Teaching Profession Report Roundup

Student Motivation

By Katie Ash — December 18, 2007 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

Beyond Benchmarks and Scores

Motivating students is a key element of effective teaching that is largely dependent on the teacher, concludes a position paper by the Association for Childhood Education International.

The Olney, Md.-based organization asserts that teachers play a considerable role in student motivation by making the subject matter relevant and challenging, and facilitating interest through both intrinsic and extrinsic task-related incentives. Encouraging motivation is an essential teaching strategy that transcends the mere presentation of material and translation of knowledge from teacher to student, concludes the paper.

The conclusions in the position paper were derived from an interdisciplinary analysis of research on the learning process.

See Also

For more stories on this topic see Curriculum and Learning and Teachers.

A version of this article appeared in the December 19, 2007 edition of Education Week

Events

Reading & Literacy K-12 Essentials Forum Supporting Struggling Readers in Middle and High School
Join this free virtual event to learn more about policy, data, research, and experiences around supporting older students who struggle to read.
School & District Management Webinar Squeeze More Learning Time Out of the School Day
Learn how to increase learning time for your students by identifying and minimizing classroom disruptions.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Reading & Literacy Webinar
Improve Reading Comprehension: Three Tools for Working Memory Challenges
Discover three working memory workarounds to help your students improve reading comprehension and empower them on their reading journey.
Content provided by Solution Tree

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Teaching Profession Should It Be Normal for Teachers to Have a Second Job? Educators Weigh In
Research has shown that most educators work multiple jobs. Teachers shared their reactions in an Education Week Facebook post.
1 min read
Monique Cox helps her co-worker, Chanda Carvalho, stretch after leading her in a physical training session at the Epiphany School in Boston, Mass., on Oct. 7, 2025. Cox, who is a teacher at the Epiphany School, supplements her income by working as a personal trainer and DoorDashing food after her teaching shifts.
Monique Cox helps her co-worker, Chanda Carvalho, stretch after leading her in a physical training session at the Epiphany School in Boston, Mass., on Oct. 7, 2025. Cox, who is a teacher at the Epiphany School, supplements her income by working as a personal trainer and DoorDashing food after her teaching shifts.
Sophie Park for Education Week
Teaching Profession Opinion How a Middle School Teacher Became a Viral Sensation
A science educator explains how he balances being an influencer with his classroom practice.
7 min read
The United States Capitol building as a bookcase filled with red, white, and blue policy books in a Washington DC landscape.
Luca D'Urbino for Education Week
Teaching Profession How Uncertified Teachers Went From a Stopgap to an Escalating Crisis
Using uncertified teachers to fill shortages may further destabilize the educator pipeline.
10 min read
Human icon print screen on wooden cube block with space for Human Resource Management and Recruitment hiring concept.
Dilok Klaisataporn/iStock/Getty
Teaching Profession For Teachers, Work-Life Boundaries Are Harder to Keep Than Ever
New surveys find teachers have less flexibility, more intrusive jobs than peers in other jobs.
5 min read
Monique Cox walks her dog, Kobe, during a short break between jobs.
Monique Cox walks her dog, Kobe, during a short break between jobs. Teachers like Cox who also parent young children have the most difficulty with work-life balance, a new RAND survey finds.
Sophie Park for Education Week