Intrinsic Motivation Improved Through Art

Bridge Academy, Bridgeport, Ct  / Freshman Class Selfie art, Spring 2017

Student Self-Driven Art Activity

The above art was done by 9th grade students at Bridge Academy in the Spring of 2017. As the art teacher at the school I witnessed a very interesting evolution during the two week period with this particular group. For the majority of the school year I presented students with common core based classic art curriculum that was age appropriate. I found their interest to be marginal at best even though many in the group displayed artistic talent. Clearly the intrinsic motivation, source of motivation within an individual (Human Learning 6th edition 2012, Ormrod, Chptr16, p 428), was deficient due to the fact the many of my students suffer from emotional affects from their urban community. I had experienced first hand the drive reduction or self-handicapping response from students too often during the last school year. After doing research on this topic, Maslow's theory of hierarchy of needs (Ormrod, Chtpr 16, p 433) is critical to creating art with positive qualitative results. The steps of the theory: physiological needs, safety needs love and belongingness, esteem needs (steps 1-4 are all deficiency needs) need for self-actualization ( step 5, growth need) clearly apply to my urban classroom. The last step of the theory, the growth need of self-actualization is one that as the art teacher I work hard to address in my class.

The above work was mixed art media lesson of my design which is much more student self-driven in nature. The students were instructed to communicate anything about themselves visually that they wanted to share with other students. The extrinsic motivation, the motivation source that lies outside the individual (Ormrod, Chptr 16, p 428), was a positive influence during this project. The freshman class took their chance to say something to others in the school through art very seriously.  My only requirement was for them to take a "selfie" to be used in the final composition. I selected the "selfie" requirement because it is a format that students easily relate to and many students could only be recognized by their face by others as they were freshman. The group was encouraged to explore the art room for supplies and use anything of choice to create the final piece. They responded very well to having so many choices and it was a pleasure to simply be in a facilitative role rather than authoritative one. The group asked for more time to focus on the project beyond the original time frame. This was very unusual, often I had trouble getting them to engage in other projects. In addition, in the past the group was reluctant to post work outside the art room. They were actually begging for the work to be posted in the hallway to share with all the grades. We started the display with one bulletin board just outside the art room and, by popular demand, it grew down the entire hallway of the school. The freshman class felt very empowered with their visual voice for all to enjoy as a greeting all who entered the school. I left the art up much longer than originally intended at the request of staff and students alike. The mixed media collage art shown below was a similar assignment for eleventh graders. The requirements were slightly different but the results were equally impressive.

Jill Imse

Studio Art/ Digital Art / Film Teacher

Bridge Academy Grades 7-12

Bridgeport, Ct

203-336-9999

http://www.bridgeacademy.org

Bridge Academy, Bridgeport, Ct / 11th Grade  Students 2017

Intrinsic Motivation and Extrinsic Motivation

This related post is from Monthly Mentor October 13, 2009

A broad discussion about creativity is incomplete without mention of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation.  Many researchers (Amabile, 1996; Collins & Amabile, 1999; Deci and Ryan, 1985; Nickerson, 1999; Sternberg & Lubart, 1999) note strong correlations between intrinsic motivation and creativity; however, there are varied opinions about the effects of extrinsic motivation on creativity.  Amabile (1996, p. 115) provides the following definitions: “We define as intrinsic any motivation that arises from the individual’s positive reaction to qualities of the task itself: this reaction can be experienced as interest, involvement, curiosity, satisfaction, or positive challenge. We define as extrinsic any motivation that arises from sources outside of the task itself; these sources include expected evaluation, contracted-for-reward, external directives, or any of several similar sources.”

Learners are intrinsically motivated in art class when they work with media that they enjoy, pursue personally relevant ideas, have open-ended outcomes, feel competent, and experience autonomy.  When students are passionate about their work, circumstances are favorable for creativity (Collins & Amabile, 1999, p. 308).  

The artist statement for this self-directed drawing highlights the intrinsic motivators of interest and choice in media:

For my drawing, I was thinking about what I did over the summer.  I went to a lake with my friends and it was a really nice day.  I was thinking about the fall when I was playing with my friend on a trampoline.  Then I thought about baseball and how fun it will be to play again.  I remembered some of the drawings that I did last year and combined them into this picture.

The second photograph, taken by a fourth grade girl, resulted from her desire to manipulate and play with digital editing options.  Learners who are driven by intrinsic motivation are engaged because they want to do the activity and have control over its outcome.  When the activity is teacher-directed, will students respond creatively to extrinsic motivators determined by their teacher?

Diane Jaquith
Burr Elementary School
Newton, MA