"Educational success should be measured by how strong your desire is to keep learning."
Alfie Kohn
In most elementary schools, it is commonplace to reward a class/student with a party or special treat at the end of the week for good behavior throughout the week. The teacher removes privileges if the student misbehaves. Does this conditional behavior work?
In his book Drive, Daniel Pinks argues that these rewards work only for simple tasks and for a short time. When the task becomes more complex and requires more cognitive and creative skills, the rewards do not work anymore. Moreover, he said that the real motivators are autonomy, mastery, and purpose when the primary necessities are satisfied.
In his video Learning Revolution, Sir Ken Robinson argues for a revolution in education. The system needs to transform into something else. Create environments where we can cultivate mids. A standardized system treats every learner equally, but the problem is that every learner is different. Human communities require diversity.
As educators, we aim to motivate our students in their learning and help them to discover their talents. We need to allow them to become self-directed learners. Students misbehave when bored, so we need to create significant learning environments where students can find purpose in their education. They engage when they feel they are working on something that matters and contributing to their learning. If we really want a positive change in our schools, we need to give each student the time to master their skills at their own pace.
When learners are engaged, they enjoy what they are doing. When there is a passion for what we do, it gives us success!
References
Sir Ken Robinso (May 24, 2010 ). Learning Revolution. Retrieve from https://youtu.be/r9LelXa3U_I
Daniel Pink (April 1, 2010). Drive: The surprising truth about what motivate us. Retrieve from https://youtu.be/u6XAPnuFjJc
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