How motivation affects academic performance

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Contents
1. Introduction.......................................................................................................................................3
2. Characteristics and types of motivation...........................................................................................3
3. Factors affecting pupil’s academic performance.............................................................................5
4. School.................................................................................................................................................7
5. Family members and friends............................................................................................................9
6. Rewards............................................................................................................................................10
7. Government and other stakeholders..............................................................................................12
8. Conclusion........................................................................................................................................13
Bibliography..............................................................................................................................................15

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 1. Introduction

As the saying goes that education is not a discipline but a fact of life so is the need for

excelling academically to achieve the goals of life. The journey through academic excellence is

not that easy, and it involves numerous challenges in the form of failing to perform academically

and even lack of tuition fees at times. Under extreme conditions pupils seem resigned and

therefore restoring their emotions and attitude has been deemed to be a way that can enhance

their performance as far as academic is concerned. This form of restoration is normally done

through what is referred to as motivation. Motivation in its simplest terms refers to the driving

force behind our action in the desire to achieve something. Motivation plays a key role in the

pupil’s academic performance as it reflects in the pupil’s choices regarding learning tasks, in

their coping with obstacles they face in the learning process. Motivation is a cyclic process that

encapsulates every practitioner who has the capacity to give motivation to pupils. That is the

family members, government and the school in the form of teachers as well as any expert in the

guidance and counseling area. This is because some parents have been noticed to blame their

children for failing academically, and even teachers themselves blame pupils for poor

performance, but should the pupils be blamed for their failure? The attitude a pupil has alongside

other factors can cause poor performance and therefore engaging the pupil in motivational talks

can have a positive impact on the pupil’s academic performance.

2. Characteristics and types of motivation

A broader definition of motivation is given by Boekaerts, Pintrich, and Zeidner (2010:

535) as an inner source of energy that pushes individuals towards desirable results and keeps

them from undesirable outcomes. They continue to say that motivation is primarily concerned

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with the desire to fulfill needs, goals and expectations set by an individual. Motivation has

different features such as:

First of all, it is a psychological concept: Motivation comes from the inside of a person

based on two factors of desire namely (a) Fundamental needs for example shelter food and

clothes and (b) Ego-satisfaction which includes self-esteem, opportunities available for

achievements, recognition from other people, self-actualization and self-development which acts

as power though out of conscious, motivator of behavior. The motivation that comes from inside

can be more responsible for most behavior than any other form of external influence.

Secondly, the whole individual is motivated, and no partial motivation is involved such

as motivating part of the body belonging to an individual. The basic needs that an individual

requires are interrelated that is one need leads to the requirement of the other need as an

individual is an integrated and organized as a whole.

Thirdly, motivation is an unending process meaning that it is cyclic such that as you

finish one need that motivates you another one arises. For example, a pupil who is motivated to

read hard will perform well and top the class. Afterward, there will be a need to strategize on

how to keep beating his competitors and remain on top. That will require another form of

motivation, and the cycle continues.

Motivation comes from goals: motives and goals are inseparable. A pupil will work to

achieve a goal he has set. As soon as the goal is achieved the pupil may not be willing to work

hard anymore unless motivated by the need to maintain the performance curve. It, therefore,

means that the practitioners available should keep on pushing such a pupil to work hard.

Motivation is a complex phenomenon which cannot be observed directly since it is an internal

feeling and somehow dynamic in many ways (Sites.google.com, 2016).

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 Turning the point of articulation to the types of motivation, there are two types of

motivation which can be used to motivate pupil namely intrinsic and extrinsic motivation.

Intrinsic motivation is inbuilt meaning that it comes from within the body of an individual. From

a critical point of view, this would include having a sense that the subject a pupil is doing is

relevant to their life, feeling some sense of accomplishing the mastery of the subject and a

general fascination with the subject. Very often pupils who are intrinsically motivated say things

such as “I like literature” or “learning maths enables me to think clearly” (Cft.vanderbilt.edu,

2016). Advantages accrued from this type of motivation are durable and have self-sustenance.

However, efforts to foster this type of motivation can be slow to affect the behavior and thus

more time is required for sufficient preparation.

