Education for Creativity: Motivation and Learning

This presentation explores motivation as it is related to teaching and to the workplace. As Yoshida et al., suggest, motivation is related to a variety of educational outcomes which include curiosity, persistence, motivation and performance (2008, p. 1401). As such it is an internal state that may be effected by external factors which in turn “arouse, direct and sustain behaviour” (Tan, 2009, p. 156). Motivation is also related to calibration. As Hallinan states, “Calibration measures the difference between actual and perceived ability. If you’re as good as you think you are, then you are said to be well calibrated. If you are not as good as you think you are, then you are said to be poorly calibrated” (Hallinan, 2009, p. 155). Consequently in the educational enterprise (or in any learning task) it is preferable that the learner starts of in a well calibrated condition. This will entail a reasonably realistic view of their learning competencies and be less likely to result in demotivation from negative feedback should these learning competencies by too widely calibrated. Secondly, a well calibrated individual is more likely to respond to the conditions of optimal motivation that are possible in the learning situation of a self-determined learner. Related to calibration is the fact that students and employees can be motivated when they do not perceive contingencies or opportunistic incentives or barriers between actions and outcomes (Yoshida et al., 2008, p. 1401). Diminution of autonomy may lead to mal-adaptive consequences (Deci, 1996, p. 31). Whilst in everyday life it serves as justification for service and job performance, morally it is not in itself self-justificatory. In the teaching context, Gardner and Lambert (1972) describe motivation as persistence that is shown by teachers and learners in the learning environment towards achieving a learning goal. In both the teaching and business context a distinction can be made between intrinsic motivation (behaviour for its own sake) and extrinsic motivation (behaviour as a means to some external reward) (Bektas-Cetinkaya and Oruc, 2011, p. 72).