In education we often hear the question being asked, “How can I motivate my students?” And though I am sure that question always comes from a genuine place of desire to help students learn and grow… I’m not sure it’s the question we need to be asking.
Recently I have begun a professional inquiry into motivation. I started by watching the very famous Ted Talk by the very famous Dan Pink about motivation:
Although his Ted Talk is specifically focused on motivation in the business world, there is much to learned – and much that has already been learned – about how this translates in the education world.
Many people are familiar with the new paradigm Pink offers regarding human motivation:
Autonomy. Mastery. Purpose.
Autonomy – The desire to direct our own lives
Mastery – The desire to be better and develop ourselves
Purpose – The desire to be part of something bigger than ourselves
And many people can see how this paradigm fits into a system of education that supports agency and life long learners… but then comes the ever-present question on educators’ minds:
“But what does it look like in the classroom?”
So I have begun to brainstorm ways to turn this theory into practice. I’ve started to a list of ideas – linked to resources where possible – that I believe can help teachers build learning communities that support students’ autonomy, mastery and purpose.
Autonomy – The desire to direct our own lives
- Choice (where to learn, who to learn with, when to learn, what to learn, how to learn, how to share learning)
- Co-constructed success criteria/personalized success criteria
- Involvement setting up and maintaining the learning space
- Involve students in establishing routines and functioning of the day-to-day happenings and decisions of the class and school
- Co-authored/student-authored reports
- Student chosen, student directed home learning
- Personal learning plans
Mastery – The desire to be better and develop ourselves
- Tuning in/diagnostic/pre- assessment to find the “just right” spot for learning (not too easy; not too hard)
- Strong feedback loops (teacher, peer, parent, community members/experts)
- Time to develop mastery (slow learning movement vs. rushing to “cover the curriculum”)
- Help student develop skills to self-assess, self-monitor and self-adjust towards their learning goals
Purpose – The desire to be part of something bigger than ourselves
- Authentic purpose
- Authentic assessments
- Authentic audiences
- Tied to action (personal, local, global)
- Planning in response to learning
- Prioritizing time to responding to students initiatives and ideas
- Identifying issues, problems and opportunities in the community
- Being globally connected (blogs, twitter)
- Community connected (field trips, guest speakers, parent resources)
I think it’s time we switch the question away from “How can I motivate my students?” and more towards “What are we doing – or not doing – as educators that is getting in the way of students’ motivation?” and “What changes need to be made in both our classrooms and the education system that allow students more autonomy, mastery and purpose during their hours spent at school?”
What does autonomy, mastery and purpose look like in your classroom?
How you do translate Dan Pink’s theory of motivation into practice with your students?
How do you protect and foster your students’ intrinsic motivation?
Making Good Humans 