STUDENTS DIVERSITY IN MOTIVATION

INTRODUCTION
Students motivation is likely to vary as a function of age, culture, gender, socioeconomic
background and special education needs. There is no single best method of motivating learners.
From the module of Student’s Diversity in Motivation, we will be able to know how these
factors influences student’s motivation.

CONTENT
Diversity- the quality or state of having different forms, types, ideas, etc.-the state of having
people who are different races or who have different cultures in a group or
organization.Motivation- the act or process of giving someone a reason for doing something.
Our students’ motivation may vary on account of age, gender, cultural, socioeconomic
backgrounds, and special education needs. Our class is a conglomerate of students with varying
ages, and gender and most especially cultural background and socioeconomic status. Our
students’ motivational drives reflect the elements of the culture in which they grow up – their
family, their friends, school, church, and books. To motivate all of them for learning, it is best to
employ differentiated approaches. “Different folks, different strokes”. What is medicine for one
may be poison for another.

Two principles to consider regarding social and cultural influences on motivation are:
1. Students are most likely to model the behaviours they believe are relevant to their situation.2.
Students develop greater efficacy for a task when they see others like themselves performing the
task successfully. (Ormrod, 2004) What conclusion can be derived from the two principles?
“Students need models who are similar themselves in terms of race, cultural background,
socioeconomic status, gender, and (if applicable) disability. (Ormrod, 2004.).Then it must be
good to expose our student to models of their age and models who come from similar cultural,
socioeconomic backgrounds.
Diversity and Motivation: Culturally Responsive Teaching was co-authored by an educational
psychologist and a former teacher/professor. Both are practioners and researchers examining
effective classroom techniques that promote learning. The primary concern of the text is
identifying key elements that can be used among a diversified student population by instructors
in classroom relationships. In approaching “diversity” and “multiculturalism”, which are used
interchangeably, the authors look at a wide range of characteristics including race, gender, class,
impression after completing this text is that the authors bit off more than they could chew while
simulataneously failing to adequate address teaching at the university level. If the authors had
narrowed their topic and/or limited it to the elementary and secondary school level it would have
been much more effective in its attempt to deliver useful information.

CONCLUSION
From the module of Student’s Diversity in Motivation I conclude that students has different