From: Subject: Enjoyment of learning crucial for students to excel Date: Wed, 8 Apr 2009 12:39:16 -0700 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/related; type="text/html"; boundary="----=_NextPart_000_006F_01C9B847.07C4B310" X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2900.5579 This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ------=_NextPart_000_006F_01C9B847.07C4B310 Content-Type: text/html; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Location: http://chronicle.uchicago.edu/940203/teens.shtml Enjoyment of learning crucial for students to = excel
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Feb. 3, 1994
Vol. 13, No. 11=20

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    Enjoyment of learning crucial for students to excel

    Gifted high school students thrive when their homes and = schools=20 provide a combination of challenges and emotional support that = helps=20 them feel a sense of "flow" when they are totally engaged in = their=20 talent area, research at the University shows.

    Students who achieve this "flow" find their work so = pleasurable that=20 they pursue it as a reward in itself, says Mihaly = Csikszentmihalyi,=20 Professor in Psychology. Csikszentmihalyi reports his findings = with=20 co-researchers Samuel Whalen, Sloan Foundation Fellow in = Education, and=20 Kevin Rathunde, assistant professor in family studies at the = University=20 of Utah, in the book "Talented Teenagers: The Roots of Success = and=20 Failure," published recently by Cambridge University Press.

    Csikszentmihalyi pioneered the flow theory of human behavior. = In=20 previous books he has developed the theory, which describes the=20 satisfaction people feel when they become challenged to use = their skills=20 to the utmost. In "Talented Teenagers," Csikszentmihalyi and his = colleagues apply flow theory for the first time to adolescent = talent=20 development. Many of their findings apply to a broad range of = students,=20 Csikszentmihalyi said.

    The researchers found that enjoyment plays a crucial role in = helping=20 students become interested in a talent area and stay with = it.

    "Unfortunately, many adults who have not been able to pursue = a=20 vocation that they enjoy will be reluctant to accept this = general=20 conclusion," the authors write. "They will tend to see interest = and=20 effort, and play and work, as separate realms because that is = how they=20 normally experience them.

    "Yet most people remember a time, no matter how brief, when = they were=20 swept along by a sense of effortless control, clarity and = concentration=20 on an enjoyable challenge. It may have happened on the athletic = field,=20 on a scout outing, or in a high school choir, but such moments = are often=20 enshrined in memory," they add.

    The authors gained an unusual understanding of how teenagers=20 experience their homes and schools by using a technique called=20 Experience Sampling Method (ESM). The researchers asked 200 high = school=20 students to wear beepers for a week at a time over a four-year = period.=20 The beepers went off at random times, and the students recorded = what=20 they were doing and thinking at those times.

    The researchers used the approach to study teenagers who were = gifted=20 in music, art, athletics, mathematics and science. They found = similar=20 characteristics in the home lives and classroom experiences of = most of=20 the students.

    The gifted students who were successful in developing and = sustaining=20 their talent came from what the researchers called "complex" = homes. In=20 these homes, two forces are present -- one pulling toward = stability,=20 encouraging students to be cooperative with the other family = members,=20 and one pushing the students to grow and change.

    "Often families are of one extreme or the other," = Csikszentmihalyi=20 said. "Parents at one end become so concerned about student = achievement=20 that they pay attention only to the long-term accomplishments = that come=20 as a result of their children taking music lessons or making = good=20 grades. The youngsters feel that they are being ignored for who = they are=20 outside those areas.

    "On the other hand, some parents do not pay enough attention = to=20 challenging their children, and accordingly the gifted students = in those=20 families do not achieve what they could," he added.

    The complex families produce children best equipped to face=20 challenges, the researchers found. "Complex family environments = breed=20 complex, autotelic personalities -- in other words, individuals = who=20 habitually react to a boring situation by seeking stimulation = and=20 challenge, and to an anxiety-provoking one by increasing = skills," they=20 write.

    Students were able to find flow experiences in the classroom = when=20 teachers created autotelic, or self-rewarding, environments for = them.=20 Teachers did this by nurturing their own interests in the = subjects they=20 taught and conveying an enthusiasm for learning about their = disciplines=20 to the students. They also minimized the pressures brought on by = competition, grades and needless rules and were flexible and = attentive=20 to the changing needs of their students.

    Good teachers for both gifted and non-gifted students ignored = prescribed formulas about what makes a model classroom, the = authors=20 found.

    "We assume that if the material is well-organized and = logically=20 presented, students will learn it. Nothing is further from the = fact.=20 Students will learn only if they are motivated. Unless a person = enjoys=20 the pursuit of knowledge, learning will remain a tool to be set = aside as=20 soon as it is no longer needed," they write.

    Although some of the students reported feeling challenged, = and=20 accordingly motivated, in their classrooms, most of them found = their=20 highest degree of engagement in extracurricular activities. = Their levels=20 of concentration zoomed when they were involved in sports or = music, data=20 gathered by the ESM approach showed.

    The students were eager to achieve in the extracurricular = areas=20 because participation was voluntary. In contrast, they had = difficulty=20 staying committed to required courses.

    Moreover, the researchers found differences in the internal = and=20 external rewards experienced by athletically, musically and = artistically=20 talented students and the rewards experienced by scientifically = and=20 mathematically gifted students. Those differences explain why = some=20 students stay involved in their talent areas and why some fall = away from=20 them, Csikszentmihalyi said.

    Gifted students need both internal and external rewards in = order to=20 stay motivated, the researchers found.

    Students with talents in athletics, music and art felt a = strong sense=20 of internal satisfaction from what they were doing but could = sustain=20 their interest only if they were able to discover external or = long-range=20 value in their talent area, Csikszentmihalyi said. For many of = these=20 students, the prospect of employment based on their gifts was = limited,=20 and accordingly their desire to continue their pursuit of talent = was=20 tempered.

    Talented mathematics and science students, on the other hand, = felt=20 more confident about the long-range rewards that would come to = them by=20 employment. But they were able to sustain their interest only if = they=20 discovered a joy in their talent area and accordingly could feel = an=20 internal reward for what they were studying, Csikszentmihalyi = said.

    The research findings about motivation in development of = talent apply=20 to non-gifted as well as gifted teenagers. Providing challenges = that=20 motivate students is an important task for all parents and = teachers, he=20 said.

    "As adults responsible for the growth of the next generation, = we=20 should know that we are not doing our jobs unless we provide = youth with=20 opportunities to live right -- that is, with chances to do their = best,"=20 the authors conclude. "A just society is one in which men and = women,=20 rich and poor, the gifted and the handicapped, have an equal = opportunity=20 to use and to increase all of their abilities, each according to = her or=20 his talents. We are still a long way away from reaching that = goal, but=20 every step we take in that direction will make life richer and = more=20 meaningful for all."

    -- William Harms

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