Drive

In his book “Drive”, Daniel Pink discusses a variety of topics centered around what motivates people, including the (in)effectiveness of extrinsic rewards, and the three essential elements of motivation: autonomy, mastery and purpose. IN summary, he explains “autonomy” as the desire to direct one’s own life, “mastery” as the urge to continue to get better at something that matters, and “purpose” as the desire to live a rich and rewarding life. The ideas from the book that I found to have the most meaning for me as a teacher is that intrinsic motivation comes from autonomy and the ability to direct one’s own life. In addition to that, extrinsic motivators are not always effective and can actually have negative impacts on motivation. When people set their own goals they are more motivated to achieve those goals. This, I believe, is why it is very important to give students autonomy and choice, and to allow them to set their own goals and have input into how they want to achieve those goals. I feel that if students have autonomy over their learning, they will be more successful in the classroom, as well as in their personal lives.