With the current flurry about excellence in education and returning to basics, there remains an often neglected but important ingredient to learning: that of student motivation. As teachers, we know that education has never been without content or “the basics.” A well-known principle is that learning does not occur in a vacuum. Students must have many pieces of information in order to learn. A person cannot think or act without something to think or act upon. That something is basic knowledge. Most importantly, acquiring and using basic facts and skills must be accomplished by wanting to learn. This also cannot be accomplished in a vacuum. A strong willingness to learn on the part of the student must exist. Wanting to know and to learn has been called motivation.
