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The other day, I stumbled upon Tiffanie Wen’s article on BBC Worklife, “Things that do – and don’t – motivate kids to succeed” and something within it sparked an inferno of irritation.
The piece isn’t all bad. It acknowledges the significance of intrinsically (self) motivated learning and the role of external (extrinsic) motivators in helping children achieve their own goals, even when the journey involves less enjoyable tasks like exams. It even acknowledges that pressure from outside can undermine any intrinsic motivation a person already has – it can make you less motivated!
However, one of the interviewed experts, Adam Tyner (from Thomas B. Fordham Institute, USA) was quoted “I’m sceptical that for most adolescent schoolwork, especially in difficult and technical subjects like maths, there is much student intrinsic motivation we need to worry about undermining.”
He’s basically saying there’s no need to worry about undermining self-motivation for school work by rewarding children, especially in technical subjects, because that kind of motivated learning doesn’t exist.
This statement carries three infuriating assumptions:
- Children lack intrinsic motivation for difficult tasks. i.e. they can’t be arsed to do anything vaguely difficult.
- Maths and other technical subjects are inherently more challenging than all other topics out there.
- Whether they want to or not, children must be forced/coerced into engaging with the school curriculum.
I feel this does our kids a disservice. So, buckle up as I takedown these three assumptions and explain why they’re utterly wrong.
Assumption 1: Children don’t like to do difficult things
I’m calling bullshit on the argument that children don’t like to do difficult or technical things. I have seen with my own eyes – and I’m sure all of you have too!
For example:
- Children working through complicated instructions to build a model or kit toy
- Children figuring out how to code on their own in order to mod their favourite computer games
- Children who play with sequences of numbers or colours because the patterns are satisfying
- Children who teach themselves to edit Tiktok videos
- Children practising something again and again until they get it right, whether that’s drawing a hand, doing a tricky dance or playing a complicated piece of music on the piano
- Children that learn to skate and work at truly terrifying (to me anyway!) tricks
Children LOVE doing difficult and challenging things. People love doing difficult things. It feels amazing when you set your mind to something that requires real effort to achieve and you nail it.
Perhaps what are often thought of as “lazy” people (we’ll address that word in another post), may be partly a product of them being constantly forced in to doing things that sap their energy and lust for life.
Where do so many kids learn that maths is hard?
At school.
Assumption 2: Maths & technical subjects are difficult (and others are not)
Is learning how to calculate the volume of a cylinder inherently more difficult than learning how to craft a quality story, or how to paint a portrait, or how to argue your point of view in a debate?
I don’t think so.
In fact, in my own experience of being a child at school, the technical, mathematical stuff was easy – it was the other stuff that was challenging.
But we already decided that ‘difficult’ or ‘challenging’ isn’t a bad thing. So let’s use the word ‘hard’ instead.
You know what makes something hard?
Not wanting to do it.
Resistance!
Where do so many kids learn that maths is hard?
At school.
When it stops being about exploration and starts being about grades or passing a test.
When it stops being play and starts being about achieving a target set by someone else on your behalf.
When you have to learn information or skills for the sake of it, not because it’s relevant to your immediate life or because you enjoy it.
When it’s not self-motivated learning – it’s enforced learning. THAT is hard! It’s shit and feels completely pointless.
The other thing that makes learning hard – having to stop what you are doing because a bell rings. When you’re just getting your head around a concept, you’re finding your flow and have to tidy away all those thoughts to refocus on another teacher’s agenda. Then you’ve got to somehow try and recover that train of thought in a few days’ time and you’re expected to retain everything.
Maybe you’ve had a similar experience?
When I’m really getting to grips with something, I want to keep doing it. For hours. Until I have internalised it and it won’t disappear when I let go.
When I was a kid I spent a whole day tying shoe laces. A whole day!
Then BOOM!! I could do it.
I used to spend hours and hours practising handstands and cartwheels. These days I’m learning how to build complex mathematical models – I block out my calendar and deep dive for hours at a time. My husband Miles says “it’s like looking at The Matrix”.
