Chapter 1 - A Primer on Innovation
"My research, work as an educator, and experience as a parent suggest that there are three interrelated elements to intrinsic motivation: play, passion, and purpose." (p. 26)
I believe this quote succinctly sums up the authors main purpose for writing the book: in order to create innovators, we must foster deep intrinsic motivation which stems from play, passion and purpose. This quote also speaks to me personally because I often pondered the best way to develop intrinsic motivation in my players during my coaching years, and in my sailors while in the fleet. I think the author's premise interesting, and certainly worth pondering for anyone looking to help others develop intrinsic motivation.
Question: Can everyone be an innovator? To follow that up, is innovation something we are born with, or is it taught?
Connection: As I alluded to earlier, I have pondered the idea of intrinsic motivation for some time, since high school water polo coach introduced the concept to us. From that time, I've seen the motivation within myself to succeed despite odds numerous times, but that motivation certainly flagged from time to time if I failed to believe in my work. In others, the same seems to hold true. If my sailors believed in the mission, they would carry out their duty with far more spirit and motivation than if they did not. I would then conjecture that we as humans need to believe in what we do, or intrinsic motivation will fail to surface.
Epiphany: For me, this can manifest in helping my students understand why we are doing the things we do in class. Even if I set up an environment for students to play and experiment, they will need to understand why these activities are important. Perhaps the author's idea of helping students realize their purpose could help immensely as well. Will everyone be passionate about mathematics? Maybe if the mathematics students work with is broad and beautiful.
Chapter 2 - Portrait of the Innovator as a Young Man
"Most conventional high school and college academic courses share three fundamental cultural traits that are radically at odds with the culture in Ed [Carryer]'s classes: First, they reward individual competition and achievement versus Ed's focus on teamwork; second, traditional academic classes are organized to communicate and test very specific subject content expertise versus the problem-based, multidisciplinary approach in Ed's classes; third conventional classes rely heavily on extrinsic incentives - grades and GPA - unlike Ed's, which rely more on the intrinsic incentives of exploration, empowerment, and play - or what Ed calls whimsy." (p. 57)
While a lengthy quote, I believe it gets to the heart of what drives innovative, intrinsically motivated learners and humans in general. This quote also brings in a new piece of the puzzle, teamwork, to the play, passion and purpose model.
Question: What can I do tomorrow as a teacher to implement a similar approach in my classroom?
Connection: My main connection comes from the author's mention of grades and GPA. Many children become obsessed with getting good grades and a high GPA, and for good reason under the current system. Without passing marks, students get stuck in the same remedial maths courses for years with no real prospect of attending college after high school. Further, external rewards serve more like training than facilitating a student's desire to learn on their own. When students receive a small bit of candy for behaving, what will they do when there's no one around to notice and give that candy?
Epiphany: I think the best thing I can do to help my students, given this chapter, would be to include more group projects and problems that truly require collaboration and multiple perspectives to succeed. Additionally, I can promote a process for students to make individual work their own and related to their interests. This could include a 20 time project, but not necessarily. For example, instead of introducing variables using a set of pre-defined letters and numbers, I could allow my students to create variables and manipulate variables that interest them.
Citations:
Wagner, T., & Compton, R. A. (2012). Creating innovators: The making of young people who will change the world. New York: Scribner.
"My research, work as an educator, and experience as a parent suggest that there are three interrelated elements to intrinsic motivation: play, passion, and purpose." (p. 26)
I believe this quote succinctly sums up the authors main purpose for writing the book: in order to create innovators, we must foster deep intrinsic motivation which stems from play, passion and purpose. This quote also speaks to me personally because I often pondered the best way to develop intrinsic motivation in my players during my coaching years, and in my sailors while in the fleet. I think the author's premise interesting, and certainly worth pondering for anyone looking to help others develop intrinsic motivation.
Question: Can everyone be an innovator? To follow that up, is innovation something we are born with, or is it taught?
Connection: As I alluded to earlier, I have pondered the idea of intrinsic motivation for some time, since high school water polo coach introduced the concept to us. From that time, I've seen the motivation within myself to succeed despite odds numerous times, but that motivation certainly flagged from time to time if I failed to believe in my work. In others, the same seems to hold true. If my sailors believed in the mission, they would carry out their duty with far more spirit and motivation than if they did not. I would then conjecture that we as humans need to believe in what we do, or intrinsic motivation will fail to surface.
Epiphany: For me, this can manifest in helping my students understand why we are doing the things we do in class. Even if I set up an environment for students to play and experiment, they will need to understand why these activities are important. Perhaps the author's idea of helping students realize their purpose could help immensely as well. Will everyone be passionate about mathematics? Maybe if the mathematics students work with is broad and beautiful.
Chapter 2 - Portrait of the Innovator as a Young Man
"Most conventional high school and college academic courses share three fundamental cultural traits that are radically at odds with the culture in Ed [Carryer]'s classes: First, they reward individual competition and achievement versus Ed's focus on teamwork; second, traditional academic classes are organized to communicate and test very specific subject content expertise versus the problem-based, multidisciplinary approach in Ed's classes; third conventional classes rely heavily on extrinsic incentives - grades and GPA - unlike Ed's, which rely more on the intrinsic incentives of exploration, empowerment, and play - or what Ed calls whimsy." (p. 57)
While a lengthy quote, I believe it gets to the heart of what drives innovative, intrinsically motivated learners and humans in general. This quote also brings in a new piece of the puzzle, teamwork, to the play, passion and purpose model.
Question: What can I do tomorrow as a teacher to implement a similar approach in my classroom?
Connection: My main connection comes from the author's mention of grades and GPA. Many children become obsessed with getting good grades and a high GPA, and for good reason under the current system. Without passing marks, students get stuck in the same remedial maths courses for years with no real prospect of attending college after high school. Further, external rewards serve more like training than facilitating a student's desire to learn on their own. When students receive a small bit of candy for behaving, what will they do when there's no one around to notice and give that candy?
Epiphany: I think the best thing I can do to help my students, given this chapter, would be to include more group projects and problems that truly require collaboration and multiple perspectives to succeed. Additionally, I can promote a process for students to make individual work their own and related to their interests. This could include a 20 time project, but not necessarily. For example, instead of introducing variables using a set of pre-defined letters and numbers, I could allow my students to create variables and manipulate variables that interest them.
Citations:
Wagner, T., & Compton, R. A. (2012). Creating innovators: The making of young people who will change the world. New York: Scribner.