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Emotion in Classroom Motivation

Meyer and Turner (2002) argue the important role that students' and teachers' emotions play in instructional interactions. Historically, the psychological components of cognition, motivation and emotion have tended to be considered separately. However, Meyer and Turner suggest that, in real life situations, the three concepts operate synergistically. The role of emotions, rather than being ignored, should earn an equal place in research in classrooms.

Meyer and Turner report their interviews with students in classrooms. When the researchers were talking to students about their learning, their responses were laden with emotion. For example, risk takers approached learning opportunities with positive feelings, using words such as 'surprised', 'elated', 'loving to learn', 'absorbed', 'enjoyable' and 'fun'. In contrast, risk avoiders' emotion-related words included 'me against them' and 'anger'.

In a second study, the authors adopted Csikszentmihalyi's (1975) concept of 'flow', which is:

A state that results from involvement in an activity chosen for its own sake and that promotes growth through challenges of existing abilities. (Meyer & Turner, 2002, p. 109)

The study found that emotions such as enjoyment or boredom changed according to the level of involvement and challenge, with comments such as 'I love writing stories' and 'I would make it harder for me'.

An important source of positive or negative emotional response lies in the interpersonal relationships between students and teachers, with 'the reciprocity among teacher and students in creating an involving learning context [needing] to be explored' (p. 110).

Meyer and Turner report the effects of a teacher who made negative comments such as 'You know, I think they just love to totally waste time and wait for somebody else to think of an answer' (p. 111), which resulted in students expressing negative feelings and using self-handicapping strategies more frequently than with another teacher who provided support for students' emotional wellbeing, with statements such as 'Okay, okay, we're gonna have some fun. Guess what we're going to do … Think F-U-N … fun' (p. 111).

The authors write that teachers' actions may serve as a barometer of classroom values, beliefs and practices that help to regulate emotion, motivation and cognition. Furthermore, they argue that student-teacher interrelationships require emotionally supportive transactions if student involvement in the cognitive and motivational aspects of learning is to occur. Common teacher characteristics at the emotional level include teachers' enthusiasm, humour and love of learning.

Thus teachers' explicit responses and demonstrations of their personal positive emotions and motivations as learners are evident both as features of instructional content and as correlates of student reports of positive affect and motivation to learn. (p. 112)

References
Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1975). Beyond boredom and anxiety. San Franscisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Meyer, D. K. & Turner, J. C. (2002). 'Discovering emotion in classroom motivation research.' Educational Psychologist, 37(2), 107-114.