ABSTRACT
While other chapters in this volume discuss the important subject of what motivates students towards their studies, this chapter explores students’ motivation towards life beyond the curriculum. Those of you looking for ideas to support your teaching might now feel the urge to skip forward to the next chapter. Yet we will be exploring the link between motivation inside and outside the classroom, and arguing that there are educational reasons to consider the role of student representation in gaining and maintaining student motivation. The main body of research discussed in this chapter will be the SEDA-funded research on Students’ Motivation to Participate in the Institutional Community that we undertook from October 1996-April 1997. Data from this project are used in conjunction with our perspectives formed from a collective nine years experience working both as Students’ Union staff and as researchers in Higher Education.
