Force Kids, Help them Find their Own Goals, or Let Them Flounder?
"Quite a bit of evidence shows that whereas people feel best when what they do is voluntary, they do not feel worst when what they do is obligatory. Psychic entropy is highest instead when persons feel that what they do is motivated by not having anything else to do. Thus both intrinsic motivation (wanting to do it) and extrinsic motivation (having to do it) are preferable to the state where one acts by default, without having any kind of goal to focus attention. The large part of life many people experience as being unmotivated leaves a great deal of room for improvement."
Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly. 1997. Finding Flow: The Psychology of Engagement with Everyday Life. New York: Basic Books. 23
posted by Saafir @ Saturday, August 27, 2005
3 comments
3 Comments:
This parallels Dewey's notion of educative vs un-educative experiences, no? Interesting that we've used the word "flounder." That has a pretty negative connotation doesn't it? I wonder what we can do to determine the characteristics of that state? Do we mean creating conditions where failure is possible and allowing that to be a real possibility? or that we stop courses of action before a student takes them for efficiency's sake?
Goals are a type of structure that we as teachers might impose. Sometimes these are generative structures. A generative goal is one in which the possibilities are greater once it's applied, e.g. given a ball, children might devise a game that uses the ball, but if you give them a ball and mark off the ground in stripes then they generate greater possibilities for interaction. The structure to the participants may seem invisible, but that does not mean they were unintentional. Think about the shadow inquiry. Although it may have seemed at times that there were no constraints or guidance to the lesson, there were intentional and thoughtful features created for your work - time, materials, tools, facilitation, etc.
The other interesting thing about this situation, is that the rules that the children generate in this activity define their ZPD. A very useful bit of info if you care about their learning.
I have not read Dewey yet. I believe he wrote many dozens of books and papers. Can you recommend a title? (Experience and Education?)
>> Interesting that we've used the word "flounder." That has a pretty negative connotation doesn't it? I wonder what we can do to determine the characteristics of that state?
I used the word "flounder" because I wanted to stress the kind of experience people have when they act with no goal at all, besides for escaping boredom. It's how you feel when you sit around in your shorts flipping through cable channels for the fiftieth time on a Sunday morning. You most likely do not feel active, strong, or alert. And you probably aren't experiencing a state of concentration, absorption, or deep engagement either.
My title for the quote was provocative on purpose. A clearer title, if longer, might have been "Motivate kids externally with threats and rewards, help them find internal motivation through helping them identify interesting challenges and goals, or leave them to their own devices in a boring environment.
> Do we mean creating conditions where failure is possible and allowing that to be a real possibility?
Yes. Any classroom where people learn is a place filled with chances to try challenging things with the real risk of failure.
> or that we stop courses of action before a student takes them for efficiency's sake?
The trick is to balance the challenges that we give people with the skills and knowledge that they bring with them. If the challenges are too high, they end up frustrated. When skill far outstrips the challenges, people end in boredom.
>> Goals are a type of structure that we as teachers might impose. Sometimes these are generative structures. A generative goal is one in which the possibilities are greater once it's applied, e.g. given a ball, children might devise a game that uses the ball, but if you give them a ball and mark off the ground in stripes then they generate greater possibilities for interaction. The structure to the participants may seem invisible, but that does not mean they were unintentional. Think about the shadow inquiry. Although it may have seemed at times that there were no constraints or guidance to the lesson, there were intentional and thoughtful features created for your work - time, materials, tools, facilitation, etc.
What the shadow inquiry did brilliantly was create a setting where we could dive deeply into an investigation. You gave us clear rules during each phase of the activity. The rules combined with other bits of structure, including time limits, materials, and tools to create an engaging experience.
> The other interesting thing about this situation, is that the rules that the children generate in this activity define their ZPD.
What is ZPD? (Vygotsky's Zone of proximal development?)
> A very useful bit of info if you care about their learning.
>
> -Chip
Personally I like the word "flounder" and "floundering". It brings to mind wading in he ocean with distinct purposes in mind of encountering flounders befor they see you, of being away from the everyday grind, and nitty gritty!! I would like to do it more often than I am able! As far as children are concerned (and probably adults as well) is it not sometimes profitable to have a bit of floundering? Does it allows time to see if the "shoe fits" or if another pair sould be tried? I personally wonder if it really means failure. Not everyone has the same background or educations or state of learning and desire.
In a formal classroom one might desire more goals to be implemented and perhaps rules to be followed, but does this always mean that children will be learning??
If one were to go to an out of touch New Guinea or South American jungle community and gave them a ball and marked off lines on the ground, would they follow the same proceedures or types of interaction that would occurr where television, etc. have preprocessed or predisposed children's ideas of how balls are to be used????
Also, does one always have to have a goal in mind when they are sitting and looking at a sunset, or flipping channels on the tv, etc.? Are we always driven by goals? Do accidents never happen?
Another thought--is it possible to motivate kids by doing something and letting them watch? Is it possible that actions speak lounder than words? Have you ever gone by the big table with the spinning circle of metal and just started something rolling without saying a word? Have you ever gone to the tops table and started one of the Mexican Hat tops spinning furiously by pulling the string and not uttering a word? Or used the big spoon to pick up a spinning top???? Of course this might be called setting goals or rules or is it just the result of some earlier "floundering"?
Just a few "floundering" thoughts on a Sat afternoon with not real goal or purpose in mind!
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