Forum on Public Policy 1 Conation: Cultivating the Will to Succeed Among Middle and High School Students

A great deal of research has been conducted regarding extrinsic and intrinsic motivation and which concept has the most effective impact on the learning process. Teachers are constantly asking: “How can I motivate my struggling or low achieving students to learn the essential skills and strategies they will need to be able to compete in this technological and global society?. ” How do I get them “to want to learn without the issuance of stickers, McDonalds ‟ coupons, and pizza parties?” Extrinsic motivation (external influence) is too frequently utilized to “encourage ” students to learn. However, there is a growing body of research (conation 1) that demonstrates the power of intrinsic motivation or “one‟s inner will, drive, determination, tenacity, and perseverance to want to learn. The will is an intangible place within each person that internally drives or compels one to want to learn for the personal value and self-satisfactory of learning. 2 Conation creates change from within; this transformation has the potential of refocusing our paradigm regarding the impact and influence the will has in the process of teachers teaching and students learning