Most of us would protest that of course we love our children without any strings attached. But what counts is how things look from the perspective of the children.
If unconditional love and genuine enthusiasm are present, praise isn’t necessary. If they’re absent, praise won’t help.
We learn most readily, most naturally, most effectively, when we start with the big picture – precisely when the basics don’t come first.
The Legacy of Behaviorism: Do this and you’ll get that.
If faculty would relax their emphasis on grades, this might serve not to lower standards but to encourage an orientation toward learning.
Grades dilute the pleasure that a student experiences on successfully completing a task.
In education, parody is obsolete.
There are different kinds of motivation, and the kind matters more than the amount.
Assessments should compare the performance of students to a set of expectations, never to the performance of other students.
Maximum difficulty isn’t the same as optimal difficulty.
We can’t value only what is easy to measure; measurable outcomes may be the least important results of learning.
Contrary to what you think, your company will be a lot more productive if you refuse to tolerate competition among your employees.
To control students is to force them to accommodate to a preestablished curriculum.
When we do things that are controlling, whether intentional or not, we are not going to get those long-term outcomes.
To feel controlled is to lose interest.
How can we do our best when we are spending our energies trying to make others lose – and fearing that they will make us lose?
What can we surmise about the likelihood of someone’s being caring and generous, loving and helpful, just from knowing that they are a believer? Virtually nothing, say psychologists, sociologists, and others who have studied that question for decade.
The race to win turns us all into losers.
If rewards do not work, what does? I recommend that employers pay workers well and fairly and then do everything possible to help them forget about money. A preoccupation with money distracts everyone – employers and employees – from the issues that really matter.
Those who know they’re valued irrespective of their accomplishments often end up accomplishing quite a lot. It’s the experience of being accepted without conditions that helps people develop a healthy confidence in themselves, a belief that it’s safe to take risks and try new things.
John Dewey reminded us that the value of what students do ’resides in its connection with a stimulation of greater thoughtfulness, not in the greater strain it imposes.