7 Ways to Build Intrinsic Motivation in Students

Are you a teacher wondering how to build intrinsic motivation in students? You’re in the right place.

Intrinsic motivation isn’t something that is built overnight – but the effort is so worth it – for your students, as well as for you as the educator.

Students who are intrinsically motivated are more engaged with school and curious about learning, solely for the sake of it. This allows them to get more out of school – socially and academically- and makes our jobs as teachers even more rewarding.

As a teacher with almost 10 years of experience teaching a dreaded subject to middle-schoolers, I’ve read several books on intrinsic motivation and how to build it in the classroom.

I was determined to not use candy as a currency to make my students pick up a pencil, and instead have them be more genuinely interested in the subject I was teaching; for the sake of learning it.

Here are some tips that I’ve learned along the way. Let’s jump in!

How To Build Intrinsic Motivation in Students

1. Give them decision-making power over their learning

Students are more intrinsically motivated when they get some say over what they learn or study.

In the book Hidden Potential: The Science of Achieving Greater Things, psychologist Adam Grant talks about how Finland (considered one of the education superpowers of the world) was able to build intrinsic motivation in their students.

They did this by allowing children to explore their interests through play-based learning. They laid out an engaging environment kindergarten where they can explore their interests and allowing them some time for self-discovery

Of course, we all don’t all teach kindergarten, nor do we all have the resources to provide this kind of environment. In addition, whether you work in a public or private school, there is likely a curriculum that you’re responsible for following.

However, here are some ways that you can give the students some power and decision-making over their learning.

• Have them choose the way they demonstrate their learning. For example, they can choose between doing a class presentation, writing an essay
• Allow them to read for fun. If reading is apart of your daily schedule, then let them choose what they read, and don’t connect a chore to it (such as a reading accountability log.)
• Have them choose a certain topic within the to do an independent study unit on

Any time you’re able to provide a choice, do it. It allows them to have some agency over their learning and encourages them to seek out opportunities and themes that interest them.

Pro Tip: I would not make these choices through class votes, because sometimes students are influenced by the desires of others. Try to allow individual students to have decision making power over their learning, when possible.

2. Show them real-world examples

The classroom is the main place where students learn, but this doesn’t mean that the learning needs to be confined to the four corners of the classroom. Bring the outside ‘in’ as much as you can.

Children are naturally curious about the world, and when you bring the world into the classroom, you’re more likely to spark their interest.

Here are a few ways to bring eal-world examples from outside the classroom, into the classroom :

• Do science experiments in the classroom
• If one of your hobbies or interests is related to something you study in school; bring in pictures, examples or personal stories
• Bring in real musical instruments to show the kids what they sound like and how they’re played
• Invite guest speakers into the classroom to talk about their expertise related to a topic you’re learning about
• Take the learning outside – visit nature, and use nature to learn just about any subject.
• Show relevant videos of interesting things related to what they’re learning

I want to add that planning some of the examples above is not always the easiest, or the most feasible thing to do depending on where you live and what resources are easy available to you. If you’re a new teacher or teaching a brand new subject, don’t pressure yourself to do it all at once – pick one subject where intrinsic motivation is lacking, and find out how to show the ‘real world’ relevance of it

3. Move away from rewards

Rewards programs are very common in the classroom these days; some teachers (including me) have felt like it was the only way to convince their students that it would be worth it to do any work.

There is some debate about whether using rewards as a motivator in the classroom kills intrinsic motivation. Personally, I think it depends on the reward program and how it operates, since there are so many of them.

Overall, you want your students to be engaged with the subjects that are being learned, not just the rewards they might earn if they do something ‘good’ (such as open their book and study, or raise their hand to participate.)

Most classroom management books suggest moving away from rewards, especially ones targeted at rewarding (or punishing) classroom behaviour.

If you want to have a rewards program in your classroom, then I recommend:

• moving away from rewards that are focused on individual performance
• instead, make it more about collective teamwork.

Whole-class rewards can encourage teamwork, and fun class bonding when everyone gets to enjoy the reward; without becoming a motivator for each student’s individual actions and choices.

4. Show them the ‘why’

If you’ve ever taught a subject which most students dislike, then you may know that teaching them the value of that subject will win some of the students over and encourage intrinsic motivation.

I spent about 5 years teaching French as a Second Language in Ontario, which wasn’t the favourite subject of most students. (In fact, it’s known as being the ultimate disliked subjects in the area, next to math.)

Students are more likely to be intrinsically motivated when they can see the relevance of the topic outside of the classroom.

Here are some ways I build an instristic interest in the dreaded subject:

• I started off with a presentation about the French language – how many people in the world speak it? How useful will it be down the line? How does being bilingual help you psychologically, as well as career-wise later on?
• I created lessons and activities that helped students see how French wasn’t just a language spoken on the other side of the ocean – it is used by people in our communities

These tips won’t win over every student, but it does help with the collective buy-in.

5. Foster a growth mindset

A growth mindset is so helpful when it comes to classroom learning and motivation. When students have a fixed mindset, they are more likely to get discouraged and not see the point of anything.

When students have a growth mindset, they’re more motivated to keep trying because the focus is on the improvement rather than trying to reach (what may seem like) an unattainable goal.

Fostering a growth mindset in the classroom isn’t just about teaching students what a growth mindset is. It’s more about how you embody it; the language you use, and actions you take as a teacher.