Difficulty is subjective, it varies from person to person. The things you find hard are usually those things that you don’t want to do or don’t have control over how you do it.
Assumption 3: It doesn’t matter what the children actually want to do
Why are schools and parents forcing children to learn stuff they are not intrinsically motivated to learn?
At my previous job, I was able to talk to my managers about my particular strengths or areas that I wanted to develop in and was able to take on work that aligned with that. A point came where I felt that I needed to do something different. I got a different job.
Children in school can’t do that. They are stuck in a system with little to fuck all flexibility.
Sure they can pick a handful of subjects they want to learn (at 14!!), but almost all the learning is set out for them and restricted to what’s on the curriculum. They can’t explore other elements that interest them at school (apparently the best place for learning), there’s no time!
The possibility of home educating or alternative provisions is NEVER mentioned. Think of the funding the schools would lose! So as far as a typical child is concerned, they can’t leave – attendance is compulsory with the threat of fines to parents and dire consequences for their future.
And why? There are schools here in the UK (Summerhill), in the US (Sudbury Valley) where students are completely in control of their own learning. So much so that they can elect to fire the Principle!
Children… no… PEOPLE thrive when they have autonomy over their lives.
The UK Government describes the National Curriculum as “a set of subjects and standards used by primary and secondary schools so children learn the same things. It covers what subjects are taught and the standards children should reach in each subject.”
There is a whole world of knowledge and skill out there. Some of it is brand new and completely off the radar of schools. Why does each child need to consume and digest the same narrow slice of the knowledge pie? And why do they need to learn it all now?
Who decides what knowledge and skills are valuable and what is not?
Why are their opinions more important than those of the child?
Whose agenda does this serve?
I don’t have the answers to all of this but I feel a real sense of unease when pondering these questions. I’m sure the powers that be think the decisions they make are for the best. But it’s easy to measure successes against a set criteria that has been determined by someone or a system with an agenda. What is more challenging to do is consider the costs of this “success”.
The price of pushing kids to learn against their will
Consider this scenario… you have a job and are forced to carry out roles that you dislike and don’t align with your strengths and ambitions. Now imagine you can’t leave. What impact would that have on you? On your employer? On your family? On society?
Your mental health will suffer.
You may dread going to work.
You may begin to feel inadequate and identify as a failure because you just can’t do the thing you are being told you must be able to do.
The frustration of being pulled away from the things you can do well and enjoy may build from anger to Michael-Douglas-in-90s-movie-Falling-Down-level rage.
Your employer and clients aren’t getting the best of you.
Your family isn’t getting the best of you.
Society isn’t getting the best of you.
YOU aren’t getting the best of you.
Now apply this to our children and consider:
- The budding storytellers that never write a novel because they are told to stop daydreaming and concentrate on algebra.
- The curious thinkers and problem solvers that instead learn that there’s no time for “off-topic” questions and that rote learning is what gets results.
- The musicians that want to spend hours and hours honing their skills but instead are forced to spend literally years of their life sitting in classrooms where they can’t even concentrate on the materials being taught.
What would happen if children did have autonomy over what they learn?
The storyteller will still learn to read and write, because it will be important to what they want to do. They will learn enough maths for what they need – they’ll still need to cook, budget, pay taxes. They will learn about history and perhaps go deep into science fiction – they’ll carry out research of times gone by and what the world might become to flesh out their fiction.
The curious thinkers will follow their thoughts deep down a rabbit hole, leading who knows where. A question about why things are lighter on the moon may lead to questioning gravity and to a career in quantum physics. Maybe even a breakthrough discovery. Reading and writing scientific journals may become leisure-like activities for them. Complex maths will be beaming out of their eyeballs. .
The musicians will travel the world. Perhaps virtually, by playing music of artists from all-over, reading and learning about their history and culture. Perhaps in real life too, performing in concerts around the world, experiencing cultures for themselves. Their social skills will improve tenfold with the teamwork of playing in bands. Maybe they’ll end up facilitating someone else’s career forming a record label or becoming a talent manager, using the connections, knowledge, skills they’ve acquired over time.
