Three weeks into my 12×12 project seems like a good time to consider my progress (and lack of progress).
In terms of numbers, I am doing pretty well. I am on track in almost every category, the exceptions being:
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Folding, where I am still practicing with models that will finally be to my satisfaction, and
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Remembering…I haven’t even begun memorizing the first poem yet.
But this has been the easy part. The hard part is about to begin as the new semester of classes gets going in earnest and work travel and all the effort associated with that begins to kick in as well.
One thing that’s ever clearer as I pursue these projects each year is the very real value of extrinsic motivation. In educational circles, extrinsic rewards are spoken of dismissively if not disparagingly, as a relic of less-enlightened educational times.
I understand where those feelings come from…like any easy to understand but limited pedagogical method, using extrinsic motivators is accordingly easy to abuse. But our dismissal of them should be considered in light of two important factors:
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They work for some people. There’s a reason such motivators have been used so regularly…they can work, at least for some people. They’ve always worked relatively well for me. Shallow behaviorism? Perhaps. But unknowingly learning while engaged in activities for other reasons–if not actively learning in spite of oneself–is a common way we learn.
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It’s all relative. I’ve do doubt that intrinsic motivators are stronger and lead to better learning outcomes. But often our choice isn’t between the ideal or not, but about something that is simply, in context, better. I’m sure that every activity I engage in as part of my 12×12 project would be of higher quality if I loved every second of it for my own reasons. But the fact is, I don’t wake up every morning or sit at my desk at night thinking how great it is going to be to read when I’m tired or go to the gym when I’m sore or write in my journal when I could mindlessly surf the web. In those times–and for me they are a regular feature of life–the extrinsic motivation helps.
The fact is, there are times I can force myself to go to the gym or bring out the notebook only because I want to achieve that project goal or I don’t want my progress to slip. Maybe that seems a little ridiculous, but the effect is real and I’m not going to question the intrinsic motivation too much while I benefit from it. I’d rather dance when nobody is watching, but if sometimes knowing they are watching is what allows me to dance, I’ll take it. I know people who subscribe to the notion I used to, that tasks performed for reasons other than an inner-drive to complete them were suspect…and that in the arts they were a sure sign of one’s failure or lack of suitability for that art. It’s taken me a long time to figure out that the world is less black and white than that (or to rationalize my compromise).
And having some kind of overall plan/project is helpful for meaningfully filling in the little empty spaces of the day that I often end up wasting. It’s interesting that despite having an incredible number of things to do I am conveniently able to forget them at the moment…
