Motivating students to read – a look at the theory
Written By: Author(s): Julie Smith
12 min read
An exploration of studies and perspectives on motivation
With the aim of fostering student motivation, systems of rewards and sanctions are prevalent in schools. These are often based on behaviourist principles for changing patterns of behaviour (Brophy, 1981). Payne (2015) proposes that a behaviourist approach can be appealing for educators as it suggests that by rewarding desirable patterns of behaviour, undesirable ones will be eradicated, as according to the behaviourist theory of operant conditioning, rewards and punishments shape future behaviour (Brophy, 1981).
In this way, education systems make assumptions about human nature and how it develops, presupposing how it can be changed. Specifically, behaviourism sees human beings as fundamentally passive, and “determined by the laws of stimulus and response” (Daniels, Lauder and Porter, 2007, p.4). Daniels, Lauder and Porter (2007) remind us that in the work of the behaviourist Skinner (1953) for example, human beings are assumed to have no free will. The value implication here is
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This article was published in December 2017 and reflects the terminology and understanding of research and evidence in use at the time. Some terms and conclusions may no longer align with current standards. We encourage readers to approach the content with an understanding of this context.
References
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