Motivational Strategies and Beliefs of U.S. History Teachers at the Middle-School Level

Abstract

A sample of 18 U.S. history teachers at the middle-school level were interviewed to determine how they motivate students to learn. Their five most frequently mentioned strategies were respectively: simulations; projects; games; historical novels, and relating history to the present. A sample of the teachers’ students expressed a desire for strategies that encourage active participation; and they stated that if they were teachers, they would make the study of history realistic. Teachers expressed the belief that their strategies are motivating because they address students’ needs for affiliation, autonomy, play, and physical activity, and because they provide realistic representations of historical events. Surprisingly, there was little connection between teachers’ instructional goals and their motivational strategies. The findings suggest that teachers make the US. history curriculum motivating by including supplemental activities to make instruction interesting and appealing, rather than by trying to make the subject matter relevant.