Maybe other autonomous self-directed learners would learn a trade, start a business, chose to serve others as a carer. Perhaps they’ll be content with a simple life full of joy.
Whether they end up being ‘big achievers’ or not, I reckon they’ll feel happier.
Numerous studies have gathered evidence to suggest that society thrives when individuals can leverage their strengths, discover their true passions, engage in intrinsically motivated learning, and share their unique contributions.
Assumptions are everywhere, hiding as truth
Above, I guided you through my thoughts on three assumptions.
Assumptions that were presented as truth.
That may or may not have been the intention, but by including it as a quote from an expert, the article certainly presents it in that way.
We hear so many statements like that and we blindly accept them. “Oh yeah, it makes sense that kids don’t want to learn it, so they must need external motivation to make them do it”. Whether it’s a carrot or a stick is rarely up to the child.
Lets ask questions…
Let’s question the things we read and hear and consider what that actually means for us and our society.
Far too many of us have been taught to accept what “authority figures” say as fact. In some ways it’s an evolutionary advantage to do so. But when it comes to things so fundamental to our life-long development it may be worth stopping to think for ourselves.
Let’s shake that off and encourage our children to do the same – even if that means they question us!
Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth
Albert Einstein
If you think about something and you’re happy with where those thoughts take you – it’s all good. But if you’re not – maybe something needs to change. That change starts with you. It doesn’t need to be huge. Even small changes accumulate over time.
My husband Miles and I continue to think deeply about this – we don’t send our children to school, that is the first change we’ve made. It won’t be the last.
We have this blog.
Our upcoming podcast about changing norms.
We’re working towards setting up spaces in the community where parents can work and children can follow their own interests with the help of adult facilitators.
We work on projects that provide us with a sense of fulfilment because intrinsically motivated learning works best for adults too!
Be curious.
Be the change YOU want to see in the world.
Footnotes:
There is evidence to support the idea that when individuals can leverage their strengths and engage in intrinsically motivated learning, they are more likely to be successful and contribute positively to society. Some of the evidence comes from research in positive psychology, motivation theory, and education.
- Positive Psychology: Research in positive psychology emphasizes the importance of focusing on individuals’ strengths and well-being. Studies have shown that people who use their strengths are more likely to be engaged, satisfied, and successful in their personal and professional lives (Seligman, Steen, Park, & Peterson, 2005).
- Motivation Theory: Self-Determination Theory (Deci & Ryan, 2000) posits that intrinsic motivation, or motivation that comes from within, is critical for individuals to achieve their full potential. When people are intrinsically motivated, they are more likely to be engaged, persistent, and successful in their pursuits.
- Education: Research in education supports the idea that students who are intrinsically motivated tend to perform better academically and have a more positive attitude toward learning (Ryan & Deci, 2000). Additionally, student-centered approaches to education, which focus on individual interests and strengths, have been shown to lead to better outcomes in terms of student engagement and achievement (Hattie, 2009).
References:
Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2000). The “what” and “why” of goal pursuits: Human needs and the self-determination of behavior. Psychological Inquiry, 11(4), 227-268.
Hattie, J. (2009). Visible learning: A synthesis of over 800 meta-analyses relating to achievement. Routledge.
Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2000). Intrinsic and extrinsic motivations: Classic definitions and new directions. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 25(1), 54-67.
Seligman, M. E. P., Steen, T. A., Park, N., & Peterson, C. (2005). Positive psychology progress: Empirical validation of interventions. American Psychologist, 60(5), 410-421.
Louise is an ex-teacher turned actuary and business owner who prioritizes living life on her own terms. Along with her husband Miles, she home educates and unschools their three young children, believing in empowering them to learn and grow in a way that aligns with their unique passions and interests. Louise co-founded Healthy, Curious …Occasionally Furious, a blog that inspires others to break free from societal expectations and norms – particularly in relation to education and family. In her free time, she enjoys running, reading, doodling, and is a whizz at spreadsheets and analysing numbers. Louise and Miles also run Cassette Property Group, a new property investment company that help others build assets and achieve financial freedom.