are vastly different than old school consequences like poor grades, detentions, and less than stellar report cards, they are no less motivating—and arguably more motivating—for learners.
Similar to the advice to educators, give your children choice, voice, freedom, and decision making at home whenever and wherever possible. They can do amazing things. Be patient with them as they shoulder more and more responsibility, and believe in their capacity. See failures as learning moments and not the end of the world. They’ll enjoy the confidence you put in them, and their development will accelerate.
To all caring adults…
I know…much of what’s described above takes adults letting go of control. And that’s hard. But make no mistake, the jury is out on the alternative approach (i.e. not letting go of control). Making sure children learn things when we adults say they do is a recipe for cultivating dependent learners. For decades the highest academic performing charter schools in our nation used various clever methods of control to ensure every student mastered standards. While the intent was noble, still the large majority of their graduates—despite their admirable academic success in high school—did not matriculate from college. Why not? Many of those graduates didn’t get practice—through intentionally designed learning experiences—at developing the kind of self-leadership, agency, grit, and learning to learn that are crucial traits for K12 graduates. I say “get practice” because those traits are cultivated only when caring adults decide to give learners practice from the youngest ages at making touch decisions, learning from failure, and navigating productive struggle. It takes courage, and many caring adults will push back. But remember, if we believe all children are geniuses and can change the world, then as we loosen the reins we’ll see that genius expressed…and marvel.
All that said, what do you think?
Let us know your feedback or ideas by messaging us on Twitter!
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