ABSTRACT
272Mr. Weaver is a physical education teacher at a suburban high school. His biggest problem is motivating his students; he feels it’s like pulling teeth to get the students to do anything, especially those in his required lifestyle fitness class. Most students are late coming out of the locker room. They are supposed to run two laps around the gym before beginning the day’s scheduled activities, but most students walk. Anything Mr. Weaver asks them to do is met with sighs, rolled eyes, and little effort. He often hears complaints of boredom; “We’ve done that already,” they say. Some students, like Andy, work hard only if threatened with some kind of punishment, such as extra push-ups or laps. Other students, like Gisell, are motivated by rewards; letting students listen to the music of their choice as they worked out increased her effort. Mr. Weaver’s greatest challenge is Mara, who rarely dresses for class, or participates at all even when she does dress; “I don’t care,” is her response when Mr. Weaver tells her she’s failing the course. Interestingly, many students in Mr. Weaver’s elective weight training class work very hard during class, the same individuals who were clearly unmotivated when they were in his lifestyle fitness class two years earlier. Chris, for example, told Mr. Weaver he enjoys class because strength training helps him achieve his goal of being fit and healthy. Murray pushes himself in class because his football coach wants him to increase his strength, and Murray doesn’t want to let the coach down. Trisha just seems to enjoy the process of improving herself; she mentioned once that she really likes how it feels to push herself to lift more.
