Pink Motivation

Daniel Pink, Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us 

“Find what drives us.”  

I am always thinking about our students. What a diverse group of amazing kids. Their joys and challenges are played out in a wide spectrum of life and nothing surprises me more when I sit back  and watch them figure it out, or not. On the playground, lunchroom, morning line-up, or in the classroom they are constantly learning something. Whether it be how to share their "coat hook" in kindergarten with a new "friend", or how to agree to disagree during partner pair share discussions in math. Their mouths and minds are constantly on the go.

I picked up Pink's book Drive  to learn more about motivation and what does indeed drive us"? Some would argue it is a business book and the content is geared  more toward employees and their production in the work place. Their is some truth to that, but Pink frequently references applications for teaching and learning. His insights are often reflective on how educators can create the systems needed to motivate our students to be responsible for their own learning. I don't want to summarize the whole book, although their is an amazing recap on the web. Here is the link http://www.marshallcf.com/assets/book_reviews//Drive.pdf

Pink was asked to summarized the book in 140 characters. It audio format he stated, "Carrots and sticks are so last century. Drives says for 21st century work we need to upgrade to autonomy, mastery, and purpose." It got me thinking on the importance of collaboratively building a system where students are aware of their learning targets, have a strong foundation of the importance of a growth mindset, and to develop the determination and fortitude on why it matters.