Chapter 16: Too Good To Last: The Short But Inspiring Career of an Autonomy-Supportive English Teacher

When it comes to motivating students to learn, the current climate of education often favors power tactics, and pressure from without. The ambient talk is about “high stakes” evaluations, sanctions, rewards, and accountability. “Tough” educators are celebrated with presidential awards, and schools are increasingly becoming places for drill and testing rather than discovery and growth. Perhaps some find emotional satisfaction in thinking one can “make” unmotivated students work merely by exerting adult control and power. But in reality, controlling, strong-arm tactics are typically a fast track to losing rather than retaining students, and while at best they can foster surface compliance, they have clear costs in terms of the quality of students learning (Ryan & Brown, 2005; Ryan & LaGuardia, 1999).