Drives/Needs/Desires Theories are Motivation Theories that are focused mainly on meeting needs and satisfying desires. Many such discourses have been developed, and prominent examples include Behaviorisms and Psychoanalytic Theories.
Learn More...Extrinsic Motivation Discourses focus on motivating influences that come from outside the learner. The core principles are, firstly, that desirable actions can be encouraged through offering rewards and/or withholding punishments, and, secondly, that undesirable actions can be discouraged through withholding rewards and/or threatening punishments.
Learn More...Intrinsic Motivation Discourses focus on events and activities that are driven by interest or pleasure in engaging, rather than by external pressures or rewards. Some consensus has arisen around the assertion that there are at least two common elements to intrinsically motivating tasks, namely self-determination (i.e., the actor chooses to engage) and improvement (i.e., the actor must perceive increased competence through engaging).
Learn More...Cognitive Motivation Theories are Motivation Theories that focus on the thought-mediated actions. (contrast with Behaviorisms.) Many models have been developed and researched. Prominent examples include Cognitive Dissonance Theory, Metacognition, Flow, Mindset, Positive Psychology, and Self-Efficacy.
Learn More...Psychoanalytic Theories comprise several schools of thought that are concerned with the study of the actions and beliefs that are not mediated (and often not moderated) by the conscious mind. Psychoanalytic Theories are most often focused on mental-health disorders. Many of these theories’ core constructs have come to be embedded in Western culture, and some are commonly assumed in prominent educational discourses.
Learn More...The Attainment Metaphor is prominent in current discussions of formal education. It frames knowledge as existing in discrete regions (e.g., fields, areas) to be traversed, and learning is typically framed as progressing across (and sometimes dwelling in) those regions. Learning is cast in movement-based sensibilities –e.g., as “getting there.”
Learn More...Folk Theories exist within every realm of human engagement. They are, in effect, uncritical and often-indefensible principles of action and interpretation that are woven through everyday language and broad cultural sensibilities. In effect, most of the past 150 years of research into learning has been focused on exposing Folk Theories and exploring more conscious and scientifically robust alternatives.
Learn More...Self-Efficacy has to do with one’s belief in one’s capacities to meet challenges and reach goals. High Self-Efficacy is linked to effort, strategizing, persistence, and resilience on tasks. Low Self-Efficacy manifests as over-estimating task difficulty, sometimes-unpredictable behavior with engaged in tasks, and tendencies to link both successes and failures to luck or others.
Learn More...Behaviorisms reject the notion that knowledge is some sort of external, stable, and context-free form. Rejecting attempts to explain learning in terms of unobservable mental processes, Behaviorisms focus instead on observable and measurable phenomena – thus operationally defining learning in terms of changes in behavior that are attributable to environmental factors.
Learn More...Flow is characterized by intense concentration on an achievable goal or task with deep, yet effortless immersion. Flow requires tasks that promise success and offer immediate feedback. To enter a flow state, one must have autonomy over the situation or activity. A Flow state is an energizing and pleasurable experience during which one might lose awareness one’s sense of self and other things – including time sometimes.
Learn More...Focus
Making sense of why people do what they do
Principal Metaphors
Owing the range of foci and interpretations covered by this array of theories, a single cluster of associations cannot be specified. That said, most perspectives on “motivation” assume or assert some sort of goal– and so a large portion of Motivation Theories align with the Attainment Metaphor:
- Knowledge is … a goal
- Knowing is … goal-attaining action
- Learner is … a seeker, striver (individual)
- Learning is … journeying, arriving at, reaching, progressing, accomplishing, achieving
- Teaching is … leading, guiding, directing, facilitating
Originated
late-1800s
Synopsis
Motivation Theories are attempts to explain the “why” of human action, and most of them are developed around lists of factors. It is difficult to offer overarching categories of these theories, but we find a trio of distinctions to be helpful:
- Extrinsic Motivation Discourses versus Intrinsic Motivation Discourses – “Extrinsic motivation” refers to motivating influences that come from outside the learner (e.g., rewards, punishments). “Intrinsic motivation” refers to engagement with the task itself is sufficient to maintain interest. Most Motivation Theories consider both categories, but some lean heavily in one direction or the other (e.g., Behaviorisms are almost entirely concerned with extrinsic motivation, whereas Flow is focused exclusively on intrinsically motivating activities).
- Externalisms versus Internalisms – Essentially a rephrasing of the previous distinction, Externalisms encompass discourses in which it is assumed or asserted that one's justifications and motivations are largely determined by conditions external to the agent. Internalisms encompass discourses in which it is assumed or asserted that one's justifications and motivations are principally matters of beliefs, desires, and other internal predilections.
- Conscious Motivations versus Unconscious Motivations – Most Motivation Theories address both these categories, but some focus mainly on deliberate, rational or rationalizing processes (e.g., Self-Efficacy) while others attend almost entirely to non-conscious sources of action and interpretation (e.g., Psychoanalytic Theories).
- Drives, Needs & Desires Theories versus Cognitive Motivation Theories – This distinction is a bit hazier and more problematic. Some Motivation Theories focus more on meeting needs and satisfying desires, whereas others concern themselves with thought-mediated actions. See Drives, Needs & Desires Theories and Cognitive Motivation Theories for examples of each.
Over the past half-century, trends in formal education have shifted from extrinsic, unconscious, drives/needs/desires to intrinsic, conscious, cognitive – reflecting a broader conceptual shift from Newtonian mechanics to Darwinian dynamics as the preferred means of making sense of human learning.
Commentary
An obvious first criticism of Motivation Theories is that they are overwhelmingly focused on individuals, with little attention paid to systems of activity. Educationally speaking, it’s difficult to know what to do with Motivation Theories, given the vast array of models and recommendations.
Authors and/or Prominent Influences
Diffuse
Status as a Theory of Learning
Some Motivation Theories can be classified as theories of learning. Departing from most theories of learning, they focus more on the why’s than the how’s.
Status as a Theory of Teaching
Most Motivation Theories are concerned more with influencing learning than understanding learning, and so a majority are properly described as theories of teaching.
Status as a Scientific Theory
As might be expected with the stunning range of foci and interpretations, Motivation Theories span the full gamut of Folk Theories through rigorously scientific theories.
Subdiscourses:
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Externalisms
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Internalisms
Map Location
Please cite this article as:
Davis, B., & Francis, K. (2020). “Motivation Theories” in Discourses on Learning in Education. https://learningdiscourses.com.
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