Mike Anderson TACKLING THE MOTIVATION CRISIS How to Activate Student Learning Without Behavior Charts, Pizza Parties, or Other Hard-to-Quit Incentive Systems
I can still remember my third-grade classroom. I was proud of the neat long rows aligned with mismatched chairs, the old wooden teacher’s desk, and front and center was the overhead projector. Next to the project were two glass mason jars. I neatly labeled one jar teacher and the other jar students.
A bright yellow and black bumble bee marble would loudly make it into the student’s jar from the teacher’s jar when a student or group of students achieved compliance. A prized marble eas earned when they walked quietly, lined up quickly, or took their turn. Each act complied with the class expectations for an orderly class community. For the first few months, the clink of the marbles was constant, and then about two months into the school year, the clinking noise significantly slowed.
Looking back, I know my intent was genuine, but the effectiveness was hit and miss. Mike Anderson, the author of Tackling the Motivation Crisis, points out what’s wrong with these types of incentives. “As it turns out, in the world of motivation, the use of extrinsic motivators can lead to counterintuitive results…You have to keep offering more and more ‘class bucks’ to get kids to clean up the room, and be kind to each other as the year goes on” (p. 10-11).
Anderson compels educators to break the cycle and create school experiences that allow students to be self-motivated. “That is what this book is about…learn the three key steps we need to make this happen” (p. 8). Stop. Tap. Teach.
Stop Incentivizing Students.
Tap into Students’ Intrinsic Motivators.
Teach Students Skills of Self-Management.
In each chapter, Anderson references personal experiences and evidence-informed research on intrinsic motivation and why it is an important life skill for our students. He gives the reader insights on what practices to consider removing even though “these systems feel productive” (p. 39) and what “strategies to teach…as a starting point” (p. 81) for self-motivational and self-management. Finally, how teachers and leaders can “ditch the incentives, but keep the fun stuff” (p. 143).
I wish I could go back to those beginning days as a teacher and have a “do-over,” and I am sure I am not the only educator who has said that. Although I can do better as a leader, learner, and advocate who inspires students’ intrinsic motivation, moving forward knowing better.
