Our meta-analysis on the consequences of academic motivation provides a broad picture of the positive and negative aspects that students can experience when they are highly or weakly motivated. The results, obtained by reviewing nearly 350 studies from different countries, are unequivocal: a student who attends school for pleasure, out of interest, or because they value what they do there will have better grades, greater perseverance, better well-being, and fewer intentions to drop out. However, those involved with students know very well that motivating them to learn can sometimes be challenging.
As an educational researcher, I am trained in social psychology, and I am interested in the elements of the school context that promote the development of students in their educational journey.
Student motivation, a shared responsibility
The most desirable academic motivations are those that are called self-determined. When Alice enjoys doing an exercise in class with her friend, or when Xavier engages in an activity about the environment that is important to him, they do not feel like mere pawns, but rather like active learners. They are then self-determined. However, being self-determined does not mean that they are solely responsible for their motivation.
We know that school and family environments play an important role in youth motivation. Both teachers and parents can create a more conducive environment for student growth. To achieve this, they must support youth self-determination. By viewing young people as individuals with their interests and values, it is possible to support their self-determined motivations.
In concrete terms, this means that teachers and parents, when interacting with a young person, must do so with empathy, that is, recognizing that their thoughts and emotions are valid and important. This will give the student space to express their preferences so that they can be used to motivate them to continue their studies.
Next, the teacher and parent should explain the reasons behind their requests, for example, justifying the importance of homework or exam preparation. This is important because if the people who require young people to complete assignments and lessons cannot come up with good reasons for doing them, how can the young person be expected to be engaged in these activities?
Finally, teachers and parents must support young people’s active participation. When they are active in their learning and, more importantly, when they can make choices that influence their academic goals, students feel in control of their academic destiny.
Parent or teacher, who plays the most decisive role?
Our other meta-analysis, on predictors of academic motivation, includes nearly 150 studies surveying more than 79,000 students from around the world. It focuses on studies that assess teacher and parent behaviors and their potential effects on student motivation. It demonstrates that teachers more strongly and consistently predict students’ self-determined motivations.
Concretely, this means that the teacher plays a key role in developing these motivations, and that a parent, however well-intentioned, could not fully compensate for a teacher whose practices harm the student’s motivation. Why is that? There are two main answers: training and context.
Teachers have the power to further mobilize young people’s motivation because, as professionals, they are the ones best able to detect students’ difficulties, help them recognize and identify these difficulties, and suggest strategies to address them. While parents know their children better than anyone else, they are not always aware of reading or math problem-solving strategies.
To develop self-determined motivation, students need to know they can overcome their difficulties by implementing learning strategies and seeing their beneficial effects. While parental support is important, professional guidance from teachers is crucial for students to adopt the right learning strategies that will help them feel more competent.
Additionally, the teacher is the most present figure with the student when they are engaged in school activities. Not only is the parent not present in the classroom, where the majority of learning takes place, but once their child arrives home from school, they are faced with a multitude of challenges and daily activities. Helping them with school activities is only part of the responsibilities towards their child.
The teacher, on the other hand, has a privileged learning context, that is, a place and time reserved for this purpose. This asymmetry is therefore reflected in the ability of each person to motivate the student.
Three Nutrients of a Motivating School Environment
Our findings indicate that students can experience three types of self-determination within their school environment. These include satisfying their three basic psychological needs: competence, autonomy, and social relatedness.
Students who feel competent feel that their actions have an impact on the environment. Those who feel autonomous feel they take full responsibility for the tasks they participate in. Those who feel socially connected to those close to them (friends, teachers, parents) feel they can count on the people who are important to them.
When engaging in academic activities, students who have their basic psychological needs met are much more likely to develop and maintain self-determined motivations. While our findings demonstrate that teachers play a key role in fostering students’ self-determined motivations, others, such as friends, parents, administrators, and other stakeholders, can contribute by increasing the students’ overall experience of competence, autonomy, and social connection.
