Intrinsic Motivation

Intrinsic motivation, that’s an interesting topic.  In this  Reaching those that don’t care about grades, Doug writes:

“In fact we’ve all known lots of kids who were plenty smart but just didn’t give a damn about what little letters appeared on their report cards. (My children NEVER saw my old report cards, I’ll tell you that!) Yet we as a profession still pretend that all kids should care about their GPAs.”

Great idea. What counts are the passion towards learning amongst learners, not the score or grade, especially when these kids are STILL developing their metacognition skills. No one is born with hatred towards learning, I suppose, though there might be learning difficulties due to congenital defects or ADD (attention deficit disorder). People hate learning for a variety of reasons – fear of failure, fear of risks, poor grades, intimidation by others, lack of study skills, lack of confidence, lack of self-awareness, lack of interests, poor impression on education, poor experience with learning, poor impression on educators, etc. Using grades to distinguish the “good” from the “bad” students not only demotivate learners, but casting them as someone who are deficit of certain learning abilities and capacities. That’s where educators could intervene, and we as parents, teachers, librarians and learners could all support and help our fellow students in their learning journey, again not by just stimulating them with incentives, but by inspiring them in action – that they can learn and improve through themselves by learning with others through various means – formal education, informal learning, networked learning, and reflecting on their learning. That their achievement of potential is only limited by themselves.

Intrinsic motivation towards learning starts from oneself, with one’s autonomy, and with a passion of fire, that ignites and burns continuously throughout ones life journey. 

Only the learner could measure and evaluate his or her learning accurately, as it is all under his or her control. 

That’s learning at its best.  And that is the “power” of  intrinsic motivation.

See my other posts on motivation.

Motivation and Highest level of Reflection

What does it mean to be reflective?
How would one achieve the highest level of reflection?
Self-determination Theory has its promise….

Motivation

It all comes back to our motivation to develop ourselves in this life long learning journey – with self directed learning, a desire to be part of the community, a determination to be our very best both individually and as a group or community member, a search for wisdom, a visionary who would always like to support our family, our society a better place to live.

Motivation would also lead us to reflect on how we could become a better person – more educated, wiser, and more compassionate with others.

Reflective Practice

Reflective practice is a concept used in education studies and pedagogy. It was introduced by Donald Schön in his book The Reflective Practitioner in 1983.

Reflective practice is a continuous process and involves the learner considering critical incidents in his or her life’s experiences. As defined by Schön, reflective practice involves thoughtfully considering one’s own experiences in applying knowledge to practice while being coached by professionals in the discipline. It has been described as an unstructured approach directing understanding and learning, a self regulated process, commonly used in Health and Teaching professions, though applicable to all. (R.Gregory)

In education, it refers to the process of the educator studying his or her own teaching methods and determining what works best for the students. Reflective practice can help an individual to develop personally.

So, would motivation and reflective practice help me in my learning journey? 

Under connectivism, reflective practice could be done in an open, distributed and transparent manner.  

You could share what you have learnt with others.  You could also reflect on your learning through this Web 2.0 mediated learning ecology.

We are opening up our reflection to the outside world.   And our reflection has no limits – it could reach anyone at any time in the world.

Is that what the highest level of reflection could offer? 

Life with learning is a life worthy to live by itself.  With reflection, we could even reach a higher summit…..

How would you like to live the full richness of life? 

Would it be through reflection?  Or something else…..

Connectivism – my personal development resources

Under connectivism, apart from the technology that I have used (as an enabler) and the various connections made,  I have made use of other related personal development resources to enhance my learning. 

Leadership  

If you are interested in the leading of a powerful life, Stephen R. Covey could be a good read. http://www.stephencovey.com/8thHabit/8thhabit.php 

He mentions about Conscience (modeling), surrounded by Vision (pathfinding), Passion (empowering), and Discipline (aligning)- the four roles of leadership. I found the pathfinding and modeling concept quite similar to Stephen’s learning model.
I have interest in Stephen Covey’s 7th and 8th habits for years.

Emotional and Social Intelligence

I also found the books on emotional intelligence and Social Intelligence by Daniel Goleman very good read. To me, those concepts on the human relationship leverage the effects arising from connections in connectivism.

Motivation

Other further interesting theories include: Self-Determination Theory

 http://www.psych.rochester.edu/SDT
It highlights the focus on professional development by creating an environment that facilitates intrinsic motivation.

How do you find the above resources?

1. What sort of resources are you using?

2.  How do you use those resources?  For reflection?  For application?

3. How do they add value to your connections?