5 C’s of Motivation: Not Just for Students

Whether we're thinking about students, teachers, coaching, or even ourselves during the summer months, 5 factors make a difference when it comes to motivation: control, choice, challenge, connection, and construction of meaning.
 
Control
Control is the feeling that our actions matter, that we can have an influence on what happens. Control is the belief that our effort, decisions, and actions have an impact on the outcome.
 
This summer, you can recognize the impact of control in the tasks you do and those you see others do. There’s a difference between spending a day completing obligations chosen by someone else versus doing a project you've decided to tackle yourself. Whether it's learning a new skill, tackling a home improvement project, or organizing a neglected space, control fuels persistence.
 
In classrooms, control might look like students deciding how to approach a task, setting goals, monitoring their progress, or reflecting on their learning. Even when everyone is working toward the same learning target, students are more motivated when they feel ownership over the process.
 
This same principle applies to coaching. Teachers are more invested when they help identify the focus of coaching conversations, determine next steps, and evaluate their own progress. When coaching becomes something done with teachers rather than to teachers, motivation increases.
 
When motivation seems low, we can consider: Is there an opportunity for meaningful influence over the process?
 
Choice
Choice means having options. At home, choice may be one reason summer feels refreshing. We can choose which book to read, which hobby to pursue, or how to spend a free afternoon.
 
For teachers, choice might look like offering students a choice between two books, selecting a project topic, or deciding whether to make an oral presentation, a video, or a written product. For coaches, choice might mean offering teachers different ways to engage in professional learning.
 
Having choices allows learners to align tasks with their interests and preferences, which makes learning more inviting and personal. To consider how choice is influencing motivation, we can ask: Do the choices offered feel meaningful and create opportunities for ownership?
 
Challenge
Having the right level of challenge influences motivation: too easy, and we’re not motivated; too hard, and we’re not motivated. The sweet spot offers just the right level of difficulty – we can accomplish it, but it’s a stretch. Effort and thinking are required, but it still feel attainable. Productive difficulty means there’s a bit of a struggle, but not discouragement. Are you stretching yourself this summer, tackling a task that you really have to reach for?
 
Teachers’ motivation might be high when they take on a goal that pushes them beyond their current comfort zone. Students can feel motivation to tackle a complex problem or persevere through a difficult concept with support. As a coach, you’ve probably found yourself looking for this “just right” tension. With novice teachers, I’m often considering which of the things I’ve noticed will be most beneficial to bring up – what is an instructional aspect that is almost within reach?
 
Motivation increases when success is not guaranteed, but growth feels possible. To check on this characteristic, we can ask: Is the work stretching without overwhelming?
 
Connection
When we see how the new thing we are doing connects with past learning and experiences, we feel more motivated. Learning matters when we see connections to other people, real purposes, our own community, or our identity.
 
Outside of work, connection is often what draws us into activities in the first place. We volunteer because we care about a cause. We spend time with family because relationships matter. We learn new skills because they align with our interests or identity.
 
In classrooms, connection might involve linking content to previous learning and experiences or helping students see how learning applies beyond school. In coaching, connection often begins with relationships and grows when coaching conversations focus on goals that matter to the teacher and the students they serve.

 
When motivation is lacking, it can be helpful to ask: “How does this connect with what I know and have experienced? Why does this matter to me, to others, or to the world?”
 
Construction of Meaning
We construct meaning when we are actively making sense of ideas rather than simply receiving information. Instead of memorizing, we interpret, apply, question, and create. Knowledge isn’t delivered, it is built. What new knowledge will you build this summer?
 
Coaching creates space for this sense-making process. Rather than providing all the answers, coaches ask questions that help teachers notice, interpret, and draw conclusions for themselves.
 
Learning feels more motivating when we construct understanding rather than passively consuming information. To check on construction of meaning, we can ask, “Are people making sense of ideas for themselves, or are they simply completing tasks and following directions?”
 
Reflecting on the 5 C’s
For students, teachers, and (really!) anyone trying to do anything, motivation is influenced by the conditions that are created. When there is control, choice, challenge, connection, and construction of meaning, motivation is more likely. Maybe that's one reason we look forward to summer: it might offer more of the conditions that help motivation thrive.
 
****************************************************************************************
You can find My Coaches Couch, the podcast (with different content) in your favorite podcast app or at MyCoachesCouch.podbean.com.
 
****************************************************************************************
 
This week, you might want to take a look at:

Why use humor in the classroom? Here are many reasons:
 
http://www.middleweb.com/5053/humor-in-the-classroom/
 
 
AI research skills for middle-schoolers:
 
https://www.edutopia.org/article/teaching-annotated-bibliography-middle-school
 
 
Making data review more personal:
 
https://choiceliteracy.com/article/making-data-review-more-personal/
 
 
The Big List of Class Discussion Strategies (podcast or text):
 
http://www.cultofpedagogy.com/speaking-listening-techniques/
 
 
You’ll think of lots of uses for this book, 10-Minute Inservice:
 
https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Ten_Minute_Inservice.html?id=fHTCBwAAQBAJ
 
That’s it for this week.  Happy Coaching!
 
Want more coaching tips? Check out my book, Differentiated Mentoring & Coaching in Education: From Preservice Teacher to Expert Practitioner, available from Teachers College Press!  I’m so excited to share it with you! You can use the code: MAY2026 for 15% off. Click  here  and I’ll email you the free Book Group Study Guide that includes questions, prompts, and activities you can use as you share the book with colleagues.  I hope you’ll love this book as much as I loved making it for you!