Dr LeCrone
05-21-2006, 10:19 PM
“Why can’t I make Tom do better in school? He just doesn’t care. All I ask is that he does the best that he can.”
That is the cry of many parents, often well-educated ones who have provided the stimulus for the acquisition of knowledge by encouraging their children to model themselves after successful people in their parents’ circle of friends, who have provided the books, the extra opportunities for learning outside the classroom. Still such parents admit they haven’t found the magic ingredient for spurring their children into achieving according to their ability.
How do you motivate someone to achieve? Can this be taught? Certainly teachers as well as parents teach students to strive for their own kind of excellence. And they usually follow a pattern like this.
Getting to know the youngster and his abilities. By listening and observing, the parent and the teacher discover the child’s thoughts, action and feelings. Whether at work or at play, they gain new insights into the child’s talents and limitations.
Understanding the child’s feelings so they can assist in setting long-term goals.
Helping the child take a formulated goal and visualize himself in this role, always adding new knowledge and extending his levels of thinking and learning by providing a variety of educational experiences.
This three-step plan is not to be construed as one that can be accomplished in a day, a week or a month. Usually it takes a long time to obtain sufficient information to speed up the child’s motivation. The parent who works and plays with a youngster, discussing the desire to do each task to the best of his ability, is administering that magic ingredient of motivation. It would be so simple, one parent told me, if this could be put in a pill to be swallowed twice daily.
Given all the proper climate for learning and support, why do some youngsters still resist, appear apathetic and indifferent? Probably the answer is self-discipline, or making himself do something he doesn’t necessarily like to do.
An athlete may not find the daily regimen of exercise and fitness a thrilling part of the day, but he knows it is important to his long-range goal. A student preparing for college exams may groan over the review of vocabulary words or another student may find the drill dull when he is learning the keyboard. Still the magic ingredient will help if the youngster can visualize the carrot at the end of the stick.
Self-discipline will come for Tom if he finds something to get himself moving. Inertia doesn’t providing motivation. If Tom can find an area of interest, see the relevance of it, motivation usually will follow and achievement becomes the prize. But Tom is going to have to discover what he wants, realize how badly he wants it and the price he must pay for seeking it.
Ask a small child what he wants to be when he grows up. He may tell you a brain surgeon, a fireman, a professional football player or whatever other image his mind has told him is great and wonderful. And a wise person will seize that opportunity to show approval and encouragement. By laughing at the child’s idea or by saying, “He doesn’t know what he is getting into,” stifles his imagination, creativity and, I imagine, his motivation.
Helping a child set and strive for goals is an ongoing part of parenthood. Starting early and continuing through adolescence and into early adulthood requires a lot of persistence. Even the best self-disciplined students will have times of discouragement and defeat. But by continuing the three steps of discovery, understanding and application, parents should see signs of achievement.
Harold H. LeCrone, Jr., Ph.D. Copyright 1988
That is the cry of many parents, often well-educated ones who have provided the stimulus for the acquisition of knowledge by encouraging their children to model themselves after successful people in their parents’ circle of friends, who have provided the books, the extra opportunities for learning outside the classroom. Still such parents admit they haven’t found the magic ingredient for spurring their children into achieving according to their ability.
How do you motivate someone to achieve? Can this be taught? Certainly teachers as well as parents teach students to strive for their own kind of excellence. And they usually follow a pattern like this.
Getting to know the youngster and his abilities. By listening and observing, the parent and the teacher discover the child’s thoughts, action and feelings. Whether at work or at play, they gain new insights into the child’s talents and limitations.
Understanding the child’s feelings so they can assist in setting long-term goals.
Helping the child take a formulated goal and visualize himself in this role, always adding new knowledge and extending his levels of thinking and learning by providing a variety of educational experiences.
This three-step plan is not to be construed as one that can be accomplished in a day, a week or a month. Usually it takes a long time to obtain sufficient information to speed up the child’s motivation. The parent who works and plays with a youngster, discussing the desire to do each task to the best of his ability, is administering that magic ingredient of motivation. It would be so simple, one parent told me, if this could be put in a pill to be swallowed twice daily.
Given all the proper climate for learning and support, why do some youngsters still resist, appear apathetic and indifferent? Probably the answer is self-discipline, or making himself do something he doesn’t necessarily like to do.
An athlete may not find the daily regimen of exercise and fitness a thrilling part of the day, but he knows it is important to his long-range goal. A student preparing for college exams may groan over the review of vocabulary words or another student may find the drill dull when he is learning the keyboard. Still the magic ingredient will help if the youngster can visualize the carrot at the end of the stick.
Self-discipline will come for Tom if he finds something to get himself moving. Inertia doesn’t providing motivation. If Tom can find an area of interest, see the relevance of it, motivation usually will follow and achievement becomes the prize. But Tom is going to have to discover what he wants, realize how badly he wants it and the price he must pay for seeking it.
Ask a small child what he wants to be when he grows up. He may tell you a brain surgeon, a fireman, a professional football player or whatever other image his mind has told him is great and wonderful. And a wise person will seize that opportunity to show approval and encouragement. By laughing at the child’s idea or by saying, “He doesn’t know what he is getting into,” stifles his imagination, creativity and, I imagine, his motivation.
Helping a child set and strive for goals is an ongoing part of parenthood. Starting early and continuing through adolescence and into early adulthood requires a lot of persistence. Even the best self-disciplined students will have times of discouragement and defeat. But by continuing the three steps of discovery, understanding and application, parents should see signs of achievement.
Harold H. LeCrone, Jr., Ph.D. Copyright 1988