Agency, Anticipation, and Achievement
The 3 Pillars of Motivation - for adults and children alike
There are three key ingredients that, when combined, create a potent cocktail that can motivate children to read more, in a virtuous (upward) cycle:
Agency: giving children a sense of autonomy over what they read
Anticipation: giving children a reason to read
Achievement: giving children a sense of fulfilment from reading
I find this combination works in motivating grown-ups in many areas, too! For example:
Say you’re getting into running:
Choosing your route or time or exercise plan (agency)
Booking a half-marathon with friends (anticipation)
Celebrating milestones. Also: eating as much as you like! (achievement)
Or maybe you’re learning the guitar. Sure, scales are important for fluency, but motivation also comes from:
Choosing what music to play (agency)
Starting a band with your friends (anticipation)
Playing guitar at the prom (achievement)
As this publication is all about encouraging children to read, let’s consider how the three pillars of Agency, Anticipation, and Achievement, work in that context.
Agency
Agency is about choice.
Some parents might be relaxed about what their children read, while others may wish to hold a strict level of control over what their children read. But let’s face it; children’s books are variable in quality. Some simply don’t edify, build, or challenge children.
While stories should be enjoyable, they should also inform kids about the realities of life — preparing them for their battles while instilling them with hope. Children are sponges, and giving them examples of other people who overcome obstacles can help inform how they respond.
Or, as G.K. Chesterton famously put it:
“Fairy tales do not tell children the dragons exist. Children already know that dragons exist. Fairy tales tell children the dragons can be killed.”
There are also an overwhelming number of children’s books. Giving children open-ended choice is likely to lead to choice overload, where they become paralysed by the sheer number of options available (a sensation familiar to anyone who’s tried to choose a movie on Netflix).
Parents can overcome the challenge of choice by:
Curating a limited list of parent-approved books to give children a sense of agency without total free rein. Or,
having a stricter list but rewarding children with any book they want (no judgement guaranteed).
I remember my mum being particularly cheesed at me for selecting a random book called something like True UFO Stories from the school library because it was trashy. (She was right, of course - and why the library had decided to stock it the question I ask thirty years later). But rather than simply criticising my poor choices, she continued to carefully curate lists for me to select from, motivating me towards more challenging books with rewards (she operated a points system for each book) and I came out through my childhood relatively unscathed from conspiracy theories. Except the one where I think perhaps everyone else is a robot.
If you allow your children to make some mistakes, they might (as with my childhood experience) feel more inclined to read the books they are given. And anything they read is building fluency of reading, which is key to furthering unlocking their reading enjoyment, fuelling more reading.
Anticipation
Anticipation can be subconscious to a degree. For example, the subtle craving to check Instagram/WhatsApp/emails. There’s a good feeling attached with receiving a message or notification. It’s a simple as this: someone remembered that you exist.
Additionally, anticipation and trust are closely linked. Some people thrive on the buzz of new experiences, but many like to experience more of what they know. It’s safer, with less risk. This is one reason that sequels have become commonplace in popular culture over the past thirty years (in movies and books especially) and why certain artists (music or art) grow enormous fanbases while others languish in obscurity. This is more to do with risk than quality.
Consider the Marvel cinematic universe: a series of 37 movies (to date) since Iron Man in 2008. Thirty-seven films that, for the most part, follow a similar, predictable formula. The characters are fairly well known (especially to comic-lovers). The plot invariably grows towards some epic proportion battle (with giant beams of light in the sky). The good guys have some in-fighting. There’s much snarky banter. Some of these films were quite enjoyable. But audiences flocked to the films not only because they loved the characters or the spectacle, but because they knew what to expect.
One of my favourite authors is Terry Pratchett. I can’t remember if it was ‘Only You Can Save Mankind’, or the ‘Truckers, Diggers, Wings’ trilogy, but once I had read one of his books, I was hooked. Reading as a child, his cheeky humour and sense of adventure had me gripped. As I grew older, I began to understand the satire behind many of the characters or plots. I became obsessed with Discworld, (41 books in total). Every time a new one came out, I lapped it up.
There are millions of books available. But I would choose to read Terry’s books because I trusted the author - I knew I would enjoy it. I was excited to read more about characters I loved. Just as children flocked to buy Harry Potter books the day they came out. Or people lined up in their millions to watch another instalment of spandex-toting superheroes in the cinema.
This becomes particularly interesting when considering how to encourage children to anticipate reading. For a start, many things are novel to children. Many times, the book they are reading will be the first time they have read anything by that author. This can result in a sliding scale of reactions. On the one hand, fear - will I enjoy this book? On the other; excitement - I can’t wait to find out what it’s all about!
This reaction is partly a product of the child’s makeup; how risk-averse are they in general? Also, reading fluency; the less fluent a child, the more investment goes into deciding and reading each book. Additionally, by marketing and branding; if the title is good and the cover is attractive, children will feel more inclined to take a risk. And finally, social proof; if their friends are talking positively about it, the book has a head start.
Children’s enjoyment of reading is plummeting. If they are reading less, they are less confident readers, and therefore more risk-averse. Rather than anticipating, they begin to dread reading. New books and authors hold more fear for them - a greater investment in time and effort. A confident reader might shrug off a read they didn’t enjoy, and move straight on to the next one. But for the inexperienced reader, one unenjoyable book tells them something they already suspected: reading is awful.
A couple of suggestions here:
We want young readers to become balanced readers. If you discover a series or author that they love, this is fantastic! But rather than just letting them read everything that author has done, you can use the trust they have to increase their anticipation and as a reward for reading new, unknown (to them) books. For example, if they love Katherine Rundell, then get them a nice copy of one of her books that they haven’t read, and offer it as an upcoming reward for reading two unknowns.
Secondly, anticipation can come in other forms. I’ve discussed reading environment a little before on Storygram Labs: in summary, creating a safe space for children to read in (think soft lighting, cosy, quiet, calm) and additionally setting boundaries around reading time (for example, for up to an hour they can be guaranteed peace and freedom from reminders about tidying or homework) can help create anticipation around the reading experience.
Anticipation is about giving them a reason to read. What would encourage your children to look forward to reading?
Achievement
With reading, we can arrive at a sense of achievement in a few ways.
Reading is intrinsically rewarding. It’s an enjoyable activity!
As reading skill and fluency progresses over time, we might feel a sense of gratification.
Finishing a book is rewarding - not necessarily because the end is excellent (it may not be), but because the very act of reading a book from beginning to end is an act of willpower. The reader has chosen to read thousands of words — hundreds of pages — and succeeded through to the end. This can build confidence and reinforce the critical habit of seeing things through.
For children who struggle to get through a book, achievement might look a little different. Reward them for reading 10 minutes uninterrupted per day, perhaps. Add bonus points when they eventually complete a book. Duolingo demonstrates the power of counting ‘streaks’. Kids (and adults) love the satisfaction of ticking off a to-do list… so why not make reading the highlight item each day?
What do you think? Are there other elements critical to motivating children that I’ve missed?
Thank you for reading!