Here are a few ways to ensure you’re fostering a growth mindset in your classroom:

• Don’t focus on talents, traits or inateness that students are born with. Instead, focus on effort, improvement and growth; regardless of where they started from. It’s not about where they were at the start, its about how far they’ve come
• Provide feedback that is focused on their improvements, efforts and growth.
• Reduce and avoid any sense of rivalry or competition in the classroom
• Normalize failure and making mistakes. Avoid words like ‘perfect’; use the word ‘better’ instead. The aim should always be to improve, and it’s totally ok to ‘mess up’ along the way, because that’s how we learn

6. Be genuinely interested in the subject(s) you teach, and show how you put them to use in your daily life

Part of igniting a passion and interest in the subject you’re teaching is to be interested in it yourself, and to use it in ‘real’ life outside of the classroom.

For example, as a French teacher, I always greeted my students in French when I saw them outside of class; even in public. I showed them how learning French and other languages was a hobby of mine that I truly enjoyed.

This showed them that French wasn’t just a job for me – I really lived it.

How can you do this with other subjects? Here are some ideas:

• If you’re a gym teacher, tell about the adult sports teams that you play/have played on
• As a music teacher, talk about any music performances you went to, or have been involved with. Show them pictures and videos of orchestras playing
• If you’re a science teacher, show pictures of some fascinating and relevant things you’ve seen or done in the real world

The key here is to show students that:

I want to add that this tip is not going to win every student over. I was very passionate about the French language, and describe myself as a Francophile. Of course, some students couldn’t have cared less, and hated the subject anyway. But there were many who enjoyed having a teacher who enjoyed the subject they were teaching.

7. Have strict limits on cellphones

If you’ve been teaching in a classroom over the past decade or so, then you already know how disruptive cellphones can be to the learning environment.

But now, there is real evidence showing us how much smartphones interfear with student’s intrinsic motivation and focus on anything else.

Based on recent evidence, you should keep smartphones (and chromebooks) away from the students in the classroom as much as possible, because the distractions on them are quite addicting and cause students to be less interested and engaged with anything else.

In the book The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness, psychologist Johnathan Haidt shared a few alarming facts about how smartphones impact engagement in the classroom:

• Students are less interested in a topic after they’ve spent time on addicting apps on their phones
• Students are less able to retain any information about the topic at hand after being on their phone
• Even if the phone is present (within eye-sight) it distracts them, even if they aren’t looking at it. The thought and craving to pick it up and check it is enough to prevent them from focusing on what is happening in front of them

Many experts are recommending that schools go completely phone-free in order to improve student mental health, community, belonging and motivation with school. The enforcement of this will depend on your admin -but you can do your part to ensure that students do not have easy access to their phones in class. I’ve seen many teachers use these cellphone pocket holders.

8. (Bonus) Avoid burnout

Many teachers are in survival mode and only hoping to get through each day. I am not blaming those teachers; I was one of them for many years.

However, it’s important to remember that if you dislike coming into work, then your outlook and feelings are more likely to rub off on your students. It’s hard to motivate others when we are losing motivation ourselves.

This is not a judgement at all – teaching is a tough gig. Always remember to look after yourself in the process, so that you can always retain energy that it requires of you.

Its great that you are making effort to be the best teacher you can be (your students are very lucky to have you.)

Just make sure you are also building a work-life balance, and taking time to destress outside of work.

Recommended Books for Building Intrinsic Motivation in the Classroom

• Hidden Potential: The Science of Achieving Greater Things by Adam Grant. This book studies how to uncover potential in people that isn’t always obvious. Being able to see potential is a big part of motivating them, whether its kids or adults. It’s not specifically about school, but classrooms, teachers and school-age kids are used a lot in the examples and it is a fascinating read, especially for teachers.

• Smartest Kids in the World: : And How They Got That Way by Amanda Ripley. This book examines how other countries (South Korea, Finland and Poland) do education differently than what we have been doing in English speaking countries. Intrinsic motivation has been done best in Finland and Poland and the book will explain more about how their different perspective on learning elicits motivation in their students

• The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness by Johnathan Haidt. This book talks about how childhood changed for kids in the early 2010s when smartphones were introduced, and how it has impacted kids; their mental health, and their interests and motivations in anything outside of the ‘virtual world’ that they carry around in their pockets.

These above books aren’t specifically about intrinsic motivation, but they teach you a lot about how children learn, and how they get interested and motivated in something. There are several strategies that teachers can use in the classroom to naturally engage kids in learning (without rewards) outlined in these books

Building Intrinsic Motivation in the Classroom FAQ

Here are some of the most commonly asked questions about building intrinsic motivation in students

What is an example of intrinsic motivation in students?

There are many examples of intrinsic motivation in students. Some are that the students genuinely enjoy school and learning, participate in class without being prompted, find things that they are interested in in the subject matter they’re learning, and take initiative to deepen their understanding and learn more

How to build intrinsic motivation in children?

To build intrinsic motivation in children, you need to offer them some discovery play (for younger students) and some decision-making power over their learning where they can explore their interests. But there are many ways to build up intrinsic motivation in a classroom environment

How can a teacher encourage her students to be intrinsically motivated towards learning?

To encourage students to be intrinsically motivated, be sure to give them some agency and decision making over their learning so that they can explore their interests. In addition, reduce cellphone use in classrooms, build community and foster a growth mindset.

Final Thoughts on Intrinsic Motivation in the Classroom

I hope that you’ve learned some useful tips on how to build intrinsic motivation in the classroom. When students have intrinsic motivation, they are more engaged with school.

Some grades may be easier to motivate than others – particularly younger grades that tend to be more naturally engaged with school. As students get older, peer pressure becomes stronger, and many of them bring personal devices to school which you are competing with.

Follow some of the tips for encourage intrinsic motivation that I’ve outlined above, and I bet you will see improvement, regardless of what age you work with.