Ask people in the educational sector what motivated them to learn in school or in general.

Question

Ask a teacher for your research project:

"What motivated you to learn?"

Answer 1

My motivation to learn is to obtain more knowledge and to be able to pass it down, for Knowledge is power. Knowledge is a skill set that cannot be acquired by any other means aside from learning as it is intangible.

Answer 2

1. Fear
2. Shame
3. A need to be liked

I was a little shy and very anxious with a POHI designation (I had birth defects and needed some OT and had a 504 plan, POHI = Physically or otherwise disabled).

My home life was not as calm as it could be. No drugs or drinking or anything, just more old-fashioned punishments and parents with short fuses.

For me, teachers were the only predictable people who gave praise when it was deserved and were almost never overly severe. They also weren't allowed to hit us anymore!

It made me feel good to do well, and I wanted to please the grown-ups. I needed structure and rules because of my severe ADHD, too. I wasn't good in all subjects, but I tried.

My teachers were good at not letting me be a total teacher's pet. I wasn't good at errands, anyway. I was absent a lot for surgeries and would have to catch up. My parents also put an emphasis on schooling and learning. My mother read to us. dad always had puzzles and riddles and tidbits to share about places we visited.

College was assumed. They talked about how they didn't get to finish college and that it was the ticket to an easier life. They both worked really, really hard. They were smart and got promoted, but it's like that board game,"The Game of Life," where college lets you skip a lot of the frustrating tiny steps and go right to making more.

My dad also would take this one kid that I met in 6th grade who had skipped a grade I told dad this kid was a genius. I was super jealous of him because on the first day of school my science teacher called him a "dictionary." I wanted to be a dictionary!! But I was quiet and, honestly, not as smart or as well-prepared as he was.

Anyway, my dad said I was just as smart as that kid and would use him to get me competitive. I WANTED to be smart and be recognized as smart SO BADLY.

So, in short, low self-esteem and misguided parenting mixed with the terrifying thought of screwing up and facing my dad at home. Oh, and, I liked reading.

I didn't really know how to study. My dad got me a decent book on that in middle school or 5th grade that I still have in my office. Not being diagnosed with ADHD until I was 26 was rough, though.

It got better :)