Motivation Equals the Rate at which we Learn

I’ve been reading this article about motivation – it’s from Newsweek, here is the link It’s written by an American guy called Po Bronson; it’s all about getting learning to be in the ‘flow’…

I like the fact that he equates motivation with the acceleration of our learning, ie. that we learn faster !!

You know how it is when something your doing ceases to feel like ‘work’ – it feels like ‘work and play’ all at the same time – this to me is really powerful.

‘Autotelic’ – and the curiosity of learning…

Po talks about learning being ‘autotelic’, I’ve never heard this word before. This word means that something is intrinsically meaningful and rewarding for it’s own sake not because it leads to something.

So, it’s all about ‘curiosity’ and finding things out ‘just because it’s interesting’.

Wouldn’t it be great if your students actually wanted to find out about the subjects they’re studying rather than being ‘pushed into their learning’.

The whole idea of learning is surely that it takes on a certain magical quality.
You know when this is happening because you lose all concept of time because you’re so engrossed and totally ‘riveted’. It’s a great feeling.

The secret to great teaching !!

I know that with ‘The Big Picture’ we want teaching that get’s students to discover great things. I’m sure you’ll agree that there isn’t a better way of learning. People learn most and learn fastest when they find out ‘themselves’.

I still love the idea of doing those projects when I was a kid – my teacher at primary school was Mrs Jones and she was very good at giving us projects on ‘Great explorers’, ‘Far Away Lands’ or ‘Flying machines’ etc…

I started to dream about the worlds that they lived in. I loved all the colouring-in and drawing of maps and the stories of what they did.

I used to get dead excited when I thought about all of the characters and the pioneering routes they embarked on. I still to this day have a fondness for Scott of The Antarctic, Charles Lindbergh and his ‘Spirit of St Louis’. If that is what you call ‘autotelic’ then I like it. I like it very much.