"What do I need this for?", "boring", "don't want to" — parents hear it from the first year of school, sometimes earlier. An interest in learning is not "instilled" by persuasion and not bought with rewards: half a century of experiments shows that paying for what a child already finds interesting kills the interest. It grows out of three things — the sense of "I can", "I decide" and "I belong here". Below: what research knows about it, what to play by age, what not to do, and how to tell that it is working.
What research says
A reward for an interesting activity lowers interest — especially in children
Who and on whom. Edward Deci, Richard Koestner and Richard Ryan, 1999, Psychological Bulletin. A meta-analysis of 128 experiments on the effect of extrinsic rewards on intrinsic motivation.
What they found. Expected tangible rewards — for taking part, for finishing, for the result — lowered intrinsic motivation (in free time people returned to the activity less) and self-reported interest. In children tangible rewards did more harm than in students. Verbal positive feedback, on the contrary, raised both motivation and interest — but helped children less than adults.
What it does not prove. This concerns activities that were interesting to begin with; on dull tasks there is less data. Laboratory experiments, a short horizon. The study does not say "never praise" — it says that payment and prizes do not work the way they seem to.
Motivation rests on three needs: competence, autonomy, relatedness
Who and on whom. Richard Ryan and Edward Deci, 2000, American Psychologist. A review of research within self-determination theory.
What they found. Conditions in which three basic needs are met — to feel capable, to decide for oneself and to be accepted by others — strengthen self-motivation and well-being; conditions in which they are thwarted extinguish motivation. This is shown across domains, including education.
What it does not prove. A theoretical review, not a single measurement; in a given family the balance of the three needs is its own. But as a map it is practical: if a child "doesn't want anything", ask which of the three supports is missing.
Praise for intelligence rather than effort turns against the child at the first failure
Who and on whom. Claudia Mueller and Carol Dweck, 1998, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. Six studies with fifth-graders.
What they found. Children praised for intelligence showed less persistence after failure, enjoyed the task less and performed worse than children praised for effort; they regarded intelligence as a fixed trait.
What it does not prove. One age group, the United States, laboratory tasks. But for learning the conclusion is direct: "you're clever" is a bad bet, "you kept at it and worked it out" is a good one.
For a parent the three studies point the same way: interest is neither bought nor begged for — it grows where the child chooses for himself, copes with a manageable difficulty and sees that his effort has been noticed.
What to play — by age
The games below are chosen around the three supports of motivation: I can (manageable difficulty and a visible result), I decide (choice inside the task), together (the adult as a partner, not a supervisor). Each says what it trains.
5–7 years
- "Kitchen scientist". What sinks and what floats? What dissolves in water? The child predicts first, then checks. Trains: "I can" — predicted, checked, found out; curiosity as the habit of asking a question before the answer.
- "Shop". Real coins, price tags, change. Counting becomes necessary rather than assigned. Trains: the point of knowledge — why count at all.
- "Your page, my page". He chooses the book, you read in turns; on his page you do not correct, only listen. Trains: "I decide" — choice; reading without an exam.
8–11 years
- "Explain it to me". The child teaches you a topic they are covering at school — you ask honest questions. Trains: "I can" — to explain to someone else is to understand; the role of expert instead of the one being tested.
- "Project of the week". The topic is his (dinosaurs, space, anything), the result a short talk for the family on Sunday with one picture. Trains: "I decide" — choosing and finishing; "together" — listeners, not graders.
- "The route". Plan a trip or a hike together: map, time, money, what to take. Trains: using maths and geography where they are needed.
- Strategy board games. Chess, draughts, games with move planning. Trains: holding attention on something hard without grades and without "you have to".
12–14 years
- "My own course". He chooses what to learn — a language, coding, video editing, the history of games — and finds where himself. Your role is to take an interest in the result, not to check attendance. Trains: "I decide" at full strength.
- "A real task". The family budget for a month, costing a repair, comparing tariffs — with real consequences for the decision. Trains: "I can" on adult material.
- Dinner-table debates. One question, two positions, arguments in turn; the loser is whoever goes personal. Trains: "together" — his opinion carries weight; the skill of finding arguments, which is to say, learning.
What not to do
- Pay for marks and for reading. Money for a top mark and a prize for ten pages are exactly the reward that lowered interest in the meta-analysis. A reward is acceptable for something dull and one-off; for something interesting it does harm.
- Praise for intelligence. "You're clever, what's there not to understand" turns at the first difficulty into "so I'm not clever". Praise a specific effort and a specific step.
- Do the homework for him, or sit over him. Constant supervision takes away the "I decide" support. Help on request and at a specific point, not sitting over the exercise book.
- Turn something interesting into a duty. "Since you like reading — read another twenty pages" is the fastest way to put a child off reading.
- Compare. With a brother, with a classmate, with yourself "at your age". Comparison takes away both "I can" and "together".
How to tell that it is working
Not by marks — they change slowly and depend on more than interest. The signs are different: the child comes back to a topic by himself without a reminder; asks questions you do not know the answer to; chooses the harder task when there is a choice; tells you what he has learned — not because you asked. These signs take months to appear, not weeks, and setbacks at the end of term and when tired are normal.
When it is not about interest
If "I don't want to study" came on suddenly and sleep, mood and his attitude to school and friends changed with it, this is not about motivation: see the case on a child who doesn't want to go to school. If the child tries hard but reading, writing or counting come disproportionately hard, that is a reason to see a specialist, not to "try harder". And if after every failure you hear "I'm stupid" — the case on self-esteem. How to hold a homework rule without shouting — in the case on boundaries.
Sources
- Deci E. L., Koestner R., Ryan R. M. A meta-analytic review of experiments examining the effects of extrinsic rewards on intrinsic motivation. Psychological Bulletin, 1999, 125(6), 627–668. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.125.6.627
- Ryan R. M., Deci E. L. Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. American Psychologist, 2000, 55(1), 68–78. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.55.1.68
- Mueller C. M., Dweck C. S. Praise for intelligence can undermine children's motivation and performance. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1998, 75(1), 33–52. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.75.1.33
The games are examples, not a programme: fit them to your child. This material does not replace a specialist's consultation if learning difficulties are persistent.