Success in school hinges on a student's application of personal effort. But some students lack the motivation to apply themselves accordingly. Teaching self-determination may help poor-performing students improve their work by instilling an internal driver for motivation. Development of self-determination will improve a student's ability to prioritize work and accomplish tasks successfully and will additionally increase the student's self-esteem.

What is Self-Determination?
Self-determination is an application of personal will towards a certain end. The desire to accomplish that end is the prime motivator for a self-determined person. Individuals develop self-determination on their own by exploring personal autonomy and exerting personal initiative in early childhood. If efforts in these areas are thwarted, students may feel a fear of failure and incompetency that hobbles any efforts to act willfully, even for their own good. Lessons in self-determination can help students gain that self-determination that has not developed naturally.

Internal Reward
Students may respond to external rewards, such as payment or grant of special privileges, in exchange for grades, but the impact on a student's motivation is unlikely to hold out over time. To have lasting motivation to succeed in school, students need to experience an internal reward from accomplishment of tasks. Only self-determination promises to provide students with the internal sense of accomplishment brought about by realizing a goal set for one's self.

Value of Relatedness
People have an intrinsic need to feel related to their work and the world around them. Self-determined students find a way to relate to their work on their own. When a student can make a connection with his work, the work that the student accomplishes becomes valuable and personal. His motivation for accomplishing the task successfully becomes an outward expression of the value placed on the task.

What Can Teachers Do?
Teachers can help students develop self-determination by capitalizing on the students' interests. If the student is only interested in comic books, find a way to link the lesson to a comic book character. Identify realistic task choices that accomplish the lesson, and allow the student to select which task she prefers. Within the context of the lesson, outline the skills that are necessary to accomplish the task. Give feedback to the student to encourage and redirect towards the correction. Never complete the task for the student or remove the element of critical thinking from the student. Focus on specific lessons until the student has gained the age-appropriate level of skill mastery before moving on.