Motivation

Motivation is a funny thing when you look at it.  Motivation is defined as the reason or reasons one has for acting or behaving in a particular way (Google definition).  So there are reasons that make us act or behave the way that we do.  When it comes to theatre, if you want to perform, you're going to have that motivation in you already to do a good job.  I have met many actors that aren't motivated to give a good performance.  Everyone wants to do well when they are put in front of other people.  So the question stands then, can theatre teachers really motivate their students if you need motivation to perform well already?

Obviously the answer is yes!  Theatre teachers are crucial to giving motivation to the students to perform their best.  For most students, middle/high school is their first taste of theatre and performing and they are easily scared of getting up in front of their friends and peers, in fear of looking foolish on stage.  So that's where us teachers come in and can help instill that confidence and motivation to try.

When we look at motivation, we look at both extrinsic and intrinsic motivators.  What are those you may ask?  Intrinsic is motivation that comes from the individual because they are wanting to expand their own knowledge or understanding for their benefit.  Extrinsic is motivation that comes from out outside source and the individual will get some type of reward for the action asked.

I have talked to my cooperating teacher and asked her what she feels is useful when it comes to motivating students.  She told me that since theatre can deal with a lot of emotions and that one's own personal life can become attached to a piece of work, that making sure the students feel safe and their needs are met is a big factor.  This is connected to Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs theory, which states that we each have these specific or "deficiency" needs that must be met in order to allow growth to happen.  We need to make sure that our physiological needs are met first, and then that we are safe where we are.  Those are the beginning blocks for this theory and they grow but I want to focus on these two facts.

Making sure that a student is physically stable to perform the scene or task at hand is important because acting takes so much energy and requires a lot of energy.  Students need to make sure that they are taking care of themselves physically in order to grow.  Then they need to feel safe.  Our classrooms need to foster an atmosphere of safety and that no mistakes can be make in order for students to perform well.  If a student is physically well and feels safe in their environment, motivation grows and they are willing to try something they wouldn't normally feel like doing.

Another motivation factor my teacher suggested is helping students understand why these acting techniques are important and relevant to life, even outside of the auditorium.  This is the theory of self-determination.  The students find their own determination/motivation to learn the subject matter.  If we help the students see how what they are being taught applies to their life and how they can use this in different areas of their life then the obvious one they are being taught, they are motivated to understand the topic better and try it out to see how it affects them in their life.  This can be an example of intrinsic motivation because the student is wanting to expand their knowledge to expand a part of their life.

There is an article about a study that talks about what motivates people to go to a theatre and see a play/musical.  I love this article because it shows different reasons that motivate people to go to the theatre and I would want to share this with my future students so they understand the importance of what they do.  Give them motivation to perform and connect to the piece because what they perform can motivate another person to do something important.  You never know who you can impact or motivate in a performance unless you are motivated yourself to give something worth seeing.

Motivation is something that is very big in theatre because every character that we perform has some motivation in the scene.  The thing that they are wanting from another character.  We need to treat that motivation in a play as the real thing and apply it to the teacher/student relationship.  We need to have motivation to get something out of a student and they have to be motivated to get something out of us teachers.  It's a two way street that we walk and we need to be able to motivate one another to be better.