Ah-hah! This is the first time I've seen results of motivation research. For rote tasks, use the carrot-and-stick approach. For complex tasks, pay enough to take money off the table as an issue, then promote autonomy, mastery, and purpose.
How does this translate to education? Here's how I translate it...
For trainers: Link compensation to trainee performance on a paced, standardized curriculum.
For trainees: Link compensation to good output measured against quotas.
For teachers: Unlink compensation from student performance on a paced, standardized curriculum, then promote teacher autonomy in the classroom, self-directed development of mastery for teachers, and autonomous, self-directed learners as the goal of teaching.
For students: Provide enough success to take grades off the table as an issue, then promote autonomy in learning, self-directed development in the student's desired area of mastery, and learning to learn as the goal.
It's no wonder we're not seeing the results we want from education reform. We've set up the incentives to motivate rote learning and to reward drudgery, not to develop lifelong learners.
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