Understanding motivation strategies and how to incorporate them into training

"How do I motivate my learners?"

Many practitioners ask this question frequently. Ironically the solution to this question ultimately is up to the learners. This does not imply that practitioners don't impact or influence learners' motivation. Practitioner can certainly help guide or facilitate opportunities for learners to increase their motivation. The role of practitioners is to set the stage for positive and motivational learning experiences.

The first step for adults with learning disabilities is to understand and recognize their disabilities and the impact they have on every aspect of their lives. Self-awareness is critical in enhancing one's motivation. When adult learners understand their disability, they can begin to understand why they have struggled with learning. They begin to accept that their failures were not a reflection of their intellectual ability, but a reality of how they were taught and how they process information differently. Unfortunately, many adults entering the LBS programs have not developed this self-awareness. They have experienced a number of negative factors that have impacted their motivation levels such as a continual fear of failure, anger and frustration, and possibly depression. As a result, recognizing and understanding one's disability, although an important step, is only the first step to improving one's self-esteem and motivation. Additional supports such as ongoing feedback, relevancy and success also play a critical role.

Research indicates that there are two major ways to enhance self-esteem, one being through the use of self-enhancement strategies which focus on eliminating self-doubts, and the second being through skill identification which focuses on positive reinforcement by skill achievement. A major study looked at both approaches to determine which would be best for increasing the self-esteem of learning disabled students. The results indicated that using a combination of both approaches had the greatest effect on self-esteem.³³