Material for reading "Applying the appropriate motivation methods encouraging female learners to learn"
2.1 The reasons for the lack of motivation to
learn
Adult learners have their own personal biography, view of the world, what is needed to survive and succeed in their personal endeavours and they even have their own personal view of success. Learning requires motivation. A key task for facilitators helping female learners to learn and go through the coaching process is to encourage and promote learner’s effort to learn. This can be a challenge, even if the coach creates a supportive learning environment, because many of the factors that influence learning are affected by the learner’s overall attitude towards the digital sector, feeling that it is not possible to them to get employment in this sector, the low level of self-esteem and finally, their personality. Moreover, all these factors influence the lack of motivation for female learners to get employment in the digital sector. Thus, it is important for the coach to discuss with the female learner their reasons for low motivation in order to use this information in the next step- guide the female learner to increase their motivation to learn about the possibilities to get employment in the digital sector.
2.2 The motivation methods: how to choose the appropriate one to increase learners' motivation
To improve learner’s motivation,
adult educators-coaches use both intrinsic and extrinsic motivators. Intrinsic
motivators rely on the value of the content and of learning to the learner.
Extrinsic motivators are based on the value of reinforcement or
rewards to the learner. Let's consider the individual’s
incentive to learn. The incentive to learn may be innate, or it may be
acquired. If a learner didn’t have to learn, would she wish to learn? There is
no simple answer since even those learners who don’t enjoy learning will
continue to learn from life experiences and activities that interest them, e.
g. to be involved in the digital sector.
Also, learners who enjoy learning in the classroom may no longer enjoy that
learning if there is no longer any achievement. The fact is that learning can
be either internally or externally motivated, and different
kinds of motivators will influence different learning situations. The coach
needs to recognise the situation and apply the appropriate motivating
strategy.
There are four motivational conditions that the coach and the learners collaboratively create or enhance:
- Establishing inclusion: Creating a learning atmosphere in which learners and the coach feel respected by and connected to one another.
- Developing attitude: Creating a favourable disposition toward the learning experience through personal relevance and choice.
- Enhancing meaning: Creating challenging, thoughtful learning experiences that include learners’ perspectives and values.
- Engendering competence: Creating an understanding that learners are effective in learning IT issues they value.
2.3 The importance of inner motivation to obtain skills
Individual adults learn
differently depending upon their experience, aptitude, and attitude, an adult
learners’ motivation to learn would also differ based on their individual
experience, aptitude and attitude. This would include individual
characteristics of the learner, the perceived value of the learning task and
how much experience the adult learner had with the topic.
Incentives are mainly connected with the person’s attitude to learning, and therefore, coach motivation should aim at developing and supporting internal incentives. These incentives can include:
- Pride in doing things well – Learners can find great satisfaction in a task well done, and gain a valuable sense of competence, which in itself can motivate further effort.
- The desire for accomplishment – This can be seen in statements such as "I have done all those" of “I have done that”. The individual gains a sense of satisfaction when a task is accomplished, and others may gain satisfaction from completing a task.
- Personal ambition - Some learners have a good idea of what they want to achieve later in life. They might value learning as a way of building a future that will bring wealth, prestige, power and other benefits being involved in digital sector activities.
- Competition with oneself - Learners sometimes set their own standards and rate of working. By doing this, they are issuing a challenge to themselves and thus providing incentives. They may also measure their success by comparing their achievements or progress to others’.
- A sense of control or power – Learners can gain a sense of control and power through developing skills and knowledge. A sense of being able to influence their environment is essential to preventing apathy and learned helplessness.
- A sense of participation and belonging – Working as part of a group or class can give learners a sense of belonging and affiliation.
- Personal relationships – Some learners are not as interested in belonging to a group as they are in developing positive relations with individuals. Learners can be very impressed by a coach, and be motivated by a desire to be approved of by that coach and to make that coach happy. A learner might be motivated by having one good friend who is also learning, and will often be motivated to do well in areas that involve that other learner, or where the friend is doing well.
- Values and ethics - Different learners may have different ethics or values regarding learning and education. Some may feel that education is critical to later success and to an individual’s sense of worth and status in society. Others do not see it as important. Some learners are motivated by ethics that include honouring family and respect for friends, whereas others are more motivated by values that stress independence and autonomy.
When a learner is motivated to learn by inner factors, the learning becomes its own reward. Enhancing inner motivation should be the main goal of motivation.
2.4. Learners’ self-esteem
Learners’
self-esteem is directly related to their learning performance. By ensuring
that the learner’s self-esteem is healthy,
the environment for learning becomes one where education
and learning thrives. Self-esteem activities
for learners are an excellent way to help boost confidence and
increase learning.
Here are five strategies to help boost learners’ self-esteem and confidence:
1. Praise and acknowledge accomplishments
Learners who don’t have a lot of confidence tend to focus on only the negative aspects of what they are doing. Make it a point to praise and acknowledge learners when they do something correctly, both in private and in front of their peers. Specific praise helps learners know that you’re paying attention and helps them acknowledge their own small wins in coding or in IT application.
2. Create realistic expectations
Be realistic about what your learners can accomplish. While it would be nice to see every learner make achievements high above the norm, it’s just not attainable for some. Setting goals that are manageable and reasonable for your learners can help them see how much they’ve grown. Try to differentiate your coaching and create goals that represent every learner in your group.
3. Embrace a growth mindset
Those with low confidence may focus on their failures and not see the progress that they’ve made. Sometimes coding or an application of IT requires some effort. Remind learners that they are not defined by their shortcomings and reassure them to keep moving forward in their studies. You may hear this practice described as adopting a growth mindset, where students move away from saying things like “not” and “can’t” to saying something more positive like “not yet.”
4. Increase sense of ownership
Urge your learners to take ownership of their professional growth by providing them with opportunities for decision-making when it comes to learning. While it can be tempting to just guide learners, prompt them to reach the final answer in their own way. One way to do this is to create a list of “must do” and “may do” assignments for learners to complete. Sometimes, you’ll need all learners to complete a certain assignment to assess their understanding, which would make it a “must do.” Then, learners can look to the “may do” list to have a choice in what they want to work on next. Learners will have a greater sense of pride in their learning when they feel a sense of control.
5. Emphasise the real-world benefits
Can you concisely sum up the real world benefits that the digital sector offers to females? The adult learners - females need to be informed of the real world benefits beforehand and should be reminded of these benefits periodically. For example, you can add a side note to every coaching session, explaining the real world benefits. This will allow learners to realize the purpose behind the educational experience, so that they become motivated and excited.
Links for the self-learning
http://www.edu-nova.com/articles/student-confidence/
https://elearningindustry.com/11-tips-engage-inspire-adult-learners
https://elearningindustry.com/17-tips-to-motivate-adult-learners
Understanding the Adult Learners’ Motivation and Barriers to Learning https://www.academia.edu/1267765/Understanding_the_Adult_Learners_Motivation_and_Barriers_to_Learning
Fostering Motivation in Professional Development Programs http://raymondwlodkowski.com/Materials/Fostering%20Motivation%20in%20Professional%20Development%20Programs.pdf
Motivating Adult Learners.