Return to the John G. Nicholls Trust
Page
Flow,
Complexity, and Goals:
Motivational
Practice with At-Risk Students
Matthew J. DiCintio
Assistant Professor, Education and Psychology
Sandra Dixon
Coordinating English Teacher, Partners for Success Program
Abstract
It is
commonly assumed that at-risk students view school learning (if not all
learning) as an imposition rather than a fruitful aspect of living. Of course,
in order to understand fully the motives of students, we must understand the
motives endorsed by the context. In this way, we can more effectively evaluate
the role and responsibility of the system that conceivably developed, fostered,
and perpetuated such a view of learning. Over the period of one academic year,
we investigated motivational practices in an alternative education program. We
videotaped lessons in four different classrooms. The tapes were transcribed,
and motivational practice was categorized into two large themes: learning is
living and learning is an imposition (Nicholls, McKenzie, and Shufro, 1994). More specifically, within each theme we
sorted evidence of complexity (Csikszentmihalyi,
1994) and self-determination (Deci, 1996). Learning
as living classrooms balanced integrating and differentiating student
experiences and provided autonomy support. Students in learning as living
classrooms reported feeling less bored, more intrinsically motivated, and more
differentiated than in learning as an imposition classrooms. Student interviews
and videotaped data also support the major themes and categories.
In
addition to videotapes of motivational practice, the motivational beliefs of
the teachers were obtained during teacher meetings and interviews prior to and
during the school year. Further, the teachers provided personal reflections
upon watching each videotaped lesson. The teachers, common in their espoused
motivational beliefs, created uncommonly distinct motivational climates. We
found that underlying beliefs about motivating students did not evidence
themselves in motivational practice. Furthermore, the teachers’ personal
reflections on their teaching reflected motivational beliefs but were, again,
rarely evidenced in motivational practice. In belief, all the teachers
supported a learning is living approach to motivation. Only one teacher
maintained continuity between motivational belief, practice, and reflection. We
conclude that the greatest threat to students’ views of learning is not the
lack of appropriate motivational knowledge on the part of the teacher; the
greatest challenges are those factors that mediate or impede a teacher’s
decision or ability to execute that knowledge. Believing that learning is
living but showing that learning is an imposition is a dangerous role for
education to play in the development of at-risk students. Motivational research
can increase its meaningfulness and applicability by focusing on “why”
teachers’ motivational beliefs and goals are not transformed into practice.