Chapter three was full of powerful ideas that still have my mind spinning days later!
In Langer's third chapter, she addresses the myth that in order for people to learn, they must delay gratification, working hard now to reap the benefits later. On its surface, the counter to this myth seems like it ought to be to make learning fun. But Langer dug deeper. Much deeper.
Langer considers the origin of the myth of delayed gratification and traces it back to the assumption that we live in a just world.
Good things come to those who wait.
This narrative is extremely pervasive in our society, and yet, there are no guarantees. A person might work and work and work and never achieve his or her anticipated reward. Or, perhaps he or she finally achieves the reward after years and years of work, only to find that it's not nearly as fantastic as anticipated. The myth of delayed gratification keeps the focus on anticipation of a potential reward (which may or may not ever come) rather than on enjoying the journey itself.
(On a very powerful side note, Langer asserts that from this myth, it's a slippery slope to the victim-blaming that plagues our society. Mind. Blown. But that's a topic for another post.)
To take a mindful approach, Langer suggests, would be to examine our mindset around various activities. She explains that few tasks are inherently work or play. It's how we view them--and the way our society frames them--that make them so. This means that "work" can be fun, and at times, "play" can become work.
So, what's an educator to do? How can we make the learning itself more gratifying?
Langer hints at a few ideas:
In Langer's third chapter, she addresses the myth that in order for people to learn, they must delay gratification, working hard now to reap the benefits later. On its surface, the counter to this myth seems like it ought to be to make learning fun. But Langer dug deeper. Much deeper.
Langer considers the origin of the myth of delayed gratification and traces it back to the assumption that we live in a just world.
Good things come to those who wait.
This narrative is extremely pervasive in our society, and yet, there are no guarantees. A person might work and work and work and never achieve his or her anticipated reward. Or, perhaps he or she finally achieves the reward after years and years of work, only to find that it's not nearly as fantastic as anticipated. The myth of delayed gratification keeps the focus on anticipation of a potential reward (which may or may not ever come) rather than on enjoying the journey itself.
(On a very powerful side note, Langer asserts that from this myth, it's a slippery slope to the victim-blaming that plagues our society. Mind. Blown. But that's a topic for another post.)
To take a mindful approach, Langer suggests, would be to examine our mindset around various activities. She explains that few tasks are inherently work or play. It's how we view them--and the way our society frames them--that make them so. This means that "work" can be fun, and at times, "play" can become work.
So, what's an educator to do? How can we make the learning itself more gratifying?
Langer hints at a few ideas:
- Remove the fear of negative evaluation. When we anticipate being tested on something, we tend to worry about our performance. This can lessen our enjoyment of learning and could negatively impact what we actually learn. Surely educators must assess and evaluate some, but our current testing culture seems counterproductive to true learning.
- Foster intrinsic motivation. Over time, external rewards may actually harm a person's drive to learn. The focus shifts from learning for learning's sake to learning as a means of achieving a reward. Educators must tap into and foster learners' intrinsic motivation in order to keep the focus on learning rather than some prize at the end.
- Allow for greater autonomy. Encouraging learners focus on those things that are most interesting to them may very well yield more enjoyable, more meaningful learning.
Langer, E. J. (2016). The Power of Mindful Learning. (2nd ed.) Boston, MA: Da Capo Press.