The Motivator - A Misinformed Framework

The question, “what motivates the young Indian adult learner?” is probably one that deserves more thought than it has received. We have a training institute at every little crossing; we have an engineering college affiliated to some or the other university at the corner of each little market. I do not understand the objective of these institutes, nor do I want to make an attempt. I know the truth will not make me feel any better…and I know that a positive effort towards changing things would be more useful then undertaking a voyage to discover motives that better stayed undiscovered.

But then what makes me contemplate the existence of many of such institutes is, the fact that learners (most of them adults) do pay their hard-earned money to earn degrees that are not even worth the paper they are printed on. When these adult learners “shop” for their learning, for some reason, they assume that a piece of paper with a declaration certifying that they have a skill, could help them overcome the lack of the very same skill. The question that we should discuss is - What motivates them?

Let us begin this discussion by understanding motivation.

Motivation:
Motivation is our will to undertake a venture. The venture could be as small as getting up early in the morning, to as big as swimming across the Indian Ocean. This will to do things, to act, is a result of an unsatisfied desire. A very apt example given by a participant in one of the IDCWC course groups is the unfulfilled desire of cleaning the house, which leads to the motivation to rise early. The unfulfilled desire for fame could motivate a swimmer to accept the challenge to swim across the Indian Ocean.

This unfulfilled desire, which has many faces, is called Need. According to Dr. Maslow, humans experience two kinds of needs – deficit needs and growth needs. Deficit needs are those needs that are felt due to the absence of something. For example, a hungry person may be motivated to work or steal, in order to obtain food. Another example of a slightly higher deficit need is, the need to secure one’s future. A person may be motivated to secure his or her future by working hard and saving money, marrying rich, or even duping someone. Moving still higher up in the hierarchy of needs, a person, who has satisfied the physiological and safety needs, may feel motivated to gain a position of respect or power. Once again, this motivation could lead a person to improve skills or to create a nuisance value.

The point to note here is – motivation could result in a positive or negative action. Of course, positive and negative are subjective evaluations, but I mean to use them in their general sense. The question is – What is it that makes us choose between alternate paths of fulfilling the same need? I think, the answer to this question will guide us through our specific quest of learner motivation.

Let us continue with our reasoning:

• A need is felt.
• A motivation to act is born.
• Motivation to act, leads to evaluation of “available” options.
  

Let us stop and review, the point about available options. The options available to a person are some of the factors that influence a person to make a “not so good” choice. If a person is hungry and does not have money, the motivation to work and earn money could be the best choice, but not an available one. If a person is very hungry, doesn’t have money, and is in front of a restaurant, the most basic of all needs, hunger in this case, will drive him to take the available option, which is to “steal.”

Continuing further with our reasoning:
When a person is motivated to fulfill a higher order deficit need, such as esteem need, the motivation is probably not all that over-powering (Nobody would die for lack of esteem,) and the factors that influence the decision-making process also increase. As esteem is derived not from within but from the environment (work or home,) a person motivated through this need would usually make decisions on the basis of environmental inputs.

The Case:
Let us review the case of the adult learner:
The adult learner wishes to learn for the following reasons:

• If the person is not working, but wishes to learn a specific skill to obtain a job, that will help fulfill the first two deficit needs outlined by Maslow, which are the physiological needs and the safety needs. Often, for men, the third deficit need (the need to belong) is also fulfilled through a job, as they can then marry and provide for their families.
  
  
• If the person is working, the first three needs (outlined above) are already fulfilled, so now the need that motivates the decision to enhance skills is the need for esteem.
  

The first kind of learner is usually younger and impressionable. This learner is in the process of establishing a value system, and prefers to consult his immediate environment before making decisions.

The second kind of learner is more mature and has already established his value system. This learner has been through experiences, bitter as well as sweet. This is the learner who knows the difference between building a skill and building the façade of a skill.

The second kind of learner takes measured decisions. It is the first kind of learner who ends up in troubled waters, and thus the stage for bittersweet experiences is set. The reasons behind this learner’s problems are not far to fetch. They can often be found in the decision-making process that this learner follows.

The Driver:
Our urban culture can be characterized as one that walks the tightrope between tradition and logic. If tradition and logic answer the same question differently, we tend to accept the traditional answer, especially when we are young. Parents, relatives, and neighbors are the most accessible and also the most willing counselors. They belong to a period of relatively less competitiveness and simpler motives. They believe in the sanctity of certificates, and the value of education. These counselors advise our second kind of learner – with good intentions, no doubt; to go or not to go for a particular course. They assume that it is the piece of paper, and not the ability to do a job well, which will enable their ward to get a job and then keep it.

Unfortunately, the piece of paper is worth nothing, especially in the knowledge industry, where the only machine that a person has to operate is the mind. No matter what my certificate is, if I can’t manage a business well – the industry doesn’t need me. No matter which university recognizes my certificate, if I don’t have the skill that my job requires, I can’t survive! Why then, instead of owning skills, our young adult learner runs after the mirage that never translates into a skill?

The answer lies in our attitude and our beliefs. We all react in a certain way, towards a particular situation. The motivation, in the case of selecting a learning provider, of course is derived from a need; yet the decision that we make is based on our attitude, and in the case of the young Indian adult learner, it is based more on the attitude of the family members, friends, relatives, associates, and even neighbors.

This is a vicious cycle that can be broken only through the will of the learner or the will of those who wish the learner well. It isn’t an easy job! It would require a modification in the characteristics of the affective domain, which of course, would require a bigger motivator than any other – But think of it: If you, your child, or your sibling truly builds a skill, which will enable fulfillment of basic as well as higher level needs, what more would you want?

Is there a Remedy?
I do not know how the situation can be remedied. I do not know how we can ensure that we receive the knowledge that we wish to receive, every time, all the time. I also do not know whether such a utopia is impossible and hence should not be contemplated.

What I do know and believe in is that knowledge in any domain should remain chaste; it should be delivered in the best possible manner, to those who wish to gain it. I don’t believe that the answer lies in the hope that one day every learning provider will begin to seek motivation at esteem and self-actualization levels, and will resort to only positive methods to fulfill their needs. I believe that the answer lies with the learner.

A young learner need not be an unaware learner. If the learner consciously reviews the learning processes and learning methodologies followed by the learning provider, if the learner researches the provider in enough detail; we may see the quality of education improve by leaps and bounds.

In the case of education, it is the learner who is the consumer; and if the consumer is willing to buy glass for the price of diamonds; why shouldn’t the glassware seller celebrate?

Author: Shafali R. Anand