Extrinsic motivation, on the other hand, is propelled by outside factors such as parental

expectations for their child, expectations of other trusted role models among others. Most pupils

who are extrinsically motivated would be heard saying things like “I only need a B- in

computing to get into business school” or “If I fail in chemistry, I will lose the scholarship”

(Cft.vanderbilt.edu, 2016). This type of motivation outdoes intrinsic motivation as it readily

produces behavioral changes with relatively little effort. Furthermore, no extensive knowledge is

required to master the skills of intrinsic motivation. All in all, this kind of motivation in one way

or another is not that much suitable for pupils as it can distract them from learning the subject at

hand.

3. Factors affecting pupil’s academic performance

Pupils are key assets of any learning institution, and therefore, their performance plays a

critical role in producing the best quality people that can transform the society as school is a

factory that makes useful men out of boys. Two categories of factors have been noticed to

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influence the performance of pupils academically school related and non-school related factors.

School related factors include unqualified and poorly trained teachers, insufficient learning

facilities, and dilapidated infrastructure. Non-school factors, on the other hand, include poverty,

low educational attainment, and illiteracy on the parent’s side, poor health that cannot allow the

pupil to concentrate more and nutritional status of the pupils. From a deeper perspective, the

following are the factors that have been found to influence academic performance in pupils:

Personal condition: some pupils have a negative attitude towards other subjects as they

seem resolved that they are difficult so during teaching they just appear to be dull and even fall

asleep in class. Also, poor study habits determine the ability to shine academically. For instance,

a pupil who reads during exams as a pupil who has spent the whole term learning have a

different degree of mastery of the subject and therefore their performance may not be the same.

Socioeconomic status: this a person’s overall social position under which the attainment

in both social and economic domains contribute. From the perspectives of academic performance

in pupil’s socioeconomic status is reflected on the parents or family. Various studies by Amato,

Williams et al. among others has managed to show that pupils from low socioeconomic status are

more likely not to perform well academically compared to pupils from high socio-economic

status (cited in Considine, & Zappalà, 2002: 92). These pupils have low levels of literacy, low

retention rates, experience difficulties in their studies and most of the time they express a

negative attitude towards school.

Family structure: sole parent families have lower levels of income particularly if the

parent had lower levels of education attainment which affect his/her likelihood of being in the

labour force. Pupils from such background are likely to show low levels of academic

performance. From research conducted by Considine, & Zappalà (2002: 93) it was discovered

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that such factors as reduced contact between the parent and the child, lack of appropriate role

model and increased responsibilities on children are some of the home related factors that

influence pupil’s academic performance.

Type of school: the level of socioeconomic status determines the kind of school a pupil

will learn. Research has managed to show that school type influences educational attainment as it

has been discovered that pupils attending private institutions tend to perform well academically

compared to their counterparts in the state schools. Another factor is the possibility of private

schools to have pupils from a high socioeconomic background such that they are able to select

pupils with stronger academic capabilities thus the higher performance.

Absences: unexplained absence among pupils, tend to explain the reason for the low

academic performance. Academic truancy can be viewed as a determinant of educational

outcome and a causal factor in explaining the educational performance. Truancy has been noted

to be higher in pupils from low socioeconomic status, and it is always associated with low

academic performance at school (Sparkes, 2001).

Other factors that can influence academic performance in pupils include ethnicity from

the perspectives of national background, geographical location in terms of learning in the

metropolitan and non-metropolitan area as well as the housing type with regard to public housing

and private housing.

4. School

Schools play a crucial role in motivating pupils through picking up where the parents left

off or stepping in where parents are unable to engage actively. It is important for the school to be

organized in providing engagement activities. This organization is what seems to provide the

self-fulfillment prophecy discussed by Hargreaves, Hester, and Mellor (2012). Teachers have a

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role to play in guiding their pupils towards success or failure, and this is normally affected by the

mindset they have concerning the pupil. Research suggests that different expectations of

teachers can exert a strong impact on the academic performance of pupils in the classrooms. For

example, a teacher is capable of forming some mirror regarding the class he is handling and use

the perceptions he has to divide the class into groups of fast and slow learners. Different degree

of attention is then imposed on these pupils thereby leading to different performance, but

according to the expectation of the teachers. Such treatment which leads to performance of

pupils according to the expectation of teachers form the self-fulfilling prophecies (Hargreaves,

Hester, and Mellor, 2012).

