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Citation: Martin, A.J. (2022). Students’ sense of control will be key in 2022—and beyond. In ‘MCERA Informed Sources’, No 1.
INFORMED SOURCES, NO. 1
7 FEBRUARY 2022
STUDENTS’ SENSE OF CONTROL WILL BE KEY IN 2022 – AND BEYOND
As the school year begins, now is the time to get students’ motivation and engagement off to a positive start.
UNSW researcher Professor Andrew Martin has been investigating motivation and engagement for over two
decades. The “Motivation and Engagement Wheel” that he developed (see below) is a conceptual map that
schools around the world use, helping them to focus on the key factors in students’ educational development.
Motivation and Engagement Wheel (reproduced with permission and downloadable from
www.lifelongachievement.com)
The Wheel comprises:
- positive motivation (self-belief, valuing, learning focus)
- negative motivation (anxiety, failure avoidance, uncertain control)
- positive engagement (planning, task management, persistence)
- negative engagement (self-sabotage, disengagement)
The Wheel clearly indicates the positive motivation and engagement factors that improve students’ academic
lives and the negative motivation and engagement factors that ought to be reduced.
As we move into the third year of COVID-19, there are some parts of the Wheel that educators may like to
give closer attention. Uncertain control is one of these.
When students are uncertain of their control, they do not feel a great deal of agency or influence in their
schoolwork. They can develop a view that their efforts will not lead to desired outcomes. They can feel a sense
of helplessness in their academic life.
Self-
belief
Valuing
Learning
focus
Plan &
monitor
Task
manage
Persistence
Anxiety
Failure
avoidance
Uncertain
control
Self-
sabotage
Disengagement
POSITIVE
MOTIVATION
POSITIVE
ENGAGEMENT
NEGATIVE
MOTIVATION
M
NEGATIVE
ENGAGEMENT
Citation: Martin, A.J. (2022). Students’ sense of control will be key in 2022—and beyond. In ‘MCERA Informed Sources’, No 1.
The consequence of this is that students are then at risk of reducing their effort—or giving up altogether. This is
because they believe that so much is out of their control, they can see little point in trying. When students
genuinely believe that their efforts will not lead to desired outcomes it makes no sense to invest effort.
What has this got to do with COVID-19?
Like never before, students have been confronted with external pressures and forces that are beyond their
control, including lockdown, isolation, rapid shifts in and out of remote learning, illness, and family pressures
such as unemployment, insecure livelihoods etc. Added to this are uncertainties around the nature and dates of
assessments, post-school learning modes (e.g., whether university or college classes will be on campus), and
even the future of some post-school job markets (such as in tourism, the arts, etc.).
The more these things feature in students’ thinking, the more likely it is they will feel uncertain in their sense of
control and agency.
The task for educators is to identify what things are in students’ control and to help maintain their focus on
these things. Here are 4 strategies:
1. Emphasise the controllable parts of students’ lives, including:
- effort (how hard a student tries)
- strategy (the way the student tries, such as how they present their work, study strategies they use,
help-seeking, etc.)
- attitude (what a student thinks about themselves, their teacher, the schoolwork assigned, etc.)
2. Provide effective feedback-feedforward, so students know how to improve and feel greater agency. Feedback
is corrective information to a student (such as whether they are right or wrong) and feedforward provides
concrete advice on how to improve next time.
3. Take the mystery out of what good schoolwork looks like. Show students examples of good schoolwork and take
the time to walk through it with them so they know what to do and how to do it.
4. Look for opportunities for the school to bring certainty to students. Assessments and school events throughout
the year can provide stability and community. Assure them that universities, colleges, and employers are still
relying on school students to pursue their pathways and that, therefore, students’ efforts at school will not be
wasted.
In all these ways, educators can help students build a sense of empowerment that will support them through
2022, through the COVID era, and beyond.
Andrew Martin is Professor of Educational Psychology in the School of Education, UNSW Australia. His
scholarly and practice publications can be accessed via his ResearchGate account:
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Andrew-Martin-22
Further Information
Assessing and Enhancing Motivation and Engagement:
Martin, A.J. (1999-2022). The Motivation and Engagement Scale. Sydney: Lifelong Achievement Group.
https://lifelongachievement.com/pages/the-motivation-and-engagement-scale-mes
Martin, A.J. (1999-2022). The Student Motivation and Engagement Booster Program. Sydney: Lifelong
Achievement Group. https://lifelongachievement.com/pages/motivation-and-engagement-booster
Citation: Martin, A.J. (2022). Students’ sense of control will be key in 2022—and beyond. In ‘MCERA Informed Sources’, No 1.
Research on Motivation and Engagement:
Martin, A.J., Ginns, P., Anderson, M., Gibson, R., & Bishop, M. (2021). Motivation and engagement among
Indigenous (Aboriginal Australian) and non-Indigenous students. Educational Psychology, 41, 424-445.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/348634674_Motivation_and_engagement_among_Indigenous_Abori
ginal_Australian_and_non-Indigenous_students
Martin, A.J., Ginns, P., & Papworth, B. (2017). Motivation and engagement: Same or different? Does it matter?
Learning and Individual Differences, 55, 150-162.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/315706094_Motivation_and_engagement_Same_or_different_Does
_it_matter
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