The Three Elements of Motivation
Autonomy
Acting with choice. Curious and self-directed. This is what it means to have autonomy, which is the most important of the three psychological needs. Full autonomy is reached when people have autonomy over the four T's: their task, their time, their technique, and their team.
Daniel Pink provides many examples of giving employees (or students!) the power to choose what they will do, when they will do it, how they will do it, and whom they do it with. All of his examples resulted in an increase in innovation, efficiency, and employee satisfaction. I really liked this chapter because I can relate. In both high school and college, I always appreciate when I am able to be autonomous in my work. I especially appreciate being able to choose how I want to complete an assignment/project.
During my conversations with Mr. Fellenbaum, he shared with me some examples of how he gives his students autonomy in the classroom. When they have a project to complete, he provides multiple options for the students to choose from. I like this idea because then the students will choose a project that they will enjoy working on and won't feel like they’re being forced to do something. He also will give them autonomy over how they utilize their time in the classroom. As long as they are working on one of the tasks/assignments listed on the board, his students can prioritize and complete work in a way that works for them.
One idea that I think would be neat to try in a classroom is having “FedEx Days”. This is a concept that some companies are using and I think it would be neat to try out with students. Basically, you would give students one day (maybe every month?) to work solving a problem, answering a question, or creating something related to the class. Then the next day students would share out what they discovered, learned, or created. You could make it more fun by bringing in snacks to eat while people share.
Mastery
Autonomy leads to engagement, which brings us to the second element of motivation: Mastery. Mastery is the desire to get better at something that matters, and engagement is required to produce mastery.
Pink discusses that the key to this mastery mindset is encouraging autotelic experiences, which is an experience that is also the reward. This is also known as “flow”, where a person with autonomy “forgets themselves in a function”. The structure of flow consists of clear goals, immediate feedback, and challenges well matched to abilities (just enough challenge so you aren’t anxious or bored). In the classroom, I definitely agree that this structure is beneficial. I always hated when it took a week or more to get a test grade or an assignment back. I know that teachers are very busy people, but maybe finding ways to provide feedback earlier would be helpful. You could also have students evaluate themselves before they submit an assignment, as this would allow them to give themselves feedback.
While flow is essential to mastery, I appreciate it that Pink differentiates between the two. Flow happens in the moment, while mastery occurs over month, years, sometimes a lifetime. To embark on a journey of mastery, it is important to know that mastery follows 3 laws:
- Mastery is a Mindset: what you believe shapes what you achieve.
- Mastery is a Pain: mastery is not always fun and requires grit.
- Mastery is an Asymptote: you may come close to mastery, but you will never touch it.
Purpose
“Autonomous people working towards mastery perform at very high levels. But those who do so in the service of some greater objective can achieve even more” (p. 131). In this chapter Pink further discusses the idea that money (or other extrinsic motivators) are only useful to a point. More successful companies and schools put more focus on purpose maximization, and often use extrinsic factors such as profit as a catalyst for pursuing purpose.
This chapter got me thinking about the purpose students could find in SAEs. In addition to growing their SAE project to make a profit and learning a plethora of skills/knowledge, students could determine a way to contribute to a purpose of their choosing. I think that students who have both profit and purpose maximization would grow so much through their SAE project experiences. Pink also discusses the importance of words, perhaps the most important being WHY. When I teach, I want to make sure that my students always know why they are doing something.