When looking at your pupil’s intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation, it is important to keep in mind the differences between the sub-dimensions.
- Intrinsic motivation: When pupils do something because it is inherently satisfying
- Extrinsic motivation: When pupils do something because it will result in some form of desirable reward or benefit
When a pupil/pupils are in the green zone for intrinsic motivation, this means that the children are not reliant on external rewards.
You may see that the same pupils, however, are in the red zone for extrinsic motivation. This is not a cause for concern, as it shows that pupils’ extrinsic motivation is low and confirms the results for intrinsic motivation – that these children do not need external rewards and validation to motivate themselves. To achieve this result for extrinsic motivation, the pupils will have answered ‘strongly disagree’ or ‘slightly disagree’ to the 3 statements linked to this sub-dimension: ‘I work hard at school because my friends will think I am clever’; ‘I work hard at school because I can earn rewards from my school’; ‘I work hard at school because my family will give me a treat.’
If you find pupils are in the green zone for extrinsic motivation, this means that they are strongly motivated by external factors and we recommend that you explore the Motivation strategies in the Resources section. We also recommend exploring these strategies if pupils are in the red zone for both intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation.