Daniel Pink was recently interviewed on a local Washington, D.C. television show along with a local university official. You watch it all here, but I thought the few minutes he spent discussing the role of grades, autonomy and inquiry in education to be particularly thought-provoking. I used Tube Chop to “chop” those two brief segments and have them embedded below. I don’t know if they will come through on an RSS Readers, so you might have to click through to my blog in order to view them.
I’m adding this post to My Best Posts On “Motivating” Students.
Larry, thanks for posting these. So important for education professionals to understand the difference between performance goals and learning goals. If we could understand the distinctions between these, we could really improve student learning. I’m sure most ed pros think they’re school/classes join performance and learning goals, but if they were to set up authentic/real-world situations for students to demonstrate learning, they might find their performance measures – the “grades” they hand out – might not be appropriate.
Good stuff.
Daniel Pink is so right about students internalizing and recalling skills through actual application to their own lives and interests. Teachers who encourage purposeful and authentic uses of the facts and skills they’re teaching will much more likely engage their students, and ensure the carry through of skills to life long use. Thanks for posting these, Larry!