Episode 3: How to Create a Place Where Children 'Want to Get Motivated'

Last time, I wrote about the brain mechanism where 'it's not that you lack motivation, but that you don't feel motivated because you aren't moving.'

This time, I will introduce the 'environment creation' that we value at Codejika, focusing on how to draw out that 'first step.'

The influence of the environment on the brain

In our classroom, we do not ask children to sit at a desk as soon as they arrive.

First, we have them:
・Move their bodies slowly on the Cross Walker
・Climb the Mount Climbing wall as if playing

By creating an atmosphere where they feel 'it's okay to move freely,' the children's prefrontal cortex (the motivation switch) turns on naturally.

A child's transformation

Previously, there was a boy who had just joined the school. On his first day, he wouldn't make eye contact with anyone and sat in the corner of the classroom. Even when I spoke to him, there was no response.

But when he came to Codejika for the second time, without me saying anything, he got on the Cross Walker on his own. He was a bit awkward, but he started pedaling.

A few days later, he was silently climbing the Mount Climbing wall. A few days after that, he picked up a study worksheet on his own and asked, 'Can I do this?'

What it means for a child to get motivated

This change didn't come from being told to 'get motivated.' It was the result of him wanting to start moving naturally in a place where he felt safe.

Motivation is not something to be forced; it is something that emerges when a child feels, 'It's okay to move in this place.'

That is why we first prepare an environment where they can 'move first,' 'relax their minds,' and 'make choices.'

Conclusion

It may not be that they 'lack motivation,' but simply that 'the environment that makes them want to get motivated is not yet ready.'

Next episode preview

Next time, I will introduce the process of how children come to 'engage in learning.'