What motivates high school students to learn

By Alyssa Schneyman
College of Education
Long Island University, C. W. Post
November, 2010

I feel that reasons that high schools students might be motivated today is because they want to feel that they are able to succeed at something, they like the feeling they get when they do well in a class or an assessment. However at the same time, all the standardized testing and pressure upon students to do well on these standardized tests can have a negative effect on student motivation. Students could be motivated to do something, if they feel that it is relevant to their lives or if they have a reason to care about what they are learning. What standardized testing could be doing, is watering down what the students are learning to simply something they will be tested on in the standardized tests. By doing so, the students no longer feel that they have a reason to care about what they are learning anymore.

It is important for a student to have a dream or goal to motivate them. Because without something to look forward to, to dream out, the students might forget why they are doing something. I know personally, when I am having a tough time handling the amount of schoolwork I have and I am questioning why I am doing what I am doing right now, I think about how much I love working with kids and that I want to be able to make an impact on their lives, like my teachers did for me. This helps me to stay motivated. I feel that it is important for teachers and parents to support high school students dreams and motivations, because this way, when the students might being to doubt that they can reach their dream or motivation, the parent or teacher can believe in them and give them moral support.