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Early
Childhood
Education Journal, Vol.
25, No. 3,
1998
Fostering Intrinsic Motivation
in
Early Childhood
Classrooms
Martha
P.
Carlton1,3
and
Adam
Winsler
2
Young
children
are
born with
an
innate curiosity
to
learn about their world.
This
intrinsically insti-
gated learning
is
often
called mastery motivation. Patterns
of
motivation
are
established
at an
early
age.
The
early childhood years
are
crucial
for
establishing robust intrinsic motivational orientations
which
will last
a
lifetime.
By the
time many children reach school, much
of
their motivation
has
been
lost
or
replaced with extrinsically motivated learning strategies. Preschools
and
elementary
schools have been criticized
for
contributing
to
such negative motivational patterns
in
children. This
can
be
changed. Early child care situations
and
preschools
can
instead
be
instrumental
in the
strengthening
of
children's motivation.
The
goal
of
this paper
is to
show that through
an
under-
standing
of the
beginnings
of
motivation,
we can
begin
to find
ways
to
build strong motivational pat-
terns
in
children that
can
carry
on to
later years
of
learning.
KEY
WORDS: Motivation; classroom,
preschool;
infant.
INTRODUCTION
When
a
child
is
born, there
is
within that child
an
innate need
to
interact with
the
environment. These inter-
actions lead
to
learning
and the
acquisition
of
knowl-
edge.
The
motivation that drives this learning
is
based
solely within
the
child
and
requires
no
outside rewards
for
its
continuation. This motivation
has
been seen
as
humans' inherent intrinsic motivation
to
learn (Deci,
1975).
As
children reach
school
age, however, many
do
not
seem
to
possess this interest
in
learning (Stipek,
1988). What happens
to
this motivation? What
can we do
to
foster
its
development?
By
looking
at the
origins
and
development
of
intrinsic motivation,
it is
possible
to
identify
some
of the
factors that
can
result
in the
strengthening
or
weakening
of
motivational patterns
in
young
children.
The
purpose
of
this
article
is to
explore
the
developmental differences
in
children
from
birth
to 5
1
College
of
Education,
University
of
Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
2Department
of
Psychology, George Mason University, Fairfax,
Virginia.
3Correspondence should
be
directed
to
Martha Carlton, Educational
Psychology,
College
of
Education,
University
of
Alabama,
Box
870231,
Tuscaloosa,
Alabama 35487; email:
mcarlton@bamaed.ua.edu.
years
with respect
to
motivation,
and to
provide several
ideas, activities,
and
principles that early childhood edu-
cators
can use to
foster intrinsic motivation
in all
young
children. Children's development will
be
divided into
four
age
ranges: birth
to 9
months, 9-24 months,
24-36
months,
and 3-5
years. During each
of
these
age
ranges,
specific
activities
will
be
discussed that
can
foster
the
development
of
intrinsic motivation
in
early childhood
settings
and at the
close,
a
table will
be
given summariz-
ing ten
major motivational principles
for
early childhood
professionals.
A
DEFINITION
OF
MOTIVATION
Motivation
can be
defined
as the
process
by
which
children's
goal-directed
activity
is
instigated
and
sus-
tained (Pintrich
&
Schunk,
1996).
Goal-directed
behav-
ior may be
intrinsically motivated, extrinsically motivat-
ed,
or
motivated
by a
combination
of the
two. Intrinsic
motivation refers
to the
desire
to
participate
in an
activi-
ty
merely
for the
pleasure derived
from
that activity
(Pintrich
&
Schunk,
1996).
Conversely,
an
extrinsically
motivated activity would
be one
that
is
engaged
in for the
sake
of a
desirable outcome, such
as
praise
or
reward.
Intrinsic motivation
is
associated with greater learning
159
1082-3301/98/0300-0159$15.00/0
©
1998
Human
Sciences
Press,
Inc.
160
Carlton
and
Winsler
and
achievement
in
children
(Gottfried, 1985;
Pintrich
&
Schunk, 1996). This enhancement
of
learning occurs pre-
sumably
because
intrinsically motivated students
are
more involved
in
their learning,
and
they
use
strategies
to
promote deeper understanding
and
future
application
of
that
learning. Intrinsically motivated children experience
more
enjoyment
from
their learning, gain greater knowl-
edge
and
insight,
feel
better about themselves,
and are
more likely
to
persist
in
goal-directed activities (Barrett
&
Morgan, 1995; Deci, Vallerand, Pelletier,
&
Ryan,
1991; Ford
&
Thompson, 1985; Harter, 1978; Pintrich
&
Schunk,
1996).
