Extrinsic Motivation: Doing something to avoid negative consequences. The reward is avoiding
the consequences.
Intrinsic Motivation: You do something because you love doing it, that in itself, is the reward.
The most fun I ever, ever, ever had in school was when I decided to go BACK to school (whaaaaat? Who does that?) Why did I WANT to go BACK to school? I have a desire. To teach. I have a desire to better myself. Going back to school after about 16 years of completed school, is my intrinsic motivation. I am doing it for myself, I am doing it for my daughter, your daughter, your son, I am doing it because of this quote that hangs above my computer day in and day out; "Perhaps no profession is more vital to the future of this nation than teaching".
As a result, my courses are fun for me. They aren't a burden. It's food for thought. And I have been blessed with professors whom I give great credit for adding to school being my intrinsic motivation and not extrinsic. Most of my professors thus far have been inspiring, interested, and invested. As a result, I am motivated. As the video Motivation and Learning, by Dr. Linda Ventriglia shows: "The more pleasant learning is, the more motivated students are." My courses have all incorporated differentiated learning, which means, I have had the opportunity to express and transfer my knowledge in ways that best suite me and allow me to shine. As a result, learning and demonstrating what I have learned has been fun, rather than intimidating, dull or mundane. Another contributor to my inspiration to perform are my fellow classmates. The weekly posts allow us peers to communicate, collaborate, share ideas and praise one another. No negative feedback is allowed, only praise, "Praise is most powerful when success is attributed to effort rather than ability" ( Dr. Linda Ventriglia, Motivation and Learning). I am inspired to perform because I am excited for my end goal, and I know that during my journey I have people who are here to support me, guide me and give me the gentle push that I need, when I need to be redirected.
Now, a very different experience. Algebra. I have always, and most likely, will always be afraid (actually afraid), of mathematics. I am afraid of math, the way some are afraid of the Dentist. I avoid it at all cost, even if it causes me harm in the end. Why? Because the idea of attempting it and failing makes me feel bad, very bad. It doesn't feel good. As a result, nothing about math is fun for me, I only do it when I have to. Math is very much my extrinsic motivation (yuck). But we need math. Math is all around us. The homes and buildings we live and work in, the shopping and saving we do, how much we eat versus burn. It's everywhere. And the reward of math is being successful inside and outside the classroom. Although there IS reward, it is still not FUN going through the process of OBTAINING that reward.
A particular year-long-incident, was my Sophomore year of high school. Good old, Algebra welcomed me with open, intimidating, Frankenstein arms. I started off the year, sitting in the back, avoiding contact with my teacher, crying over homework, I could not complete and cursing the people who ever came up with the theory of Algebra. It truly was miserable. I hated Monday, Wednesday and Fridays with an actual passion. And then, I took action. I got a tutor. A gentleman named Mike.
Mike, loved math. Math was Mike's intrinsic motivation (weird, I know). Mike and I spent the first two weeks of my tutoring going on walks. He would talk about how math was all around us, how we used math subconsciously. During these walks and talks, he never pointed out what he was referring to, he waited for me to see it on my own. Those first two weeks was the most beneficial time I could have possibly gained from Mike the Tutor. It was during the first two weeks that without being asked, I saw on my own, the use and benefits of math. Then, back at the pencil and paper, Mike remained patient, he remained kind and he never, ever, stopped praising my EFFORTS.
Soon, math stopped looking like a monster under my bed, and actually started looking pretty useful and sometimes even...well...fun. By November of Sophomore year, I had moved to middle of the class seating, and started receiving B's instead of F's. After winter break, I was front seat and coming up to the class to demonstrate my A work. Although my teacher was proud of my efforts, he was also proud of himself, as he fully believed he had done something to change how I learned math. Now my teacher, was a good man and an OK teacher, but in reality, he hadn't changed a single thing for me. What and how he taught in September, was hardly different than how he taught in November and January. My math teacher didn't teach me algebra. It was how I VIEWED algebra that had changed. And it was Mike the Tutor, who helped me get there. Viewing Algebra differently, allowed me to learn it differently. To this day for as much as I cringe thinking about math, I welcome a good algebra problem. It really is actually fun.
As a teacher, I want to be a Mike the Tutor. Someone who gave me the praise I needed, even with the wrong answers, praise because he saw the sincere effort. And now that I have completed this weeks assignments, I see that Mike used a strategy. He used the 3 Ps:
For as much as Coach King was a good man, he wasn't the best math teacher. If I see a student dramatically improve their demonstration and understanding of their learning, and I haven't done anything differently, I would like to reach out and see what they have done differently, and see how that may help other students and my current teaching style. My goal is to make learning fun for my students. To keep them engaged, invested and passionate about what they are learning. Every learner has a unique learning style and incorporating those teaching methods into my lectures and activities will help ensure that I am reaching out to every one of my students.Pause and have a discussion with the students on why they are having difficulty. Prompt the student with a cue on how to improve. Praise the student with implementation of the cue.
So now, I leave you with the quote I started with, "Perhaps no profession is more vital to the future of this nation than teaching". How and why does it motivate you? Is it extrinsic or intrinsic for you? And are you a Coach King, or a Mike the Tutor?
References:
You Tube.
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