We’ve Forgotten About Intrinsic Motivation
Many of us here know Clay Shirky to be one of the preeminent thinkers when it comes to issues dealing with social technologies. His analysis of how these technologies affect our way of getting things done and how we end up sharing resources, is second to none. I find that his ideas, which often delve into the intersecting worlds of media, culture and economics, are very applicable to our more familiar world of education.
If you look at most schools today and how they operate, it seems pretty clear that they have, in the words of Clay Shirky, “forgotten about intrinsic motivation”. This has two important implications:
1) Students end up believing that learning is not an enjoyable activity because otherwise, why would they need to be rewarded for doing it? We seem to have forgotten that we were born curious, that we were always asking our parents questions, that we like to know. Author Alfie Kohn, “Drawing from hundreds of studies, demonstrates that people actually do inferior work when they are enticed with money, grades, or other incentives.” (source) In these extrinsically driven environments, current and future learning are greatly diminished. The most powerful learning attribute–attitude–takes, what for many, becomes a lethal hit.
2) Schools, through the belief that people are, at their core, extrinsically motivated, neglect to notice how many valuable learning opportunities are being created and shared by others for absolutely no other reason than it feels good. It feels good to learn, to know, to share, and to be deeply involved with one’s interests–especially in the company of like-minded others. It’s because of this love that Wikipedia, through volunteerism, has outpaced all other encyclopedias including MS Encarta (which, btw, lost the race using money, a very extrinsic motivator). Holding a world view that others are unlikely to share their expertise or assist in various ways unless they are paid, schools continue to restrict and ignore access to rich learning sources outside of their domain.
In a game I like to play, I change some of the words (or phrases, in this case) so as relate them directly to education. (The words below are from Shirky’s PopTech! talk about designing for generosity.)
Shirky:
“We’ve just forgotten about intrinsic motivation. We’ve forgotten that people have all kinds of reasons to do things that don’t have to do with fame and fortune; that don’t have to do with the idea that it’s better to look good than feel good.”
Or, in eduspeak:
In schools, we’ve forgotten about intrinsic motivation. We’ve forgotten that people have all kinds of reasons to learn that don’t have to do with getting good grades, that don’t have to do with the idea that it’s better to be an A student than to actually learn something. We’ve forgotten that we are intrinsically motivated to want to know. It’s in our genes. It’s what has allowed our species to thrive.
Shirky:
“We’ve been willing to buy–or at least tolerate–in our public discourse, the idea that extrinsic motivations are motivations, that that’s essentially what drives people.”
Or, in eduspeak:
When it comes to education, we’ve been willing to buy–wholeheartedly–the idea that grades are motivators; that grades are essentially what motivate students.
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