Individual progress must be recognized and individual enthusiasm must be encouraged. There is no one way of encouraging and supporting young people. They come from varied backgrounds and with different experiences. They vary in their interests, values, needs, attitudes and aspirations. For some youth intrinsic, or internal, recognition is far more powerful than any extrinsic, or external, recognition.
Motivation is determined by a complex blend of environment, attitude, and self-concept.
It is what energizes a person and directs individual activity. The national model for recognition provides for a balanced approach. It encourages a variety of forms of recognition to meet the diverse needs and interests of today's youth. Recognitioncan encourage and support the efforts of young people as they engage in individualized learning, peer competition or cooperation. Recognition, used in all its forms, can provide balance to the recognition young people receive as they move through our educational programs to increasingly difficult challenges.