A primary example of this is seen in the institutionalized education system. All children start out with a natural curiosity about the world they live in. They are sponges looking to soak up everything they can. Flash forward eighteen years, and most young adults are jaded towards forced learning, accepting it as a necessary evil in order to get a good job and succeed in the world.
So what happened?
Authors of these and similar books would say that we have set up a system that utilizes extrinsic rewards to such an extent that it results in the destruction of children’s natural desire to learn. Grades, gold stars, award ceremonies, and prizes are all extrinsic rewards that take the focus off of learning for learning’s sake (engagement), and reward students for giving teachers exactly what they want (compliance).
There have been fascinating studies where children who love to draw or read are given prizes for completing a certain number of drawings or books. When offered prizes, the children initially begin to draw/read faster, but soon become disengaged; they will complete the task to get the reward and then stop. The extrinsic reward has removed the love of the activity.
Sadly, we are creating generations of workers who are great at following instructions and being compliant, but terrible at engaging and enjoying their work. Children learn early on that the way to “succeed” in school is to regurgitate the information without actually understanding it (cramming an hour before a test just to forget it as soon as it’s over), keep your head down, and follow the rules. This results in a homogenized (read: easily replaceable) workforce. Those rare students who do seem to enjoy learning for learning’s sake are ostracized as nerds or suck-ups.
The current system of institutionalized learning in our country is the primary factor in our decision to homeschool our children. We plan to help keep our kids engaged by letting them learn about what interests them, allowing knowledge be its own reward.
*check out Drive by Daniel Pink, Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely, Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt, Linchpin by Seth Godin, and The Unschooling Handbook by Mary Griffith.