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What exactly is extrinsic motivation…and why is it so
prevalent in education? Here’s
what a couple of experts have to say:
"Extrinsic motivation is motivation to engage in
an activity as a means to an end. Individuals who are extrinsically motivated
work on tasks because they believe that participation will result in desirable
outcomes such as a reward, teacher praise, or avoidance of punishment."
--Paul R Pintrich & Dale H. Schunk, Motivation in Education
"One thing I have learned as I visit schools and talk
to teachers is that most teachers prefer to use outer motivational resources.
Many teachers hold pessimistic attitudes about the utility or even the wisdom of
motivating students via inner motivational resources. There is something there
that teachers simply do not trust. Behind this mistrust I hear three reasons.
First, some teachers actually do not want a theory of motivation; rather they
want a theory of performance. …Second, many teachers prefer to take a
short-term, moment-to-moment approach to motivation instead of a longer term
developmental approach…. Third, teachers find motivation via inner
motivational resources to be suspicious because it does not correspond to how
others motivate them." --Johnmarshall Reeve, Motivating Others
--Skip Downing, Facilitator, On Course
Workshop Skip@OnCourseWorkshop.com
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