Synopsis
This very accessible book reflects the insight and breadth of understanding of an acknowledged expert. It also instructs in a most engaging fashion. While current theory and research provide a sound substantive base, the author has succeeded in speaking realistically and engagingly to those who must put theory into practice in the everyday world of school. It is not just a book about motivation, though it certainly handles that topic competently. It is above all a significant contribution to the practice of teaching, especially as it engagingly portrays challenges and solutions for eliciting a student's best efforts toward thoughtful learning. Unlike many, if not most, texts, this one is truly interactive in nature. This should not only encourage the reader to pay attention but also to become a coconstructor of meaningful and useful ways to approach teaching. In design and content, this book practises what it preaches regarding teaching, motivation and learning. As one who has spent a career reading books on "motivation," I can recall only a mere few that have managed to hit the right tone for those who would teach. And, this one does so fully mindful of current theory and research. This is an excellent little book for a wide variety of classes, but especially for classes that are designed to help prospective teachers develop an approach to the persistent questions of student motivation. - Martin L. Maehr University of Michigan The case studies cited in this book all come from the National Competency Framework for Beginning Teaching, National Project on the Quality of Teaching and Learning, Australian Teaching Council, 1996 and are reproduced with permission of the Commonwealth of Australia.
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Review
Elicits solutions for classroom challenges that may come the way of many teachers...a very hands-on "you can do this" style of publication [that] explores the challenge of (and possible solutions for) gaining a student's best effort. If you have been in the classroom a while and feel that it's time to rethink motivation strategies for children, then this is the book for you...If you are new to teaching [it] gives you some great insights into how to approach problem solving. I recommend this as a good read. - Alison Miller (teacher/Special Education consultant) in Gifted, June 2001
About the Author
Dennis M McInerney is Professor of Educational Psychology at the University of Western Sydney and lead author of the widely used introductory textbook Educational Psychology: Constructing learning.
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