Further Redefining Motivation with Situated Cognition, Power, and Belonging

Abstract

This article contributes to a growing convergence across educational psychology, the learning sciences, and culturally responsive education by further redefining motivation as an interactional and socially situated phenomenon. We review and extend ongoing efforts to challenge mainstream models that characterize motivation primarily in terms of individual-level psychological constructs and processes. We instead argue that motivation arises through social engagement in meaningful disciplinary activities shaped by power, identity, and community. Central to this redefinition are two innovative frameworks from Randi Engle (1967—2012): productive disciplinary engagement and expansive framing . The paper synthesizes these frameworks with critical and sociocultural theories to develop a design-based approach to engagement and motivation that highlights accountability, authorship, and intercontextuality. We examine two programs of design-based research—one focused on online instruction and assessment and the other on first-year college writing seminars—to demonstrate how Engle’s design principles might motivate equitable engagement and a lasting sense of belonging, especially for students with minoritized identities. The motivational implications of this approach are connected to mainstream motivation theories (i.e., social cognitive, self-determination, expectancy-value, and achievement goal theories), showing how Engle’s design principles align with established motivational constructs. We argue for a new approach to engagement and motivation that embeds psychological approaches into situative approaches, supports culturally sustaining pedagogy, and adopts more participatory research methods. We conclude by proposing a methodological and theoretical synthesis to inform future research on motivation and equitable instructional practices.