Drive!
Daniel Pink TED Talk
Daniel Pink, in his book Drive, notes that there are three keys to internal motivation: 1) autonomy, 2) mastery, and 3) purpose. I have read this book several times and this experience has been both enlightening and affirming for me as a musician and as a teacher. I have always said that micro-mangers kill initiative and can bring an entire school to a halt. This books clearly illuminates how this management style violates this key area #1-autonomy. In addition, I have found that numerous edicts and mandates from the state-level of management has an equally negative effect on the energy of teachers and students, alike. As we lead others, we need to find ways to embrace this principal of autonomy to spark motivation and the collective energy of a group. For me as a music teacher, I have developed a curriculum that allows the students the autonomy to proceed as fast and as far as they choose to each year. The underpinning of this principal is, TRUST. If we trust that our students and our employees will strive to produce their best work, if given the opportunity, we can unleash the power of this internal engine. I found that great managers and leaders extended trust and set high standards and, rather than assume everyone cannot be trusted, these managers only focus on those individuals who fail to me the standards.
MASTERY is a confusing and elusive word that is often overused in education. To me, mastery means: achieving a level of success that produces a confident and consistent level of performance. As a student, and as adults, we need to remember that our learning and growing is like the universe, always expanding. Once a certain level of mastery is achieved, students can often become complacent and the internal engine will actually slow down. This leveling-off of our growth is avoided by constantly finding new challenges to embrace and tackle. I tell my students, "The old hard becomes the new easy." To look at this issue another way, failure to make progress at any task can be the single greatest inhibitor to internal motivation. It is our responsibility to ensure that our students achieve genuine success at everything skill/concept we present them and then scaffold that success with a new attainable challenge. I also teach what I call, THE FUN CYCLE. The Fun Cycle states: 1) you learn something new, 2) you work hard at learning this new skill, 3) you start to have more fun, therefore, 4) you work even harder and begin to have even more FUN. The underpinning of this principal is consistent and genuine growth and an ever-growing sense of confidence.
For me as a music teacher, PURPOSE, is easy to teach, because the students have elected to join my class and are often already motivated to embrace why you should learn a musical experience. I have, however, seen students lose sight of the purpose behind why they elected to learn a musical instrument. Sometimes, it is because they have not formed the sense of belonging to something bigger than themselves. Sometimes, it is because the need to learn a musical instrument is being superseded by another activity. Occasionally, the blame falls at the feet of the leader, who has failed to consistently articulate the goals of the group and what it means to belong to the group. Regardless, the result is the same: a student begins to drift away from music. Every teacher, at some point, has heard the fatal words, "Why do we need to learn this information?"If the answer is, "Because the state mandates this learning." Or even worse, "Because I said so!" While compliance will occur with many students, active learning and passion disappear. For me the underpinning of this internal drive is, PASSION. The greater the purpose the stronger the passion.
I hope that some of you may find this information helpful as we push toward the end of another school year and begin the cycle again in the near future. I encourage you to reflect on what "motivates: you and connect these principals of autonomy, mastery and purpose to your endeavors.
Daniel Pink, in his book Drive, notes that there are three keys to internal motivation: 1) autonomy, 2) mastery, and 3) purpose. I have read this book several times and this experience has been both enlightening and affirming for me as a musician and as a teacher. I have always said that micro-mangers kill initiative and can bring an entire school to a halt. This books clearly illuminates how this management style violates this key area #1-autonomy. In addition, I have found that numerous edicts and mandates from the state-level of management has an equally negative effect on the energy of teachers and students, alike. As we lead others, we need to find ways to embrace this principal of autonomy to spark motivation and the collective energy of a group. For me as a music teacher, I have developed a curriculum that allows the students the autonomy to proceed as fast and as far as they choose to each year. The underpinning of this principal is, TRUST. If we trust that our students and our employees will strive to produce their best work, if given the opportunity, we can unleash the power of this internal engine. I found that great managers and leaders extended trust and set high standards and, rather than assume everyone cannot be trusted, these managers only focus on those individuals who fail to me the standards.
MASTERY is a confusing and elusive word that is often overused in education. To me, mastery means: achieving a level of success that produces a confident and consistent level of performance. As a student, and as adults, we need to remember that our learning and growing is like the universe, always expanding. Once a certain level of mastery is achieved, students can often become complacent and the internal engine will actually slow down. This leveling-off of our growth is avoided by constantly finding new challenges to embrace and tackle. I tell my students, "The old hard becomes the new easy." To look at this issue another way, failure to make progress at any task can be the single greatest inhibitor to internal motivation. It is our responsibility to ensure that our students achieve genuine success at everything skill/concept we present them and then scaffold that success with a new attainable challenge. I also teach what I call, THE FUN CYCLE. The Fun Cycle states: 1) you learn something new, 2) you work hard at learning this new skill, 3) you start to have more fun, therefore, 4) you work even harder and begin to have even more FUN. The underpinning of this principal is consistent and genuine growth and an ever-growing sense of confidence.
For me as a music teacher, PURPOSE, is easy to teach, because the students have elected to join my class and are often already motivated to embrace why you should learn a musical experience. I have, however, seen students lose sight of the purpose behind why they elected to learn a musical instrument. Sometimes, it is because they have not formed the sense of belonging to something bigger than themselves. Sometimes, it is because the need to learn a musical instrument is being superseded by another activity. Occasionally, the blame falls at the feet of the leader, who has failed to consistently articulate the goals of the group and what it means to belong to the group. Regardless, the result is the same: a student begins to drift away from music. Every teacher, at some point, has heard the fatal words, "Why do we need to learn this information?"If the answer is, "Because the state mandates this learning." Or even worse, "Because I said so!" While compliance will occur with many students, active learning and passion disappear. For me the underpinning of this internal drive is, PASSION. The greater the purpose the stronger the passion.
I hope that some of you may find this information helpful as we push toward the end of another school year and begin the cycle again in the near future. I encourage you to reflect on what "motivates: you and connect these principals of autonomy, mastery and purpose to your endeavors.
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