Motivation: The cart before the horse or after?

“They played in the water, experimented, imitated, and 'discovered' what worked. Perhaps then, and only then when they had the desire to perfect their skill were they ready for some direct instruction.”

This is a great point. Anonymous is bringing up the role of motivation in learning. Children do need to be motivated to learn. Some kids are highly motivated and willing to tackle all kinds of new experiences and try out, fall on their noses, pick themselves up and try again, over and over. Other kids, however, when they experiment, imitate, and discover, find that what they are trying to do is really, really hard. They can’t make the pieces fit. They leave the project, the sport, the learning experience defeated. And sometimes won’t try again. Some think they are not very smart and cannot do what other kids can do. In this case, a little bit of ‘showing them how’ might lay the foundation for experimenting, imitating, and discovering and add to future learning. And it doesn’t have to always be so serious. I was recently visiting family. It was wonderful to see the father at the stove and his daughter sitting on (not at) the counter right next to him. She was making the most wonderful scrambled eggs under her father’s direction. That’s what it is all about. He’s providing a bit of instruction in the beginning so that she can experiment and discover and become a great chef later on.

David, my grandson is quite a discoverer. He puts pieces together quickly and he wants to figure things out - a highly motivated young man. Well, we went skating when he visited. He was excited to get out on the floor. For some reason he thought his first attempt would mimic the fluid motions of the experienced skaters. After one slow, tortuous lap hanging onto the wall, he struggled back, pulled off his skates, and said, “Let’s go, Grandma. This is hard.” What’s an over 60 year-old grandma to do? Well, I rented skates, strapped them on, and off I went onto the floor, dragging a reluctant David after me. (It’s a wonder I didn’t fall down and break my neck). I gave him a little bit of instruction, provided some of the basics about get along on those slippery slippers. And before the afternoon was over, he was out in the middle of the floor skating with the rest of the kids and doing the Hokey Pokey, having a ball.  So, the point is a little bit of instruction can lead to experimentation, discovering, and motivation to try and learn new things. So, is the cart before the horse, after the horse, or does it depend upon the activity and the kid and the importance of what is to be learned. Something to think about?