If
intrinsically motivated learning
is
bet-
ter
than extrinsically motivated learning, then
it
would
appear
to be to the
benefit
of all
educators
to
understand
the
functioning
and
development
of
this type
of
motiva-
tion.
INTRINSIC MOTIVATION
IN THE
EARLY
CHILDHOOD YEARS
Intrinsic motivation
is
made
up of
three basic psy-
chological needs that
are
thought
to be
innate
in
human
beings:
the
needs
for
competence, relatedness,
and
autonomy
or
self-determination (Deci
et
al., 1991).
Competence
is
understanding
how to
achieve various
outcomes
and
having
the
belief that
you are
capable
of
obtaining those outcomes. Relatedness involves
the
abil-
ity
to
develop secure
and
stable relationships with others
in
a
social context. Autonomy
is the
self-regulating
and
self-initiating
quality
of
one's
own
actions.
The
develop-
ment
of
these three areas
can be
seen
in the
context
of the
young
child.
The
newborn
is filled
with
the
desire
to
respond
to
the
many stimuli presented
by her
environment.
As the
child interacts with
the
environment, certain events
occur.
If the
child
can
relate
her
action with
the
reaction
of
the
environment,
a
sense
of
control
over
the
environ-
ment
is
gained. This sense
of
control strengthens feelings
of
competence within
the
child
and
leads
to
further
exploration
and
experimentation. With each
successful
interaction,
the
sense
of
competence
grows (Ford
&
Thompson, 1985).
This growing sense
of
competence
is
closely linked
with
the
child's attachment
to
significant caregivers.
As
children develop secure relationships with caregivers,
they become
freer
to
exhibit more exploration within
the
environment. They
are
also able
to use the
caregiver
as a
secure base
for
explorations
as
they attempt
to
master
the
environment
(Ford
&
Thompson, 1985).
The
security
of
initial warm attachment relationships facilitates
the
abil-
ity
to
develop other
meaningful
relationships
in
later
childhood. Feelings
of
relatedness
to
early childhood
teachers
motivate
and
free
children
to
explore
the
learn-
ing
environment
(Ryan
&
Powelson, 1991).
As
the
child becomes older, autonomy becomes
more important. Autonomy
is the
need
to
regulate
one's
own
behavior
and to
govern
the
initiation
and
direction
of
one's actions
(
Ryan
&
Powelson, 1991). Children
from
homes where autonomy
is
supported
tend
to
trans-
fer
their feelings
of
autonomy
to
school situations.
Learning environments
can
also
be
seen
as
either auton-
omy-supportive
or
controlling. Autonomy denotes
an
inner
sense that one's actions
are
coming
from
within
one's self
and
that
the
individual
has
control
of
those
actions.
Controlling situations cause
the
individual
to
feel
a
lack
of
personal
control
over
actions
and
little
per-
sonal responsibility
for
those actions. Learning gained
through
autonomy-supportive events facilitates
a
feeling
of
self-determination
and
often
results
in
greater under-
standing
of the
material being learned (Deci
&
Ryan,
1987).
As
children become older, motivational patterns
become
differentiated
by
various subject
and
task areas.
For
example, each individual will have
different
motiva-
tional patterns
for
mathematics, reading, music, etc.,
depending
on
their history
of
experiences
in
those
domains.
All
motivational levels
do not
have
to be
equal
across domains
for
each individual (White, 1959).
Infants
and
young children, conversely,
are
seen
to
have
an
undifferentiated
need
for
competence; they have only
a
general need
to
master their environment. This
is
often
referred
to as
"mastery motivation" (Barrett
&
Morgan,
1995).
All
mastery motivation
is
intrinsic
in
nature since
children
find
the
behavior rewarding
in
itself with
no
need
for
external rewards. Some aspects
of
mastery moti-
vation include:
(a)
persistence
at
tasks that
are
somewhat
difficult,
(b) a
preference
for
one's
own
control over
environmental events
(as
opposed
to
passive observa-
tion),
and (c)
preference
for
some
degree
of
challenge
(Barrett
&
Morgan,
1995).
