There are many reasons to be curious about the way people learn, and the past several decades have seen an explosion of research that has important implications for individual learning, schooling, workforce training, and policy. In 2000, How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School: Expanded Edition was published and its influence has been wide and deep. The report summarized insights on the nature of learning in school-aged children; described principles for the design of effective learning environments; and provided examples of how that could be implemented in the classroom. Since then, researchers have continued to investigate the nature of learning and have generated new findings related to the neurological processes involved in learning, individual and cultural variability related to learning, and educational technologies. In addition to expanding scientific understanding of the mechanisms of learning and how the brain adapts throughout the lifespan, there have been important discoveries about influences on learning, particularly sociocultural factors and the structure of learning environments. How People Learn II: Learners, Contexts, and Cultures provides a much-needed update incorporating insights gained from this research over the past decade. The book expands on the foundation laid out in the 2000 report and takes an in-depth look at the constellation of influences that affect individual learning. How People Learn II will become an indispensable resource to understand learning throughout the lifespan for educators of students and adults.

Designed for educators, researchers, practitioners, or anyone interested in maximizing human potential, Motivation for Learning and Performance outlines 50 key motivation principles based on the latest scientific evidence from the disciplines of psychology, education, business, athletics, and neurology. Using a highly applied and conversational style, the book is designed to inform the reader about how to diagnosis, analyze, and mediate learning and performance challenges influenced by motivation. The book features chapters on the biopsychology of motivation, how motivation changes across the lifespan, and the important influence of culture on motivated behavior. Three chapters are devoted to practical strategies and the implementation of motivational change. Special sections are included on enhancing motivation at work, in the classroom, in competitive environments, and during online education. Hoffman employs the innovative approach of using his interviews with "real" people including many notable personalities across diverse cultures and disciplines to illustrate motivated behavior. For example, readers will learn what motivated the colossal investment fraud masterminded by Bernie Madoff, the intimate thoughts of former NFL superstar Nick Lowery when he missed a field goal, and the joys and tribulations of Emmy-nominated "Curb your Enthusiasm" actress Cheryl Hines. The book provides a practical, applied, and multi-disciplinary resource for anyone interested in motivation and performance, but especially for university students at the graduate or undergraduate level studying education, psychology, business, leadership, hospitality, sports management, or military science. Additionally, the writing style and eclectic nature of the text will appeal to readers of non-fiction who can use the book to gain self-awareness to enhance performance of themselves or others. - Considers motivation for both learning and performance - Identifies 50 foundational principles relating to motivation - Provides research evidence supporting the foundational principles - Includes interviews from famous individuals, identifying what motivated them and why - Includes research from psychology, education, neuroscience, business, and sports

Motivated Minds--a practical guide to ensuring your child's success in school. What makes students succeed in school? For the past twenty years, the focus has been on building children's self-esteem to help them achieve more in the classroom. But positive reinforcement hasn't necessarily resulted in measureable academic improvement. Through extensive research, combined with ongoing classroom implementation of their ideas, Deborah Stipek, Dean of the School of Education at Stanford, and Kathy Seal have created a program that will encourage motivation and a love of learning in children from toddlerhood through elementary school. Stipek and Seal maintain that parents and teachers can build a solid foundation for learning by helping children to develop the key elements of success: competency, autonomy, curiosity, and critical relationships. The authors offer both practical advice and strategies on understanding different learning styles for Math and reading as well as down-to-earth tips about how to manage difficult issues -- competition, grades, praise, bribes, and rewards -- that inevitably arise for parents and teachers. Most important, Stipek and Seal help parents create an enriching environment for their children at home that will mesh with the school experience and become a positive, effective climate for learning.

Motivation is the ultimate product of many aspects of the school experience: significant relationships between teachers and students and among students; a meaningful, well-taught curriculum; teachers who maintain high expectations and look for ways to help each student connect to the curriculum; and opportunities for choice and self-evaluation that foster students' ownership of learning. This book posits that young children's natural motivation to learn will survive only in schools where the curriculum is worth learning; where students focus on learning (not on competition or grades); and where students feel valued, and, therefore, are disposed to care about the school's values, including learning. The job of schools is to help students develop a commitment to learning that sustains them even when a particular task seems too difficult or unappealing. They are most likely to develop this commitment in a school that meets their needs for belonging, contribution, and meaningful work. Research suggests that practitioners who shift away from systems of rewards and punishment and, instead, actively involve students in shaping classroom climate and learning promote both students' motivation to learn and their commitment to democratic values. (Contains 63 references.) (DFR)

`The book is a pleasure to read and whether the model is adopted in whole or in part, as a lens through which to examine and understand what is going on in a learning community it has much to offer′ - Improving Schools `As a head of department in a comprehensive school in an education action zone, this book has made me think about not only the way I relate to the students I work with but also about relationships with the teachers in my department. I therefore warmly recommend to teachers and especially to headteachers and others in positions of leadership in both primary and secondary phases′ - Emotional & Behavioural Difficulties `The Motivated School is an important book. It addresses a number of key issues which are central to Scottish educational policy, including Better Behaviour: Better Learning, Inclusion and Raising Attainment. It is also a controversial book, challenging as it does "woolly thinking" on issues such as self-esteem, rewards and motivation to learn′ - Scottish Education Review `This book is well written and demonstrates the author′s commitment and dedication to an individual′s psychological well-being and positive, effective learning environments′ - The Psychology of Education Review `The best education books frequently challenge our assumptions. Alan McLean′s The Motivated School demonstrates with a kind of forensic exactness, the way we over-emphasize the importance of student′s self-esteem. We can′t make students motivated: we can only create the right conditions. There is much to admire in this book. It isn′t difficult to read, and the format is generous and accessible. I suspect all school leaders will learn something from it′ - Geoff Barton, Times Educational Supplement, Friday Magazine Some students do not achieve their full potential, while others of similar ability achieve more than predicted. This book shows how important students′ motivational mindsets can be in influencing the way they learn. The author brings together evidence from recent research, shows how successful learning contexts can be created, and provides real-life suggestions for teachers working with disengaged learners. Increasing pressure to meet targets has sent schools down the path of trying to motivate students `from the outside′. By recognizing that genuine motivation comes `from the inside′ and that self-motivation needs to be nurtured, this book provides a practical guide to both teacher and student motivation. This book will be of interest to anyone seeking to develop their skills in motivating young people to learn. It will be of particular interest to teachers, educators and management at all levels.

Offers teachers practical advice on how they can motivate students in any grade and help them become more focused and ready to learn.