Session 5, Week 4
A quick search will pull up big figures associated with the motivation market. There is no end to speakers and products to help motivate and inspire us adults. Part of a learner driven community is simply an experiment in the motivation of young people. The most consistent answer I have found to the question, “What motivates young people?” is, “Make it matter to them.” When young people find their work meaningful, when it matters to them, it is beautiful to behold what happens!
In the Spark Studio uninspired assignments feel like a task list that encourages someone to fulfill the minimum requirements and move onto the next task. When it matters to them, learners are inspired to continue working past what was presented and they have ownership of what they create. Their imagination soars!
With a select number of supplies the heroes were given the challenge to create a costume to represent a specific occupation. Heroes were inventive and worked together to make the most of every second they had.
When it matters to them, motivation outweighs fear.
When heroes care about what they are learning, their questions are deep and meaningful. After a conversation with an Anaplastologist, heroes asked questions such as: “What would life be like without ears? Can you control the way you look? What if everyone made fun of the way you looked?”
When it matters to them, heroes help one another joyfully.
Character callouts are a favorite in the Spark Studio. They are one way for heroes to show one another that they matter to each other. With each character callout a centimeter cube is placed in the empty baby food jar. When the lid of the jar no longer fits, we choose a reward. Because the heroes previously came up with a list of rewards, (things such as extra snack time, book time, bring a toy to school, etc.) the reward matters. This week the lid did not fit on the jar. The excitement could be heard through the school!
When heroes care about what they are writing, they love to write. When learning about the Post Office this week, we wrote letters to ourselves. Look at what heroes chose to write!
Because there is a positive feedback loop between curiosity and learning, when it matters to them, when heroes are truly curious, learning might feel more like rocking out on stage.
Not only is it joyful, but studies show intrinsic motivation enhances learning and memory retention.
In the Fire Studio after an impassioned Socratic discussion with the Middle Schoolers about which sports are better to play, Fire Studio heroes had the opportunity to fill out their own March Madness bracket. Heroes could get guidance and encouragement from Middle School heroes, and all used their best handwriting to complete the bracket. The amount of focus and the quality of penmanship from many of the heroes that morning was remarkable! It was a great reminder that when something matters to the learner, the effort they invest and the outcomes they achieve both go up, almost automatically.
About a month ago, the Fire Studio evaluated where they wanted to be vs where they were regarding their studio culture. There were many places where they were VERY far off from where they wanted to be. They met together, brainstormed, and worked on some changes. We re-evaluated this week. It was beautiful to celebrate how much change they had enacted. Change in behavior is hard. It is amazing how relatively quick the heroes were able to bring about change in their studio when it mattered to them!
This week a group of heroes (all in the same business) gathered around a computer and engaged together to work on designs for their business. These heroes had chosen to learn how to use Canva, and were so proud with what they created. Creating and doing matters to the heroes.
Some heroes earned the opportunity to participate in a Leadership Retreat this weekend. Most of the retreat was a puzzle hunt (escape room). The heroes got stuck for a long time trying to figure out one or two of the puzzles, but eventually made it to the treasure chest filled with donuts and games. While they definitely enjoyed the donuts and games, what they talked about with the most fondness was: qualifying for the leadership retreat, and the parts they played in solving the puzzles! Doing hard things matters to the heroes.
Other heroes working on their own were surprised to find that they liked the more artistic side of business rather than the finance side. They found themselves in flow doing some of the Marketing & Advertising challenges, and were very proud of their accomplishment. Having choice in their work matters to the heroes.
In the Middle School, at the beginning of the year, a quiet and focused Core Skills was not the norm. These days, it is abnormal for Core Skills not to be a time of intense and focused flow. The heroes tried many different systems and set many different goals to try to bring about this change. But looking back, this change happened as soon as the heroes found work that mattered to them. Look at the different work each hero was focused on during Wednesday’s Core Skills.
At the end of Core Skills, I asked how many of them love what they are working on right now. Every hero raised their hand (although, as an addendum, one hero added that she loves 98% of what she works on – math is the remaining percentage 🙂 It is beautiful to behold what happens when it matters to them!
Sometimes it’s hard as guides to not want to ease the path of our heroes. If a hero seems aimless, we often want to jump in too soon with a predetermined direction and specific instructions for them. The first part of this quest included a good bit of scaffolding and specific direction. After reflecting on some of the core tenets of Acton’s philosophy we realized that the heroes needed the challenge of a more open-ended problem for the remainder of the session. The shift is subtle, but when the heroes know that their work is entirely their own, that the guide is indifferent, but and entirely uninvested in a particular outcome, creativity and teamwork flourish.
Looking back over the last 3 years, I think a lot of our systems and processes could have been simplified if we had focused on this one key – giving heroes the freedom to do the work that matters to them. Sometimes heroes don’t know right away what matters to them; sometimes they need to explore. Sometimes things matter to heroes for different reasons. What matters to each hero is as unique as the heroes themselves. And that’s why this experiment is so fun. Watching young people explore their interests, find what matters to them and fly with it, is truly a joyful process to witness. And a joyful process to experience!