One thing that I noticed while I was a student, a classroom teacher, and now a tutor is that across the board there are two distinct attitudes in learning. There are those that learn for the sake of learning and those that do it for external factors. There’s been a lot of research in how to instill intrinsic motivation in learning, but sadly no matter how much it is talked about many children do not develop it. I believe that parents are the primary teacher of their children and that as parents seeking the best for their children they may do or say things that hinder this development. Of course, it isn’t just parents. When I was a teacher observing another classroom, I noticed the teacher placed a big importance in having the right answer to the point of displaying anger when children did not understand the material. When I taught the children and delved deeper to seek knowledge of their understanding, the teacher criticized me. She told me that the child had given me the right answer so obviously he knew how to divide. I was seeking to find out if the child actually understood what division meant. The correct answer doesn’t always mean there is understanding and yet so many adults stop there. That is how we have students who have done so well in school and graduate with good grades, but still struggle with basic math when it comes to applying it in their jobs or lives.
As such, I believe it is our duty as adults to emphasize things like working hard. Whenever I notice a child struggling with something, I make it a point to state that I like how determined he or she is despite the fact that it is challenging. I also believe it is our duty to emphasize understanding and not grades. If kids care more about understanding than grades, then they will continue to try to figure problems out and to learn. If a child only cares about grades then he or she will only work as hard as it takes to get the grade he or she is seeking, but not to have full understanding of a subject matter and not toward improving in a skill. A child who seeks toward understanding and improvement will get better grades and they will have both benefits. A child that only cares about a grade will study as hard as needed to get the grade and then forget the material. That child will only seek superficial understanding which might work in the short term, but not in the long term.