Schools like teachers can also generate the self-fulfilling prophecies. For instance, in

poorly managed schools where truce syndrome is exhibited no one seems to care about

absentees. In the long run, such pupils become excluded from many important lessons and

bartering takes place in classes for suitable behavior which then permits individualism rather

than the following of the mainstream programs.

The school organization and structure has to undergo some alterations to effect positive

changes in the pupil engagement and motivation. Ensuring increased attendance and maximizing

engagement are some of the strategies that can be used to motivate pupils to perform more. Each

school has a unique blend of pupil and a faculty characteristic, style of leadership, climate

building and a community context. There is no strategy guaranteed to work as far as motivation

is concerned, and a strategy that seems to work in one school may end up not being compatible

with the other school. All in all, the following have been pointed out as promising programs that

can make changes in schools with an aim of increasing motivation:

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  Having school-based programs that prevent dropouts among pupils at risk, boosting

attendance among chronically truant pupils or advising the pupils who fail to complete

their homework on the importance of doing homework to completion. Also, the school-

based programs can be differentiated to cater for individual pupils depending on their

motivational problems. For instance, chronically truant pupils may need motivational

meetings based on individual perspectives, visiting them at home or providing them with

support services as their reasons for truancy may not be the same (Hardré and Sullivan,

2009).

 Turning to teachers as motivators, there is a need for them to treat a class as a whole and

maintain a caring and democratic climate in the classroom. Also, teachers should be

trained on how to recognize pupils with social or emotional challenges which can affect

motivation, instead of waiting for pupils to seek help.

 The school structure, design, and organization should strategize on improving the pupil’s

engagement and academic achievement through the creation of smaller schools out of the

large schools, coming up with schools within schools or introducing block scheduling as

these practices have been met with success in the area of motivation. The most effective

school programs bring together these types of changes in the design of the school with

strong instruction and curriculum, training of teachers and other key elements (Hardré

and Sullivan, 2009).

5. Family members and friends

As seen from the other factors, intelligence has been noted to be not the only determining

factor in motivating a pupil towards academic achievement, the family from which a pupil comes

from and the peers he/she affiliate with seem to have an impact too. The family is the primary

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social system for any child and therefore under high parental control there will always be high

achievement academically. Such factors as socioeconomic status and crowding have been

viewed as factors which affect educational attainment especially if the victim is disadvantaged.

Less physically crowded and an academic environment, accompanied by motivation and parental

support have always been affiliated with higher educational attainment. It, therefore, implies that

motivation can serve as a mediating variable between personal attributes, home backgrounds,

and educational attainment. Motivation, however, becomes difficult under low levels of parental

education and social, economic status meaning that these attributes impact the educational

achievement of the pupil. Studies show that pupils from well-educated parents tend to achieve

the highest levels of academics. So there is a need for parents to improve their role in providing

appealing home circumstances that can help teachers and school with the capacity to minimize

achievement gaps (Freepatentsonline.com, 2016).

From the perspectives of friends, the entrance into education reduces the influence of

family plateau as the importance of peers heightens. At times, the opinions of friends can

overwhelm those of the family and at times can overwhelm an individual too. The subculture

created by a peer group can be of significance in determining pupil’s motivation to academic

success. It, therefore, implies that a pupil may be able to find the motivation and desire to learn

from friends apart from teachers and family, and therefore friends too are crucial in determining

the motivation of a fellow pupil (Education.stateuniversity.com, 2016).

6. Rewards

Rewards can be viewed as a form of motivating pupils to keep them competing for higher

grades. However, it is worth noting that rewarding a pupil induces extrinsic motivation which in

one way or another ends up hindering intrinsic motivation. For instance, a study was conducted

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involving two groups of college pupils whereby they were given puzzles to solve. One group was

subjected to payment for every puzzle solved while the other group was left to continue without

any form of payment. On stopping the payment, the group that was being paid stopped indicating

that their main aim for the puzzle was to get payment and not any other form of inbuilt

motivation towards the puzzle. However, the other group continued to solve the puzzle because

they had discovered intrinsically that it was interesting (Cft.vanderbilt.edu, 2016). From a pupil

perspective, it is important to major on intrinsic motivation. The pupils should be made to see

how performing well will transform their lives and make them meet their goals. In this way,

performance will be prolonged unlike in the case of extrinsic reward.

