Motivation Breakthrough Video

a. Rate yourself as High, Middle, or Low in the areas of Status, Inquisitiveness, Affiliation,
Power, Achievement, Aggression, and Gregariousness (based on his descriptions in the video
lecture)
Status – High
Inquisitiveness – Low
Affiliation – Medium
Power – Low
Achievement – High
Aggression – Low
Gregariousness – Medium
b. What does your score in these areas tell you about how you will choose to motivate your
students? 
My scores in these areas tell me that, over everything, I would choose to motivate my
students through giving them the opportunities to achieve things. I could do this by having an
award system in my classroom based on behavior or performance. I would also motivate them
giving my students a lot of validation and praise, making them feel recognized for what they do.
However, I also think it’s very important to keep in mind how the students themselves are
motivated.
c. Give examples of how you see yourself (AS A FUTURE TEACHER) providing specific
strategies to motivate students who are strong in the areas you scored yourself as middle or low?
I think the strategy that I would be most likely to use as a future teacher is to give my
students many opportunities for hands-on work. Giving them projects to do, whether they’re
science experiments, physical exercises, craft projects, etc. I would also have them do a lot of
group work, so that they have the opportunity to be motivated by working with others if that’s
their strong area. I don’t see myself encouraging the aggression area very much, but perhaps
giving the students opportunities to discuss or debate their ideas with each other. If they are
strong in the power area, I would definitely not try to invalidate their need to assert control, but
would give them other activities where they could perhaps be the leader of a group.
d. What are your thoughts about the section on CONTROL?
I think that it was very interesting to hear this section. I really liked his analogy with the
candles, giving students control over their own education doesn’t mean that you don’t have any
power over your classroom anymore. It was interesting to hear the story about the girl with a
high need for power, who didn’t have control over any other aspect of her life, but felt that she
could have some sort of control in the classroom. I would definitely try to give my students the
opportunity to make their own choices in the classroom and give them a sense of control over
how they learn and different ways they could learn.
e. What connections did you see to other theories we have learned in this course so far?
(specifically Behaviorism and Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs... or any others you are connecting
with the video)
I related a lot of topics in this video to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. I think that all the
different aspects of motivation (Status, Inquisitiveness, Affiliation, Power, Achievement,
Aggression, and Gregariousness) are directly influenced by which needs are being fulfilled
outside of the classroom and how. For example, if a child has a turbulent home life and they
don’t feel secure at home or in their family, they may feel the need to exert control when they’re
at school. Or if a child doesn’t receive a lot of love from their family members, they may be
highly motivated by status in the classroom because they want to know that others think highly
of them.