The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us
Someone in my PLN recently sent me this video illustrating one of Dan Pink’s talks. It addresses what I think is one of the biggest problems in schools today: a serious lack of understanding about what motivates people.
In most schools, grades have become a form of currency to be used as carrots and sticks. The belief is that without these “motivators”, people will choose not to learn. Some schools have even gone as far as using money to pay students for good grades, ignoring the science which shows it to be a damaging strategy in the long term.
Maybe all teacher training programs should include a course or two on what motivation is all about. And for those that are already in the classroom, maybe it would be good to use some ProD days to learn what science has to say about human motivation.
Pink points to research on the importance of autonomy. Companies that “get out of the way” and provide time for employees to work on self-selected projects are reaping the benefits of innovative thinking—much more so than if they had simply paid employees to be more innovative. What implications does this have for schools? What happens when we try to reward students for creativity and what happens when we tightly control the curriculum, giving students few, if any, choices in what they study? We hear a lot of talk about innovation these days. Unfortunately, the conversation about what helps promote it–especially in schools–seems to be muted. Maybe sharing the video below with other educators will help spark conversation about this important topic. (BTW, I highly recommend Pink’s latest book, Drive.)
