We have discussed a few concepts and ideas regarding motivation in education. These general concepts are important, but something that often gets overlooked is the role of identity & culture in the way a student experiences or expresses motivation or lack of it.
It is important to gain some understanding of students’ cultural identity, and the impact of the educational system on that identity. There have been many cases where marginalized citizens are not given full unbiased coverage in schools.
In the past, slavery has been glossed over, slaves being referred to as “plantation workers”. The internment camps for Japanese/American citizens have not always been general knowledge. That piece of history was not taught when I was in k-12 grades.
We need to take a critical and unbiased look at how we approach identity and culture in our schools. Do all students receive equal representation? Are topics presented in an unbiased fashion, or are some ethnic/racial groups represented as being somehow “less”?
Some motivation theorists, such as Kaplan, suggest that teachers should guide students and model themselves as “identity agents” to assist students in forming their own identities. The idea of school forming students’ identity makes me uncomfortable as I remember the residential schools and their effect on my family and me.
History & Culture: Native American “Indian Education”
In 1860, “Indian Boarding Schools” were founded by the US government. These schools were established to educate Native American children. At these schools, they were forbidden to speak their native language, were forced to accept Christianity as their religion. The children were taken from their homes and were forced to cut their hair, wear military style school uniforms, and forget their cultural practices.
All this was a part of the ongoing effort to eradicate Native Americans. The hope was that with their culture destroyed and with assimilation practices, genocide would be accomplished. Many Native American children never made it home from school. They were buried in unmarked or numbered graves.
Richard Henry Pratt was the headmaster of the Carlisle Indian School for 25 years. His famous quote from a speech her gave in 1892 was, “A great general has said that the only good Indian is a dead one. In a sense, I agree with the sentiment, but only in this: that all the Indian there is in the race should be dead. Kill the Indian in him and save the man.”
Kill the Indian, save the man. This sentiment is widely known in Native American families. Most of us have relatives that were directly affected by the schools. As a child, I remember staring at the following photograph of my great-grandmother and her siblings. The younger girl was called “Fannie” at school. She did not survive.
Individuals, their Identity & Culture AND Motivation
The most important thing to remember is that we are all individuals. Teachers should brush up on the cultures of students they may encounter in their classrooms, but at the same time they should remember that all human beings are individuals and they have had different experiences and interactions in life. The best possible way to understand a student and their motivation is to reach out and have conversations with all students in your class. Learn their individual hopes and dreams and discuss with them how they can reach them. Do not mold them in your image, help them grow individually.
Resources for you:
https://www.theindigenousfoundation.org/articles/us-residential-schools
