Understanding learners’ motivation is key if we want to educate children to become self-directed and lifelong learners.

According to Self-Determination Theory, learners have a natural tendency to explore their environments, to grow, learn and develop; yet we know that students’ intrinsic motivation dramatically deteriorates as they progress through school. By their teenage years many have lost interest in and excitement for school. Many teachers struggle daily to energize and motivate learners who lack enthusiasm, are passive, uncooperative, or even disruptive. An important goal of education then is to cultivate learners’ inherent tendencies toward growth. SDT provides a theoretical framework and sound solutions for some of the educational policies and practices currently hampering, rather than fostering, learners’ intrinsic motivation.

The Importance of School Climate, for Learners and Teachers 

Motivation in school is not only about learners. Teachers bring their own personalities and motivations to the classroom. Too often, their own autonomy, competence, and relatedness are undermined by administrative control, inflexible curricula or lack of support. SDT researchers have increasingly examined factors that influence teachers’ motivation, as well as the role their motivation plays in their interactions with students. Evidence shows that when teachers are empowered, increase their confidence and have opportunities to be creative, learners benefit. Creating a climate that supports the needs of both teachers and learners thus has substantial outcomes – both academically and socially. 

SDT as a Framework in Education

The theory’s framework offers a refreshing perspective on educational policies and practices relevant to student motivation and flourishing. SDT focuses on how schools can help satisfy (rather than thwart) the basic psychological needs of both adults and students, such that schools become places where all parties can develop intrinsic, or fully internalized extrinsic, motivation. SDT’s framework is as refreshing and inspirational as it is sound. The learning climate it promises deserves the appreciation of parents, school leaders, and policy makers as much as it does that of students and teachers.