What is it that motivates a child to learn? This is a question that Andrew Pudewa and Julie Walker explore during Podcast Episode 164. Throughout his many years as an educator, Andrew has carefully considered this matter. His search has led him to regard relevancy as a critical component for motivation and learning to take place. Relevancy is defined as a quality of being closely connected.
Over time, Andrew has distilled relevancy into four categories. Podcast 164 focuses on the strongest form of relevancy, which Andrew terms “intrinsic relevancy.” He describes this type of relevancy as being a quality that is a powerful drive within a person. It may be something that is innate, and it is very strong. It is the form of relevancy we see from a child who absolutely loves a subject, perhaps baseball, World War II, or butterflies, and as a result and without any prodding from anyone, learns all he or she can about it.
Intrinsic relevancies encourage mastery of a subject because mastery comes from being able to dive deeply into that subject. And in the process of diving deep, students learn how to learn. So the question then becomes, how can parents and teachers harness this highest form of relevancy to encourage their students to better learn in the classroom or homeschool?
Listen to the podcast, and you will discover some strategies you can employ to help your students take hold of their intrinsic relevancies and learn on a deeper level. We think you will find some great suggestions to explore.
