Be Inspired, Stay Focused
Illustration by iFp Teen Creative Claudia
As students, we need to be both inspired and motivated. Inspiration is something you feel on the inside, while motivation is something from the outside that compels you to take action. For example, when I see a beautiful garden, I’m inspired to create a beautiful garden of my own. We believe that schools should expose us to a variety of gardens and dare us to create our own.
“I dream my painting and I paint my dream.”
Motivation
Everybody has something(s) they are motivated to do and different pathways to achievement. However, with our school system, it seems less about self-discovery. It’s more about trying to fit into the system that ranks us based on our grades. You may discover your passion by chance, but without guidance from teachers it may be hard to sustain.
We need motivation to make sure our assignments are completed on time to get the best grade possible. Studying also requires a lot of motivation as well, as tests require reviewing of material in order to be ready for the test. Those are examples of extrinsic motivation. Motivation is best when it comes from yourself, but sometimes it takes some inspiration from an outside source to spark that motivation.
Motivation is especially important outside of school in work, extracurriculars, hobbies, and responsibilities at home. These motivations can be intrinsic or extrinsic. Intrinsic motivation is when you are motivated to do something that benefits yourself, like a personal hobby. On the other hand, extrinsic motivation is the act of doing something to get external benefits. An example would be, winning an award for doing well in a competition. Tasks at home are intrinsic or extrinsic depending on the task at hand.
Losing Motivation
The word ‘failing’ used in schools can negatively affect students. Since students don’t wish to fail, that can be an extrinsic motivation to get good grades. Getting good grades does not necessarily mean that the student is engaged with learning or retaining the information after being tested. By failing and losing interest, students can also develop a fixed mindset believing that their work will never be good enough.
The current educational system emphasizes the importance for students to get every question right. The system discourages students from taking risks, since the students do not want to fail. However, such risks are needed for innovation. The point of learning is to learn from their mistakes, as making mistakes is a part of human nature.
In the Tedx Talk, “Play, passion and purpose”, Tony Wagner explains that while the education system penalizes failure, which can make people not want to take risks. Innovators instead promote failure as it teaches you not to learn from mistakes. This allows people to take more risks.
Ways to Inspire and Motivate Us
Inviting professionals into the classroom can introduce students to a number of experiences. We can learn about their jobs, passions and pathways. Field-trips would be very inspirational. There are many innovative companies around Kendall, yet many of us may not know what they do. Why don’t schools take more advantage of these types of opportunities?
Finding inspiration doesn’t have to be a person or a place. Books, movies, and games can have relatable characters such as Shuri from Black Panther a scientist, engineer and inventor or Fireball from the book Raven, a computer scientist. Maybe we can see ourselves in these characters.
Schools should motivate students to find their passion, create goals and develop skills to achieve. We as students want to be inspired and need a system that helps us stay motivated!