by Mallory Lind
Due to the positivist standardized testing strategies of most schools in America laid out by programs like No Child Left Behind, many students have come of age thinking that making a certain grade is the only thing that matters in their schooling. This leaves students with a severe lack of intrinsic motivation to complete projects, tasks, and assignments that are worth a very minimal or no score on a grading scale. In my short time as a Writing Intensive Program TA for art education classes, I have noticed this lack of intrinsic motivation as students are tasked with completing “low-stakes” writing assignments, which are valued at a far lesser point scale than some of their other assignments.
As I think back at my own undergraduate career, not all too long ago, I can also recall not putting my maximum effort toward each and every assignment. Back in those days, I would tell myself it was because I was busy with other classes and extra-curricular activities to achieve my maximum potential, but I am not sure that was really true. I was motivated extrinsically by a letter grade or parental expectations, but when those motivations were gone, I did not see the need to push myself toward further self-improvement. Thus, I am left wondering, what is it that has caused me to become so intrinsically motivated in my studies, and how can I teach these same intrinsic motivation strategies to my students?
My answer to this question of intrinsic motivation lies in my passion for my subject area and inherent need to better myself while hopefully helping others through arts education. I am motivated by social and cultural issues that are present in education and our world, and I see art and art education as a way to talk about and work through these issues. Art has the ability to create dialogue around difficult issues, and I believe art education can teach students how to express themselves in a medium that is less structured and ripe for judgement than other curriculum areas. I think my lack of motivation in some of my core required undergraduate courses is due to the fact that I had not yet discovered my passion for social change through art, and at times I was simply less interested in the material. As I am reading student papers for this art education class, I can see that some of these students are beginning to develop strong opinions and ideas about the subject’s material. These are the ideas and opinions that I will need to draw out of students to inspire their own intrinsic motivation to help them grow as writers.
Another tactic that I have found helps with my intrinsic motivation is setting goals. When I set goals for myself I like to write them down and put them in a place where I will see them often. Additionally, I have found that if I tell my friends, family members, or colleagues about my goals, I am more likely to stay motivated because I have now set public expectations of myself. I would like to try this same tactic with my future students, asking them at the beginning of the semester what they would like to gain from this writing course. I will have them write down their goals for writing in Art Education, and throughout the semester we will be able to come back to those goals and see how they are moving toward accomplishing their set goals.
Through finding what makes them passionate and setting goals, students will learn, as I did, that their own motivation will help give them the writing skills they need to succeed in art education.
In the classes that I am currently assisting, I plan on talking to the students and learning what it is they would like to get out of the writing-intensive aspect of the course. I want to ask them questions about where they want to see themselves professionally and academically in their writing ability after finishing this course, and I will let these goals guide my teaching and my expectations of them throughout the course. I am optimistic about the year and watching the students improve their writing and comprehension of the course material. I believe that as this semester moves forward, students will begin to deepen their understanding and realize their own motivation for pursuing a degree in art education. Through finding what makes them passionate and setting goals, students will learn, as I did, that their own motivation will help give them the writing skills they need to succeed in art education.