Why We Do What We Do, Edward Deci

I am going to add another dimension to the blog -- reflections on some of the books I am reading that are connected to learning, teaching, and higher education.  These reflections will be a little longer than my Goodreads reviews, and somewhat focusing on a different audience.

Why We Do What We Do

I expect many of you are already rather familiar with Edward Deci's work on motivation - after all, he and his colleague Ryan started working on this in the 1960s.  Why We Do What We Do appears to culminate, in some ways, the decades of work Deci and Ryan have done, research they have conducted about autonomy and its possibilities for us, in a non-academic focused style that makes the book very accessible to a large audience. Starting with motivation, and moving towards wellbeing both on the physical and psychological levels, the book ends on reminding us that we can practice autonomy, and that is indeed our responsibility to do so and to give other autonomy to make choices so that they can develop more fully and live fulfilled lives.

From an educational perspective, for teachers and parents, some of his statements grounded in research seem counterintuitive on first sight:  competition ruins performance, grades ruin learning, setting controlling rules ruins autonomy, praise and rewards can be perceived as controlling and thus also counteract intrinsic motivation. How can we possibly teach, parent, supervise without competition and grades to motivate? Unfortunately, the system of judgmental evaluation and competition, very much at the foundation of the US way of life, the American Dream, is counterproductive to wellbeing because these external motivators motivate through control rather than through choice and intrinsic autonomy.

How, then, can we change our classrooms to give students more choices, especially when we want them to be more responsible for their learning through active learning? Set expectations clearly without being controlling. Practice language that encourages without judging, that praises without controlling.  Acknowledge student perspectives and student expertise genuinely to align yourself with your students.  

Deci’s research has shown that students who are in a controlling rather than autonomy-supporting learning environment will learn things by heart rather than ask critical questions. They will stop the second the control is gone while the other students are more likely to stay engaged, and they will forget their learned facts because their lack of intrinsic motivation gives them no reason to apply the new knowledge and connect it to their previous expertise.  This includes situations where we reward through presents, praise, or payment.

These same lessons do not just apply to school and parenting. They also apply to the work place, to our interactions with medical professionals and other professionals that we have been trained to perceive as figures of authority.

How can we turn this ship around?