Dr. Travis Towne: Teaching History during a pandemic…What’s my motivation?
I am often asked what I teach when I tell someone my job and when I say “history”, I sometimes get the response, “I wish I would have paid more attention to my history class when I was in school.” Sadly, just like many of my students are now realizing how much they actually miss and crave the socialization found within a school environment, our society often belatedly realizes how vital an understanding of the social sciences are to their everyday lives.
I’m not knocking other disciplines but merely stating that a tremendous part of life revolves around topics related to history, economics, law, politics, religion, geography, sociology, and psychology. Some researchers group these studies under the umbrella of “humanities” and as a history teacher, I always try to integrate pieces of each area, weaving them together to help my students understand big picture concepts which apply directly to their lives.
My goal as a teacher has always been to show the past through the lens of current events but the current situation is hitting a little too close to home, especially when I discuss the plagues throughout history or even more specifically the 1919 Spanish Flu Pandemic.
In my opinion, teaching history is really about the idea of exploring lived experiences and I am truly excited to help my students learn about the experiences of those in the past and comparing them to their experiences today. Teaching history in the age of a pandemic is both fascinating and terrifying, and actually living through the history that will be talked about for the next 50-100+ years is truly a mind-numbing concept; however, I’m sure that is exactly what those who lived through the craziness of the past thought as well.
I recently showed my World History students the last episode of John Green’s Globalization II - Good or Bad?: Crash Course World History #42 video which was created in 2012… think about it… 8 years ago. In the video John discussed the impacts of globalization and jokingly referred to a “superbug” that could possibly infuse the lofty ideas of globalization with negative repercussions, and our world would not handle it well. (Click on the link and go to the 7:15 and 10:40 marks if you don’t believe me.)
I will be honest, watching this video during an actual pandemic really caused a little bit of a crisis in me relating to the concept of motivation, specifically dealing with why our generation is struggling so much with dealing with how to handle the difficulties we are facing today.
Most of what teachers, and I daresay many parents, are dealing with right now is a “lack of motivation” from their kids. I tend to struggle a little bit with what to say to a student who consistently says, “I can’t find the motivation to do my work” when I talk with them about how things are going. Obviously, as a trained teacher (although mostly now I feel like I’m doubling the role of a counselor), I try to gently encourage and suggest strategies to deal with the struggles they are facing; although, in the back of mind there is a very strong voice of my dad telling me exactly what type of motivation I would get the one (and only) time I told him I wasn’t motivated to do something.
It was related to a rear part of my anatomy and a size 14 shoe. Of course, I don’t say this to my students; one, because this probably would not help the situation, and two, because I really do like my job and don’t want to be looking for a new one. However, I do think there are important aspects of motivation that should be considered, especially as it relates to where it comes from.
Motivation is defined as “the reason or reasons one has for acting or behaving in a particular way,” and at a simplistic root level “the general desire or willingness of someone to do something.” I personally believe why many students are struggling more and more with motivation unfortunately is because society has conditioned them to get their motivation from external sources and not necessarily from within themselves. In the academic world, extrinsic and intrinsic are two terms used to describe where a motive comes from, but these are more commonly referred to as external and internal.
Research is pretty clear that motivation using external rewards or incentives fades quicker and takes continuous replenishment and, some would say that much like a drug, requires a much higher dose to sustain the same level of intensity in the future. That’s not to say that extrinsic motivators are not useful in short-term bursts because we all have benefited from these types of motivations, and students can be highly encouraged to accomplish something if the reward is greatly desired. The problem arises when the dependence on these external incentives dictate the behaviors. When these motivators are no longer intense enough or have diminished in effectiveness, the motivation level dramatically decreases.
Conversely, intrinsic or internal motivation often determines how a person will choose to behave simply because they want to and they are rewarded based on a feeling of fulfillment or accomplishment. Often, this type of motivation is referred to as “internal grit”, “personal drive”, or “intestinal fortitude”; however, the struggle is how to develop that in our kids. In my opinion, this brings us back full circle to why teaching the social sciences (specifically history) is so important.
While examining the lived experiences of those who went through horrific experiences, such as during the Bubonic Plague (Black Death), the slave trade, the Great Depression, apartheid in South Africa, and of course various religious persecutions and genocides throughout history, it is important to note how individuals dealt with these experiences. Most critically to students today, the question should be, “how in the world did they get through this and what helped them to deal with their particular situations”? I would wager a guess that those who overcame tremendous struggles did so based on a strong sense of intrinsic motivation and determination.
Now, before you just spout off that “these kids are just lazy, soft…” or any other derogatory descriptor you might use, please remember that you yourself have never gone through something like this. If you are struggling with your own motivation, then remember that it is infinitely worse for our kids because they don’t have the experience you have already gained in life in order to deal with some of these emotional and mental situations.
It is also important to note that, using historical reference markers, these students do not have similar guiding structures as you might have had growing up and what once might have been a foundational understanding has now been shifted for them. In essence, the goalposts have been moved and the rules have been changed. That is definitely not to say that our societal changes haven’t had a major impact on how our kids are handling their struggles, but I don’t think a flippant “suck it up, buttercup” helps them deal with the very real difficulties they are facing.
The question remains though…How do we help our kids develop their own internal motivation muscles? I’m not sure I have a great answer for that, except to try to live by example and get into the muck with my students and help them figure out the things that motivate them. As their history teacher, I try to introduce them to individuals who prevailed over immense obstacles and chose to make a difference in someone’s life.
My motivation, driven by both intrinsic and extrinsic aspects, is to help my students gain an understanding of themselves so that instead of saying “I just can’t find the motivation”, they chose to say “My motivation for doing this is...” You may have a different suggestion and I encourage you to share it with all of us, especially the teachers, so we can continue to learn ways to encourage internal motivation strategies in our students.
I know this has been a long article and if you have read to the end, I applaud you because I know that I have a tendency to be wordy (yes, BJ Murphy will agree with you). However, I would also encourage you to discover what truly motivates you and consider whether it leans more towards external or internal; if external, contemplate how you can transition more towards an internal fulfillment direction.
If you have kids, I hope that you help guide them in the development of their own internal motivation muscles, which if we are honest with ourselves, takes a lot of practice and willingness to push through during the tough times. I firmly believe your kids will thank you for it later... and quite frankly you will probably have a lot less calls from their teachers about their motivation level in their online classes
Dr. Travis Towne is a social studies teacher at the Lenoir County Early College High School in Kinston, NC.
You can connect with Travis on Facebook at facebook.com/travis.towne.18, on Twitter @tntowne, on Instagram at travis.towne, or on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/in/travis-towne-69106443.
