Is there a role that administrators can play in student motivation?
Administrators have a huge role in both student and teacher motivation. But well-intended administrators sometimes get caught up in motivational stunts like sitting on the roof or kissing a pig if some school-wide performance goal is met. The idea seems to be that if students will do what is their own best interest for learning, then the principal will do something that appears to be unpleasant, dangerous, or in some other way not in his or her best interest. These school leaders sometimes forget that what we are all most interested in is ourselves, and stunts like this have more to do with the administrator’s good sportsmanship and willingness to meet his obligation than the academic or community service achievement of students.
How much more meaningful and motivating it would be if more school administrators found a little extra time to drop into a class when students are presenting projects, to offer an informal and unscheduled compliment on a band solo or a piece of art, or to attend an athletic performance? How big of a motivator would it be to call a student into his office just to ask how life is going and what is going well at school? This sort of recognition is student focused, but the motivation often spreads out to the student’s peers and up to parents and teachers who have invested in that student’s effort.
The need for recognition is universal and even though older students may not acknowledge it, they want to be known and valued at school for who they are and what they have accomplished as individuals. After all, school is their workplace, their play place, their social setting, their primary contact with the world beyond home. Administrators are the leaders of that community and they set the tone. Will school be a place where students move toward taking control of their own lives or taking orders from someone else?