All
children start
out
with
an
optimal degree
of
motivation
at
birth, with
the
exception
of
some children whose special needs
may
compromise
their
motivation.
The
differences
in
older
children's
motivation
is
determined
by
what happens
to
them
in
their early years.
How
does motivation
manifest
itself within
the
early
childhood classroom? Here
are two
different
children
in
the
same preschool classroom. Sarah
is 3
years old.
She
enjoys
coming
to
school
and is
seldom ready
to go
home
at
the end of the
day.
She
chooses activities that present
a
challenge
to her and she
persists
until
completing
the
activity
to her own
satisfaction.
She
decides
what
she
would
like
to do
during
the
day,
and is
pleased
with
her
own
abilities. Although
she
occasionally seeks
the
Intrinsic
Motivation
161
teacher's
help with more
difficult
activities,
she is
content
to
work
on her
own,
and she
persists
on
activities
for
extended periods
of
time. Sally,
on the
other hand, needs
constant
help
from
the
teacher.
She
seldom
is
able
to
select
her own
activity
or
plan what
she
would like
to do
during
the
day. When
she
does make
a
decision,
she
selects
only those activities that
are
easy enough
to
com-
plete rapidly,
and
demands
the
teacher's approval when
she is
finished. Sally quits
an
activity
at the
slightest
obstacle,
and
rarely completes anything.
One
essential
difference
between these
two
children
is
their motivation-
al
orientation. While Sarah
is
very intrinsically motivated,
Sally's activities
are
mostly extrinsically motivated.
As
can be
seen
from
this
illustration,
motivation
is
an
important topic
for
early childhood educators.
It
determines
a
child's
total functioning
in
learning envi-
ronments.
There
is
little
published material dealing with
these issues that caretakers
can
turn
to for
information.
While much
is
known about different motivational pat-
terns seen
in
children
and
their relation
to
academic per-
formance
and
achievement
in the
later school years
(Pintrich
&
Schunk, 1996), less information
is
available
about
the
development
of
early motivation
in the
preschool
years.
A
DEVELOPMENTAL
SEQUENCE
FOR
MOTIVATION
Infants (Birth
to 9
Months)
Description
of
Infant
Motivation.
At
birth,
infants
are
capable
of
limited voluntary motor movements. They
can
turn
their
heads, kick their legs,
and
fling their arms
about.
They
are
also capable
of
controlling their sucking
responses. From this state, infants rapidly gain control
of
more motor functions
as
muscle coordination develops.
Within
9
months,
the
average
infant
has
progressed
from
a
state
of
random movements
to a
child
who can
crawl
across
the
room
and
pull himself
to a
standing position,
possibly even move
a few
steps. During these great
changes, what
can
help maintain
the
child's
motivation?
Research
on
Infant
Motivation. Infants
are
predis-
posed
to try to
control their environments
from
birth.
When
infants
can see the
actual consequences
of
their
actions, they
are
motivated
to
continue
the
actions.
Young
infants,
of
course,
have
a
very limited behavioral
repertoire
for
controlling their environment. Cries, vocal-
izations, facial expressions,
and
small limb actions
are
what
most people
can
observe
in the
infant
as
attempts
at
control.
Psychologists,
however,
in the
laboratory have
been able
to
capitalize
on
another important
and
natural
infant
behavior—sucking.
By
using pressure-sensitive
pacifiers
wired
to
computers which control
the
presenta-
tion
of
different
stimuli, researchers have learned that
infants
within
the
first
few
weeks
of
life
will control
the
rate
of
their sucking (i.e., increase
or
decrease sucking
speed)
in
order
to
view
or
repeatedly view pleasant visu-
al
stimuli. That
is,
infants will systematically suck
on the
pacifier
at the
rate that presents desired (i.e., face-like)
stimuli
rather than
the
rate that presents either other, less
attractive stimuli
or no
stimuli,
and
infants early
on
pre-
fer
to use the
pacifier which controls
the
presentation
of
stimuli rather than
one
that does
not
(Rovee-Collier,
1987). Also,
infants
remember
(in
terms
of
repeating
/increasing their sucking rates later) which stimuli were
previously
under
their
control
and
which stimuli
were
not
(DeCasper
&
Carstens, 1981). Such research sug-
gests that infants
are
much more sophisticated than
had
been previously thought
and
that infants' motivation
and
goals
can be
assessed
if one
carefully interprets
infant
behavior
from
the
perspective
of
their
own
behavioral
repertoire.
