The final video that I want to talk about is Dan Pink on the surprising science of motivation. I was very interested in this video being a teacher and seeing that students are often times only motivated by rewards. I say this because on several occasion I have asked students to do something and the first response I get is “what do I get if I do it?” This tells me that our students are becoming hard wired to this “carrot and sticks” mentality that Dan Pink talked about. My major concern is that how do we change this mentality? How do we get students to buy into the three ideas of Autonomy, Mastery, and Purpose? Can this idea really transfer to an educational setting? I realize that there will always be students that will buy into this idea. These are the students that do well in school and always will. I am thinking about the other 75% of students. How can teachers and schools begin to make students buy into it? The education system is built on a business model and this model has always been what Dan Pink says “Sticks and Carrots” how can schools change this attitude?
I am a strong believer that what Dan Pink talks about is true, but this means a big overhaul in our education system, which is no doubt needed, but can it really happen. I have a lot of questions on this topic and think that in theory it would be great but can it be done?
If we don't try to change the system, it surely won't change.
ReplyDeleteI like the quote by Einstein (I think ) that says to the effect that "One definition of insanity is to keep doing the same thing and expecting different results." Very germane to education today.