DAN PINK: THE PUZZLE OF MOTIVATION
In Dan Pink’s Ted
talk: The Puzzle of Motivation he points out a very true concept that an “if-then”
motivation approach most often than not limits creativity and has negative on
the outcome of a given task or project. Hence,
incentives are not necessarily an optimal motivator. When rewards are offered or expected for a
specific task, people tend to show poorer or not up to full potential performance. This can and is true in many settings: as he
mentions in a business model for encyclopedias Encarta and Wikipedia or at a
more basic and everyday setting, our classrooms.
The if-then motivation
system is an easy trap to fall into, especially when treating with young
children as we do in the ECC where they will easily do a task for a small yet
luring reward. Do not get me wrong, I
believe that in order for rewards to fulfill an educational purpose they must go
hand in hand with autonomy, mastery and purpose. These three concepts are what Dan Pink
mentions to be the real triggers of high performance. These are ideas that are fostered in most of
our classrooms everyday, where we aim to foster student led learning, inquiry,
project based learning, where it is through student exploration that they will
learn best, and have a more meaningful and enriching experience that is
relevant to each student. Let’s not
limit our students’ potential with achievable tasks, but instead, lets give
them the tools for them to surprise us with what they can accomplish.
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