Slightly
older
infants
begin
to
gain additional con-
trol over muscle movements
and use
more involved
means
to
interact with their environment. Several studies
have
illustrated this point.
Infants
who are
given
a
mobile
that
is
activated
by
their
own
movements, become more
active
and
escalate
the
frequency
of
their movements
when
viewing
the
mobile again later (Shields
&
Rovee-
Collier, 1992). Continued exposure will also result
in
social reactions
to the
movements, such
as
smiling
and
cooing (Watson
&
Ramey, 1972). Children react similar-
ly
to a
string tied around their wrists which activates pic-
tures
and
pleasant music.
If the
pulled string
no
longer
results
in
music
and
pleasant pictures,
the
child will
become angry
and
unhappy (Lewis, Alessandri,
&
Sullivan,
1990).
Although
infant
care
centers
are not
like-
ly
to
have computerized pacifiers which present stimuli,
nor
might they wish
to
attach strings between infants'
arms
and
their
mobiles,
infant
caregivers
can
learn
to
rec-
ognize infants' cues
and
attempts
at
mastering
the
envi-
ronment
and
arrange
the
environment such that
infants
have
multiple opportunities
to do so.
Recommendations
for
Caregivers. Caregiver actions
are
also
critical
in the
development
of the
infant's moti-
vation.
The
beginnings
of
mastery feelings develop
as a
child
sees
that
his
actions upon
the
environment have
an
effect.
If the
child's
actions
are
consistently responded
to
and
reinforced
by
caregivers,
the
infant
develops
an
expectancy that his/her actions have
an
effect
on the
environment (Lewis
&
Goldberg,
1969).
By
providing
toys that would reinforce this feeling
of
environmental
control
(i.e.,
toys that actually manifest
a
change when
manipulated),
the
caregiver
can
insure that
the
child will
162
Carlton
and
Winsler
continue
to
experience feelings
of
control over
the
envi-
ronment.
Both
the
inanimate environment (including
the
physical surroundings
and the
toys presented
to the
child)
and the
social environment (including
the
individ-
uals that
the
child comes
in
contact with)
function
inde-
pendently
to
foster mastery motivation within
the
child
(Yarrow,
Rubenstein, Pedersen,
&
Jankowski, 1972).
Social
stimulation
extends
the
development
of
social
responsiveness
and
language,
and
occurs when care-
givers
respond
to the
child's
social
actions.
This might
include responding
to the
child's verbalizations, playing
peek-a-boo,
or
responding
to
smiles
by
smiling back.
Social stimulation also leads
to
stronger attachment
to
caregivers
and
feelings
of
relatedness
to
others.
Stimulation
from
the
inanimate environment
furthers
exploratory behaviors. This
can be
facilitated
by
provid-
ing
toys that
are
interesting
and
responsive
to the
child.
The
infant's
orientation
to
both
objects
and
people
become part
of a
feedback system with
the
environment
which influences
the
infants' functioning over
a
long
time period.
A
wider variety
of
inanimate objects leads
to
a
greater amount
of
exploratory behavior exhibited
by
the
child.
The
responsiveness
of
both
the
social
and the
inanimate environments facilitates motivational
and
skill
development (Yarrow
et
al., 1972).
Specific
activities that
are
appropriate
for
this
age
group
and
that would enhance exploratory behavior are:
mobiles
that
are
activated
by the
child's
movements;
brightly
colored objects that
can
easily
be
grasped,
and
that
make sounds when moved; objects with interesting
taste, texture,
and
smell:
small,
soft
dolls
or
animals with
emphasis
on the
face, especially
the
eyes.
Infants/Toddlers
(9-24
Months)
Description
of
Infant/Toddler
Motivation. During
the
period
from
9 to 24
months,
infants
continue
to try to
control
events
and are
better
able
to
decide
what
to do to
accomplish particular ends (Barrett
&
Morgan,
1995).
Success
is
still
not
based
on
externally imposed stan-
dards because caregivers tend
to
reward
all
attempts,
but
is
based
on the
infant's ability
to
accomplish desired
ends.
