Motivation and Adolescence

Dr. Laurie McNelles, Educational Specialist

When it comes to motivation, adolescents present a particular challenge to parents

and educators. High school students have matured beyond sticker collections and
promises of valuable prizes. In fact, often it seems that teenagers are compelled
to remain reserved and unenthusiastic about motivational incentives. Recently, I
had the opportunity to attend a presentation offered by Lynne Rawlins entitled
“Retaining High School Students”. Lynne highlighted several instructional tips in
her work with adolescents, all of which are associated with the motivational
development of this age group.

In contrast to children, adolescents are capable of higher levels of abstract

thinking, enabling them to make plans for themselves. There are several ways in
which educators can increase the likelihood that high school students will set
appropriate academic goals for themselves. Having a visual picture of the student’s
academic skills relative to their grade level, securing a list of goals from the
student, and summarizing the skills the student has acquired all give students the
message that adults are working with them on successfully achieving what they set
out to do.

Learning situations that promote individual challenge and active involvement are also
likely to motivate high school students. In addition to factual knowledge, it’s
important that adolescents develop strategies to help them with their studies.
When working with high school students at upper levels, Lynne suggests that
students keep a “resource book”, containing 100% worksheets that exemplify
particular skills. I have a similar resource book for multivariate statistical analyses
and it has been an invaluable reference for me. This is one way that Instructors
can foster strategic learning and support motivational development.

Research also suggests factors such as persistence, resilience, and positive thinking
all support teenagers to remain motivated academically. High school students who
view errors and obstacles as part of the learning process are more likely to enjoy
the challenges and take risks, thereby remaining motivated to proceed rather than
concede. Corrections and worksheet obstacles present instructional moments
where the educator makes an important contribution to the development of
academic skills as well as motivation.

Many thanks to Lynne Rawlins for the Instructional Tips for Retaining High School
Students! Interested readers can glean additional information from the following
publications:
Barbara McCombs & James Pope (1998). Motivating Hard to Reach Students.
American Psychological Association.
David Pruitt (1999). Your Adolescent. American Academy of Child and Adolescent
Psychiatry.