Overview of the Educational Motivation Theory: A Historical Perspective

Psychological and pedagogical science has a number of approaches devoted to the problem of personal motivation, including motivation of learning activities. Motivation determines human behaviour and activity, and therefore is one of the basic concepts in psychology. Lack of a single point of view on the substance and sources of motivation, absence of a unified theory prove the complexity of the problem. The aim of the study is to provide a systematic and consistent vision of motivation theories in a historical perspective with the focus on critical evaluation of differences and commonalities among the most well-known of them, the explanation ensuring their proper application in the educational environment. The study of educational motivation reveals the factors of students’ success. Therefore, the relevance of research in this field remains to date. The explanation and interpretation of existing theories can help in understanding students’ motives and finding ways to foster students’ enthusiasm in learning. If the educational interests of the modern students are met, the students are sure to show more readiness and invest more effort and energy to set higher goals and strive to achieve them, which proves that it is motivation that paves the path towards academic success.