Intrinsic vs. Extrinsic Motivation

 In this scenario about an African American student named Abby Jones, who is currently failing my humanities class, I must take steps to investigate her lack of academic motivation and impaired metacognition. First, I would need to build a case concerning Abby’s struggles, thereby, assessing her reasons for the lack of drive to achieve proficiency in my course. As an instructor, I must understand the underpinning of her academic stagnation by reexamining Encouraging Motivation and Metacognition theories. Therefore, I would need to decide if the root cause of her academic failings is based on intrinsic or extrinsic motivation. Once I take part in a discussion with her previous humanities professor and reflect on the student's past academic accomplishments in her past elective (competent discussion abilities, advanced critical thinking and literacy skills) I can then decide which type of motivational discouragement is at play. When I discover her aptitude in this subject is proficient, I can rule out intrinsic factors, as the theory of intrinsic motivation relies on strong skill sets. Her impeded impetus derives not from know-how, but induced by extrinsic motivational reasoning. Consequently, the underpinnings of her academic failings in my class must be grounded on emotional circumstance and derive from problems with extraneous influences. In other words, her impetus to apply her strong metacognition for the purpose of learning achievement is affected by multiple possibilities that influence the learner on a very personal level.The Role of Emotions greatly affects a students ability to concentrate and may impede critical thinking and high order reasoning. 

 Now that I know her troubles come from a place of emotional wellness and not ability, I can investigate further into her situation. In class, I would be conscious of her behavior by utilizing the Mental State inference tool of observation. I can interpret Abby’s anxious behavior (withdrawal from the class discussion and lack of enthusiasm in collaborative group work) as a measure of how she feels day to day in my course. If she is not fully present, she would struggle with the application of her learning in note taking, discourse and how she approaches her reading and writing assignments. Another conversation I would have with her previous professor is about the demographic of last semester's class and perhaps the grouping was more diverse. In this hypothetical scenario, I would create a survey built around how comfortable students would feel sharing opinions and attitudes on race and gender in class. I learn from Abby's response that she feels more competent when there are students from her own community in the lecture hall especially if there are discussions on race. She also shared that she preferred her previous humanities course as there appeared to be many students who looked like her and she felt that she could be more herself. Inducing the possibility that being the only Black student in my course, combined with the idea that my subject is build around themes of racial justice could put a lot of emotional strain on Ms. Jones. Although I am white and I cannot speak for my students of color, I can recollect on my past experiences as an educator in a predominantly white school. Many of my students of color expressed to school counselors that their white peers put them in a position of spokesmanship for their entire race. Even white teachers would ask them about what they thought about segregation and how society directly affected them personally. Abby feels alienated in class, and suffers from isolation which would impede her self-efficacy. 

 One way I can support Abby emotionally is to reassure her that she can choose to participate on her own terms in group or class discussion. Also, I want to assure her that I would never assume that she would be willing to discuss the impact American History has had on her family background-only if she decides to do so. Additionally, helping Abby set goals for herself by personalizing her course of study (researching her family background or interviewing leaders in her community who have made a difference in the Black community on a spiritual, economic and political level) might fill the gap of missed conversations with her Black peers from her previous course. Ultimately, teachers want students' drive to learn come from an intrinsic place since understanding is based on the self awareness of how one learns which ultimately should be the motivating factor in education. Making learning meaningful and focusing on a students' strengths (which in Abby's case is intellectual connection to her community) helps Abby set goals that support a growth mindset. Finally, providing a safe learning community assures Abby that effective learning is truly constructivist in nature and creating strong connections between teachers and students support the voice of all learners for the best academic outcome.