Identity-based motivation theory posits that by helping learners experience school as the path to their adult future identities, it can help boost student outcomes. Can this framework be applied to low progress learners? How can we better motivate these groups of students so that they can be more engaged in their studies? We talk to Ms Annie Ng from Saint Anthony’s Canossian Secondary School who was recently involved in an identity-based motivation intervention research project.

Keeping Low Progress Learners Engaged 

Based on her experience teaching and interacting with low progress students, Ms Annie Ng from Saint Anthony’s Canossian Secondary School makes the observation that many of these students tend to face various challenges in their lives.

“Many of them experience personal struggles such as mental health issues, poor habits and negative peer influence, as well as having to cope with family issues,” she says. “These factors may in turn, affect their readiness to learn.”

It is also common for them to be stressed about not meeting academic expectations put on them by teachers and parents. All of these stressors can cause them to have a myopic view of their school life and adversely affect their school motivation and engagement.

“While teachers do have a repertoire of strategies and pedagogical skills to help students stay engaged, more can be done to help educators on how to better nurture high-quality teacher-student relationships and improve intrinsic motivation among low progress students,” she comments.

“When we heard about the Identity-Based Motivation (IBM) intervention research project helmed by Dr Arief Liem from NIE’s Psychology and Child & Human Development Academic Group, we were keen to see if it could bring about a positive impact on our students especially in their academic performance and cognitive well-being,” she adds.

Guiding Students to Visualize Their Future 

IBM theory is a social theory that directs learners to explore their future possibilities in different areas of life (e.g., education, career, family life, contributing member of the society). It recognizes that motivation can be a key mechanism for enhancing learning outcomes.

For students, IBM helps them make a connection between their future and their school life. “The research intervention guides students in charting their pathways in life,” she shares. “Along the way, they can also identify challenges that they may encounter, and think of possible solutions to these challenges.”

She highlights that the resources and materials were well designed for the students involved – a group of Secondary 2 students from the Normal Technical stream.

“The worksheet that the students had to complete, for example, was well adapted to suit the needs of students who may have language difficulties,” she comments. “NIE facilitators had prepared picture cards with different occupations and possible work scenarios, which provided them with good visual cues.”

A series of video interviews were also shown to the students to help them respond to the worksheet questions. She notes how the videos encouraged students to think not only about the challenges they were currently facing but also those in the foreseeable future. Most importantly, it also triggered the students into thinking of how they may overcome both current and potential challenges.

“In the video, two students from the Normal Academic and Normal Technical streams shared about their personal challenges and how they persevered to succeed in pursuing their dreams,” she shares.

Nurturing Empowered Learners 

The worksheet prompted students to come up with strategies that they can work on to achieve their goals for the coming year. There was also a list of strategies they could choose from.

“They were given time to contemplate and discuss which strategies would work for them. It actually opened up opportunities to explore strategies which they had not thought before, thus empowering them to think for themselves,” she notes.

The worksheet also instructed students to identify good choices that would help them attain their goals as well as bad choices that they should avoid.

“This exercise was interesting as I could see that each student’s areas of concerns were different from one another,” she observes. “For instance, some identified laziness as something that they should avoid while some said they should avoid getting in trouble at school.”

The intervention, she shares, encourages students to be more self-aware; the facilitators too, gave students the autonomy to discuss and conclude with their own responses without making any judgements.

“The ability to identify future goals as well as make good choices to achieve those goals are valuable life skills,” she points out.

Not Just an Institution of Learning 

Reflecting more on the experience, Annie says that it is important to support students, especially those in the low progress group, in having ownership over their own learning trajectories. “When given an opportunity to discuss and chart their academic pathways, learners will be able to experience school as being relevant to their future goals, and not just as an institution of learning,” she says.

Seeing how the facilitators provided a safe space for the students to share ideas has also opened her eyes on how a high-quality teacher-student relationship is crucial in developing a culture of trust and confidence in the classroom, where teachers are receptive to hearing students’ ideas.

“Participating in this intervention project has given me insights on the best practices, practical pedagogies and strategies that I can apply in the classroom to support learner autonomy and intrinsic motivation among low progress students,” she shares. “I am encouraged to hear from students that they are now more motivated to do well in their studies.”