Over the summer, one of the books from my reading list was Daniel Pink’s Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us.

The book explores what motivates people and looks at three key elements of motivation – autonomy, mastery and purpose. Rather than review the book, I would like to share a few key thoughts that resonated with me:

• “Rewards, we’ve seen, can limit the breadth of our thinking. But extrinsic motivators… can also reduce the depth of our thinking.” (p. 56)
• “…school-children who are paid to solve problems typically choose easier problems and therefore learn less.” (p. 58)
• “…positive feedback can have an enhancing effect on intrinsic motivation.” (p. 67)
• “A sense of autonomy has a powerful effect on individual performance and attitude.” (p. 90)
• “…what people believe shapes what people achieve.” (p. 120 – credited to Carol Dweck).

The book has many ideas that are relevant to schools, and would make for great discussion topics among teachers and parents alike.

I recommend you read this book. For those of you who are more into video learning, RSA Animate has created interesting video on Drive  that you might like to view.

I encourage you to find out what motivates yourself, and what motivates your children.

Take care.