Motivating students is an important teacher training topic because without motivation, people aren’t going to learn. It will affect what they believe as well as their relationship with the Lord.
Pertinent Questions about Motivating Students
How do we know what will motivate our students to learn?
To truly know how to motivate students to learn, we must get to know our students. The more we know about their backgrounds, family life, current responsibilities and circumstances, learning styles, etc, the more we’ll be able to connect with them. It’s hard to motivate people if they don’t perceive what you’re teaching as relevant or of interest to them. Since getting to know students more personally takes time, begin with what can be known about:
1) Their physical age. Each age level will have some broad needs and interests by virtue of their development at that stage of life. For more, read the following articles:
- Motivate by Connecting with Developmental Factors
- Motivating People to Learn (be sure to follow through related posts for motivating at the various age levels)
2) Their spiritual maturity. What motivates a believer versus a non-believer will be quite different. What motivates a new believer versus someone who has been saved for many, many years will vary greatly. What motivates a carnal Christian versus someone walking in the Spirit will also differ immensely. For more, read the following articles:
- Motivate by Connecting with Spiritual Readiness Factors
- Spiritual Growth: Overview (be sure to follow through related posts for various spiritual growth levels)
How can we motivate students if we don’t know what’s truly in a person’s heart?
To be sure, only God truly knows what’s in a person’s heart (1 Sam. 16:7; Lk. 16:5). God knows us better than we know ourselves (Ps. 139). And, the heart is the source of motivation for what we do (Prov. 4:23; Matt. 12:34; Lk. 6:45) so knowing what’s in our students’ hearts can make a huge difference. Though we will never know people’s hearts like God does and it is possible for them to fool us, we can gain some insight by taking time to interact with students, listen to them, and observe them. — “The purposes of a person’s heart are deep waters, but one who has insight draws them out.” (Prov. 20:5) — And, most importantly, we can pray for God’s help (James 1:5).