Is Your Child College and Career Ready? The Importance of Motivation and Work Ethic

As your children attend a Milwaukee Public School this year, you will notice a renewed theme of getting our kids “College and Career Ready.”  All of our students will begin learning about how they learn best and even our youngest children will begin thinking about what they want to do after they graduate from high school.  Our fifth and seventh graders will all begin Academic and Career Plans that will follow them throughout high school.  Our eighth graders will make important decisions about high school and will continue working on their post-secondary plans.

All of these things are critical focuses because one of the things we know about academic and career success is that thinking and dreaming and setting goals and expectations about your life as an adult needs to begin early in life.  Have you ever asked a preschooler what they want to be when they grow up?  They most always have some kind of an answer because that’s when their dreams start!

We also know that one of the things that sometimes hold our students back from reaching those dreams and goals is a lack of motivation and work ethic.  This is something that we want all of our students to learn this year: to become motivated learners who become persistent and consistent hard workers.

As adults, we know the importance and necessity of work.  We may all secretly think that the world owes us a living, but most of us understand that even if we think this, we still have to work very hard to get it.  This understanding has ideally motivated us to develop a strong work ethic.  Children are motivated by the same forces that we are so one of the first steps in teaching your child to work is understanding how your child is motivated. 

The forces that motivate us all fall into two very simple categories: extrinsic (outside) and intrinsic (inner) motivation.  

Extrinsic motivation is when a teacher, a boss, or any other adult tells us that we have to do something or else!  

Intrinsic motivation is when we do something because we want to do it, have chosen to do it, or have set it as a goal. We have decided that it is important so it is more rewarding and much easier to maintain.

This is obviously the kind of motivation we want children to develop because if they are only motivated extrinsically or from outside forces, what happens when the outside forces are not there?

How can you tell if your child has the characteristics of motivation that are necessary to become a motivated learner who knows how to work? Here is a chart that can help you understand your child and his/her motivation:

Motivation Characteristic	High Motivation	Low Motivation
Persistence	Sticks with a task.  May  not always achieve it, but child will keep trying	Gives up easily when not instantly successful
Choice of Challenge	Chooses a slightly difficult activity that provides a challenge	Chooses something that is easy and means instant success
Dependency on adults (this of course develops with the age of your child)	Does not need adult constantly watching and helping during an activity	Needs constant attention and can’t function independently
Emotion	Is generally happy and shows enjoyment and pride during activity	Is quiet, sullen, or bored during an activity.  Shows no pleasure and complains often

Do you recognize some of these traits in your child?  Regardless of which column you feel your child falls into right now, we can help children increase intrinsic/inner motivation that will lead to a strong work ethic with some very simple guidelines.  These guidelines can be used with schoolwork, household chores, or any kind of “work” that children do.

1. Be a good role model. If we want our children to be motivated, we need to show them that we are motivated internally and not just by external factors.  After a long day at work, instead of complaining, focus on the positive things that you did well. Instead of saying, “My boss made me work so hard today” say “Today my boss gave me a really big project and I didn’t get it done but I’m proud of the way I kept trying even though it was so difficult. I’ll work on it again tomorrow.”
2. Emphasize the importance of practice.  Homework is important because it provides time to practice skills that are important to mastery.  An accomplished pianist knows that a successful concert involved hours of mistake-ridden practice.  A soccer team doesn’t win a game without many practice sessions. Practice doesn’t always make perfect, but it’s necessary if we are going to even get close to the goal.  
   
3. Give your child enough time to work successfully.  Children need time to think, work, and apply what they are learning.  Their working environment should be free from interruptions or distractions (this means no TV!) and our time table shouldn’t be the standard.  If your schedule only allows for limited time, give your child warnings about how much time they realistically have and then provide time later to finish.
4. Resist the urge to jump in and help.  Too often, we as educators and parents focus on the end product rather than the process and we forget that we are all “works in progress,” regardless of our age.  There are important lessons to be learned in the failures as well as the successes.  Allow your child to develop persistence by “pushing through” and “sticking to it” even if it results in a failed attempt.  “Nothing in the world is ever completely wrong. Even a stopped clock is right twice a day.” (quote from Paulo Coelho, Brazilian lyricist and novelist)
   
5. If your child needs help, work with him as a positive model. This means don’t do it for him.  
   
   If he is stuck on something, ask questions that will help him solve the problem himself rather than giving the answer.  Explore the problem together and if you don’t know how to help, help him find resources that will support his learning.
6. Instead of praising or criticizing a child’s work, ask your child to evaluate.  The easiest thing to do is to tell a child what you think of their work but if you want critical thinking and problem solving skills to develop, ask them how they think they did first and then listen.  Ask them first, “What do you think of your work?
7. Don’t give dishonest or empty praise. Giving a sticker to everyone just because they exist, does nothing to create self-esteem.  Children develop self-esteem from the work they do, the value that they put on it, and their belief in their ability.  If you praise a project that is obviously below par, you may give your child the message that this is all you believe they can do. 
8. Praise the effort and persistence rather than the actual accomplishment.  This is so easy to do but we so often forget to do it.  We all want to know that our efforts are recognized even if the outcome is not the best and children are no different. Instead of evaluating the end project, you might say something like, “I love the way you worked so hard on this project.”
9. Encourage your child when challenged or help him find challenging activities. 
   
   Your child will be more motivated and will feel more successful with slightly challenging activities rather than easy tasks.  If something is obviously too easy for your child, encourage something new that teaches new skills and content.
10. Don’t reward your child excessively or when it is not earned.  Rewards from you or from school are sometimes needed to encourage a child along the way but remember that the kind of motivation we want a child to have ultimately is intrinsic or coming from within rather than from outside forces.  Our long-term goal is for children to feel rewarded by their sense of accomplishment and pride rather than something material.

Understanding what motivates a child and encouraging the development of inner motivation is the first step to helping your child develop a strong work ethic and ultimately success in school and work.   The amazing thing about a new school year is that most children, especially the young ones, are motivated simply by the new start and the prospect of learning.  Take advantage of this by making sure your child has the structure and support that is needed to help form healthy habits that will sustain his learning throughout the year and life!    

“Get going. Move forward. Aim High. Plan a takeoff. Don't just sit on the runway and hope someone will come along and push the airplane. It simply won't happen. Change your attitude and gain some altitude. Believe me, you'll love it up here.”
(Love him or hate him.....Donald Trump said this and he must know something about motivation and hard work!)