This summer, I was scheduled to lead a Bible teacher’s workshop in Louisville, Kentucky at a local church. However, as with almost everyone’s plans in 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic forced us to do things differently. We rescheduled the workshop for next spring and we’ll meet via Zoom. So now I have more time to work on my material!
My contact at the church requested that the workshop include discussion on how to motivate teachers, parents, and students. For any Bible School ministry to perform at its best a congregation needs highly motivated teachers, parents, and students. Motivation is probably a universal concern for churches. So I began researching and thinking about motivation.
What is motivation?
“Motivation is defined as the process that initiates, guides, and maintains goal-oriented behaviors. Motivation is what causes you to act, whether it is getting a glass of water to reduce thirst or reading a book to gain knowledge. Motivation involves the biological, emotional, social, and cognitive forces that activate behavior. In everyday usage, the term motivation is frequently used to describe why a person does something.”[i]
This definition mentions that motivation produces goal-oriented behaviors, whether to get a glass of water or to read a book. This led me to think about two basic questions:
· What are the desirable behaviors we should try to motivate in teachers, parents, and students?
· What conditions create an environment that supports people being motivated to carry out the desired behaviors? Below are two lists that help to answer these questions.
Desired behaviors we would want teachers, parents, and/or students to be motivated to pursue:
1. Devotion to personal Bible reading and study.
2. Applying Biblical principles to personal life.
3. Having respect for and interest in others.
4. Being a lifelong learner.
5. Attending Bible classes and encouraging others to attend.
6. Sharing with others what they have learned.
7. Being prepared for the lesson.
8. Teaching what they have learned.
9. Participating in lessons.
10. Asking good questions that foster more learning.
11. Applying different methods to support different learning styles.
12. Finding ways to engage students in the learning process.
Some of the above items (1-12) apply equally to teachers, parents, and students. Which do and which do not? What additional desirable behaviors would you add?
Conditions that help create an environment that supports motivation to carry out the desired behaviors:
A. Being loved, respected, and accepted.
B. Being understood.
C. Seeing someone else have loving concern for your loved ones.
D. Being listened to.
E. Receiving recognition and rewards.
F. Authority figures who admit when they are wrong and apologize.
G. Authority figures that are patient, longsuffering, and kind.
H. Having success.
I. Seeing results.
J. Being equipped to be competent and prepared.
Some of the above items (A-J) apply equally to teachers, parents, and students. Which do and which do not? What additional items would you add to this list?
What is required on the part of church leaders and members for teachers, parents, and students to feel the things listed above?
[i]Kendra Cherry, “Motivation: Psychological Factors that Guide Behavior,” Very Well Mind, November 29, 2019, https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-motivation-2795378