Thursday, May 5, 2011

Week #5: The Surprising Science of Motivation


It’s so sad to realize we have been doing the wrong thing. This approach can be used for us to understand what happens in our educational system. We have been making decisions based on assumptions that are outdated, unexamined and rooted more on folklore than in science. Now, we stand in the rubble of the “educational collapse”.

To get out of this mess, as the speaker says, we have not to do more of the wrong things. We have, rather, to offer opportunities for students to be intrinsically motivated.

This new approach has three pillars: Autonomy, Mastery and Purpose. Autonomy meaning the urge to direct our own lives; Mastery is the desire to get better and better at something that really matters and Purpose is the yearning to do what we do in a service larger than ourselves.

How can this work in the language class? I think many things would have to change in the educational system. It’s not only implementing ideas. It’s convincing teachers teaching goes beyond teaching, which can happen anytime anywhere not necessary inside the classroom during the lesson.

I think learning takes place when there is the intrinsic motivation for both teachers and learners… And teachers should do things having Autonomy, Mastery and Purpose in mind!

Helô 

7 comments:

  1. Dear Helo,

    I totally agree with you, being teacher is not an easy job. First, we need to be engaged with our job and then we have to motive our students (it’s not so easy). With regard to assessment, we are victims of the traditional system. When students know that they going to take an exam, students usually thing that evaluations is a kind of punishment it’s because they’re not involved in the learning process. However, I’ve learned lots of things about alternative assessment. We can improve our classes applying these new tips. Autonomy, Mastery and Purpose are in our hands.
    Sincerely,
    Gaby

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  2. Dear Helo,

    What a so ispired message!

    It is totally true what you say about how education is changing as the years go on, however as you mention there are still some teachers who do nothing for contributing to that change, who do not like doing things to improve their teaching process, let me share with you something I faced when I was studying at the university: There were some teachers who used to use the same materials, the same tests that they used 2,3,4,5 years ago, they did not investigate anything new, and they think they are the best teachers, they look at us as we are a bit young as we know nothing about teaching, but they do not reflect on what they have done for changing education.

    Now that I am learning more I can say that those teachers are just out of education!Aren't they?

    Katty

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  3. Helô,

    You know, there are many things to do for our students,the fact that we are guides and facilitators represents something immeasurable.

    Motivation plays a very important role in learning process, a well-motivated class will be easy to drive on the roads of success.

    I'm trying to insert in my classes many things I've learned here, one of the most important to know that students are able to learn how to learn by themselves.

    Harold

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  4. Hi Helo,

    I've already commented on your great reflection on our Nicenet class, it is really inspiring.
    I believe we can not convince our students of the value of learning if we are not convince ourselves, and unfortunately teaching is not valued in most parts of the world. This makes some teachers doubt about their worth as professional workers and this insecurity is transmitted to students.
    Besides, the world economic insecurity do not assure students employment as it used to be , leaving extrinsic motivation outside classrooms.

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  5. Dear Helo,
    I was also stunned by the simplicity and validity of the Autonomy, Mastery and Purpose guiding principles. It has been estimated that only 12 % of people overall will learn for the sake of learning, with the award being knowledge itself. Now we are familiarizing ourselves with the tools to stir the other 88%. I do not expect results overnight, but I hope we are setting an example with our enthusiastic participation in this course that learning pays. As for the teacher's remuneration, no matter how much (or little) money we are given, it can never be commesurate with the love, responsilility and compassion we have for our students. In the long run our reward is their success in life, especially if they have achieved it due to their having good communicative skills in English.
    Love
    Ellie
    P.S. I am also a great fan of TED's

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  6. Hello again Helô,

    As I have posted on the NiceNet I agree with you 100% when you talk about the difficulties we face trying to convince teachers to leave their comfort zones and try something different, dare make mistakes, learn something new!
    Recently I have had a difficult moment with a group of teachers at our center who have refused to get into a new project because they claim are not being paid enough.
    I strongly believe this has nothing, or very little, to do with money. There is no interest, intrinsic motivation, you name it.
    Congrats on your post. It is always a great pleasure to visit you here.

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  7. Hi Helo,

    One thing that troubles me is the notion that you are doing the wrong thing! You are not doing the wrong thing--most of us are doing the right things, we just need to make a few improvements. Most teachers, I've found, are dedicated hard-working individuals who love teaching. That's the right thing. We always feel so terrible if we found that what we've been doing in our classrooms could be improved. Then, we think we're doing all the wrong things. Wrong! Everything in life can be improved, and most teachers love improving what they do.

    What do you think?

    Donna

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