Infants
begin
to
evaluate themselves
and are
moti-
vated
to do
things
for
themselves. (Barrett
&
Morgan,
1995)
Research
on
Infant/Toddler
Motivation. Although
most research
has
been done with mothers
and
their chil-
dren,
it is
likely
the
same
for all
caregivers.
It has
been
found
that
the
mother's responsive behavior
to the
child
is the
most important
factor
of
determining
future
com-
petence across
all
types
of
exploratory behavior
(Hendrickson
&
Hansen, 1977). Mothers
who
were
responsive,
but who did not
instantly answer every
request
from
the
children were more likely
to
rear moti-
vated
and
competent children. These children
are
able
to
independently
explore with little
mother-child
interac-
tion,
knowing that mother
is
there when needed. This
enhanced freedom
of
exploration
leads
to
greater devel-
opment
of
competence.
On the
other hand,
infants
whose
mothers
are
constantly
choosing
and
directing
the
child's
activities tend
to
initiate
fewer
of
their
own
explorations,
resulting
in
infants
who
show
less
competence
and
mas-
tery
motivation. Mothers
who
interact less
often
but
facilitate
discovery
and
exploration
in
their
infants
when
they
do
play with them, tend
to
have children
who
persist
longer
on
difficult
tasks (Jennings, Harmon, Morgan,
Gaiter,
&
Yarrow,
1979).
There appears
to be a
negative relation between
the
level
of a
child's mastery with objects
and the
amount
of
parental
interference
in the
child's
interactions
with
those
objects (Wachs, 1987).
The
more
a
parent interferes with
the
child's
independent exploration
of
objects,
the
less
the
child will progress toward mastery
of
that object.
It is
the
independent exploration that leads
to
mastery.
Providing responsive toys
in one
setting also helps
the
child learn strategies
to
deal with
new
toys
in
other set-
tings.
The
child
has
learned
the
necessary strategies
to
deal with responsive toys
at
home,
and
these strategies
can be
applied
to
unfamiliar
situations
away
from
home.
If
a
child
has not
learned
how to
deal
with
these
toys
at
home,
he
faces
difficult
circumstances when
in an
unfa-
miliar situation.
He not
only
has to
deal with
the new
sit-
uation,
but
also
with
new
toys, which
may
cause unman-
ageable stress (Wachs, 1987).
Infants
of
mothers
who
support their child's auton-
omy
by
allowing them
to
freely
explore
the
environment
tend
to
exhibit more overall persistence plus more com-
petence
and
positive
affect
at 20
months
of age
(Frodi,
Bridges,
&
Grolnick, 1985). Maternal sensitivity, defined
as
effectively
reading
infant
cues
and
being
responsive
to
the
child's communications,
relates
highly with persis-
tence
and
competence. Finally, these authors
found
that
mothers
who
control their children's behaviors through
the use of
supportive rather than punitive corrections
tend
to
have children
who
score higher
on
ratings
of
per-
sistence, competence,
and
positive
affect.
Adult
attention-focusing skills become
an
important
factor
in
caregiver interactions with
the
older
infants
(Yarrow
et
al., 1984). Maternal stimulation teaches
a
child
how to
focus
his or her own
attention,
enhancing
the
child's exploratory competence (Belsky, Goode,
&
Most, 1980).
Infants
who
display
the
greatest amount
of
competence while exploring have mothers
who
frequent-
Intrinsic
Motivation
163
ly
focus their attention
on
objects
and
events within
the
environment,
in a
responsive, respectful,
and
nonintru-
sive
manner.
Recommendations
for
Caregivers. Caregivers
can
be
effective
in
many ways when focusing
the
child's
attention.
The
caregiver
can
arouse
a
child's interest
when
it is
waning, redirect attention
to a new
area,
or
inhibit
actions
in an
overstimulated child.
While
demon-
strations
can
increase
a
child's
interest
in a
particular toy,
extended demonstrations
can
decrease
that same
interest.
A
single demonstration
of a new
object
may be
enough
to
interest
the
child, with
the
adult then allowing
the
child
to
explore
on its own
(Ruff
&
Rothbart, 1996).
An
important
principle
for
adults
to
follow when trying
to
foster
joint attentional states with
infants
while simulta-
neously trying