Toward a model of the value aspects of motivation in education: Developing appreciation for particular learning domains and activities

Currently well-developed lines of theory and research on motivation in education focus on its expectancy aspects, especially as they apply in achievement situations that call for striving to attain specific goals. This article considers concepts and principles that might be included in a model that addresses the value/interest/appreciation aspects of motivated learning, including learning in exploratory situations that do not require focused achievement striving. Featured concepts and principles include an optimal match between the learning opportunity and the learner's prior knowledge and experiences, learner identification with or perception of self-relevance of the learning domain, curricular choices that feature content and activities that lie within both the cognitive and the motivational zones of proximal development, and teacher scaffolding of learners' exposure to the domain in ways that build motivational schemas that enable learners to appreciate the domain's value and experience its satisfactions.