Extrinsic
and Intrinsic Motivation
Motivation drives us all, and that
is a fact!!! We all work towards something… It could be going to work every day
to receive a paycheck, working out to be healthy or lose weight, going to
school to get a better job or a promotion, doing our school work to get good
grades and get our degree, etc. Motivation comes in different shapes and sizes,
and it is not a one size fits all type of strategy. First of love let’s start
by defining both, extrinsic and intrinsic motivation.
Extrinsic motivation
is the external motive that drives an individual’s purpose to doing something.
It comes from the outside.
Example:
a reward, a specific demand, responsibility, or any other outside factor.
Intrinsic motivation
is the internal motive that drives an individual’s purpose to do anything. It
comes from within!
Example:
Determination, interests, challenge, desire to improve, etc.
Now
you might ask what the best type of motivational strategy is, Intrinsic or
Extrinsic?
When I was working towards my Bachelor's in Child and Adolescent Development I came upon some great educators who made a huge impact on who I am today. I remember taking some special education classes with a professor whom I loved. One of her classes had everything to do with different disabilities, human development, and different practices used to work with behavioral issues. Most of the members in my class thought it was pretty boring at first. In my case, I have always had the intrinsic motivation to learn about behavior, disorders, disabilities, and anything that has to do with child development. I find all the information interesting and mind blowing!
My professor found her way into those students who were not really interested. She made sure everyone participated, she brought boxes and boxes of props and hands on activities for us to do, we did a lot of role play to learn what to do in certain cases when dealing with a specific behavior, we did individual presentations and group presentations as well. That professor made sure that we were involved in the process of learning which to me is pretty amazing! I want to be like her one day... being able to engage my students at that level. She really knew what to do to increase our intrinsic motivation and at the same time providing some extrinsic motivation as well, but not enough to distract us from our purpose.
When teachers know how to engage students, then students start to work independently and wanting to participate and be part of their learning process as well.
We all have to find our purpose in life, our purpose to continue moving forward, our purpose to strive for bigger things, our purpose to succeed, our purpose in every situation.
I have not had any bad experiences when it comes to staying motivated during my college years, or grad school. I do remember clearly an incident in High School when a teacher put me down because I did not know how to pronounce certain words within the text I was reading. Let me tell you first that I had only been in this country for about 6 months and was still in the process of learning the language. It was such a difficult time, not knowing how to respond, wanting to defend yourself and not being able to find the words. He made me feel like I had no business being in that class... I felt so little, embarrassed, and out of place at that moment. Good thing he was only a substitute for the day! I did run out of the classroom crying, and tried to compose myself before returning... I was not going to give him the satisfaction of seeing me defeated. I came back into the room like if nothing happened, and I finished the day with my head held up high. I told myself 'you are in the process of learning! Give yourself a couple of years and you will be at the top of the world!' and here I am writing in this blog sharing the story with you and advising you that people will try to put you down... Just keep moving forward! Do not ever stop trying!
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