The motivation of any form especially intrinsic or extrinsic appears to affect learning in

various ways. These types of motivation have contributed to three kinds of learners namely,

deep, strategic, and surface learners. Deep learners always look for ways of mastering the

content meaning that they are intrinsically motivated. Rewards always motivate strategic learners

and react well to competition implying that they are extrinsically motivated. Lastly surface

learners are often motivated by the desire to avoid failing. These learners have a negative attitude

towards deep learning as they view it as a risky behavior.

Motivating pupils should not be solely based on rewards as this would also make the

practitioners to keep on forcing them to excel in order to receive rewards. It is important for

teachers to become a role model for the pupils and make them love the subjects they teach. Also,

every teacher should get to know his pupils and display a strong interest in pupil’s learning. This

and other strategies can help in cultivating intrinsic motivation on the pupils and enhance

prolonged performance.

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 7. Government and other stakeholders

In as much as discussions have centered on schools and home with respect to teachers

and parents it is worth asking what role the government plays in motivating pupils to enhance

performance. Most schools are government owned and therefore the government providing help

in a way that would motivate the pupils to perform would as well be necessary. For example, the

government can provide library facilities, school equipment, employ qualified teachers and come

up with sound policies that would boost the performance of pupils.

The government of UK is committed to ensuring high academic performance, and

impartiality in education. Such a form of commitment is driven by the desire that teaching and

learning should develop an active, experienced and independent learner who can make right

decisions on their own (Smith et al., 2005). There is one policy that the UK government has

proposed of grouping pupils. The policy involves considering the curriculum subjects and then

describing the various group sizes to use in grouping the pupils within the primary classes. From

a perspective of thinking, grouping would help in sharing ideas in a way that would enhance

academic performance as pupils from the same peer groups are likely to motivate themselves in

many different ways (DfES, 2005: 58).

The government has also addressed the motivation and engagement of all pupils

including low achievers. This strategy by the government known as removing barriers to

achievement outlines the need to monitor the progress of the pupil carefully to see to it that some

children do not remain unidentified and thus remain on the underachieving side. In the document

containing this strategy, the government has included considerations for children with special

needs. In one way or another, this would motivate such kids as they also have the feeling that

somebody somewhere cares about them.

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 The UK government has played an essential role in enhancing pupil performance. Apart

from the already discussed points, there is an aspect of maintaining the pupils’ health and

wellbeing to ensure that they have a conductive body that can endure learning. The radical

changes imposed on the children’s bill were meant to ensuring that all the children are exposed

to the aspects that are meant to promote well-being.

To achieve efficient motivation, there is a need for the government to collaborate with

other stakeholders to ensure that academic performance is enhanced. The schools should involve

parents/carers to improve the learning of the low-attaining pupils. This would be done through

outreach to homes, giving pupils homework and then occasionally inviting their parents to

schools to discuss the progress of the child. Also, schools have been reported to have access to

varying degrees of other stakeholders such as language and speech therapist, behavior support

officers and psychologists. These practitioners can help in maintaining the well-being of the

pupil and thus motivate the pupil to learn under proficient health (Dunne et al., 2007).

8. Conclusion

This paper has laid discussions about the various practitioners responsible for motivating

pupils. Pupils can fail at times due to extreme conditions prevailing at home or even school

environment. Schools have different settings that in one way or another impact the performance

of pupils. The self-fulfillment prophecy has been seen as one of the way teachers use to focus on

the pupils they want to pass highly while leaving other pupils behind. Nevertheless, the article

has emphasized the need for the teacher to be enthusiastic, impartial and interested in all the

pupils in the class in a way that can make the pupils be motivated and have the yearning to learn.

Family aspects such as social, economic status have also been seen as determinants that dictate

the pupil’s success in academics. Pupils from lower socio-economic background have been seen

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to be lower achievers compared to the children from well-established families. The government

on the other side has been seen to play different roles through developing sound policies that

show concern of the pupils. All these practitioners play a role in determining the pupils’

performance and therefore at some instance the pupil cannot be to blame for failure when these

external factors surrounding him are imbalanced. This therefore means that the pupils as they are

still young and ambitious they must be motivated so that they can do better in their academic

pursuit. This should involve the use of both intrinsic and extrinsic forms of motivation, but with

a particular focus on the intrinsic form of motivation so as the student can continue enjoying the

long-term fruits of academic excellence. Therefore, motivating a pupil should be at everyone’s

disposal as long as he or she has the mandate to do so.

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