Extrinsic vs Intrinsic Motivation II

Many years ago I attended a workshop on continual improvement in education. In that workshop, David Langford made a poignant point when he asked us to consider the trajectory the current educational model is on when it comes to making mistakes, getting the wrong answer, discipline, etc. He suggested the only likely end point is killing people (literally).

If we make a similar extrapolation about the prevailing education system and how many educators use competition and external rewards as motivators it would make sense that educators would at some point pay people to not only attend school but also pay them for doing well on tests.

Both of these things are happening now. Here’s the latest:

Ohio District Tests Performance Pay—for Students
Geralyn Raach, a teacher at Central Elementary School, has a favorite slogan for motivating her 3rd graders to put in their best effort, but it’s not what you would expect. Borrowing a line from the movie “Jerry Maguire,”the veteran teacher likes to call out, “Show me the money!”

And here is an older article on parents paying their children for grades:

Parents Offer Kids Pay for Good Grades
Sat Aug 12, 2006 10:13 AM EDT
Ben Feller, AP Education Writer

WASHINGTON — Sure, learning is its own reward. But some kids respond best to cash. Andrew Waller’s grades soared when his parents started offering $5 for A’s and $4 for B’s. Now he pockets about $25 each report card, saving it for video games and summer camp.

As I read through this post I realized that there are some people that might feel this is a good idea – motivating young people to ‘stay in school’ or ‘do good in school.’ Isn’t it obvious that schools in themselves are creating the need for this kind of behavior (on the part of the school districts, on the part of the parents, and on the part of the young people)?

If schools were designed as places of learning, where there was discovery and intrigue and mystery and curiosity – and god forbid, fun – young people would be naturally motivated not only to go there but on their own accord to continue to want more!

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