David Wong: "The opposite of control: A Deweyan perspective on intrinsic motivation"
Many of the theories of motivation we have studied thus far have concentrated on the control of oneself as the basis of that motivation; for example, goal theory and attribution theory. David Wong sees control as important, but also posits that the opposite of control is a necessary complement. Wong defines the "opposite of control" as "the opening up and yielding to influences beyond one’s control."
Wong argues that Dewey’s work on aesthetics describes how the need for control and its opposite are necessary to elicit motivation. He shows how Dewey described that knowledge and meaning are constructed by an active, conscious mind. This is combined with intentional action and careful reflection. In addition to these two processes, there is also a third process that he states most educators are unaware of. This is the process of "undergoing." He defines this process as the "non-rational, non-controlling complement to doing and reflecting."
Dewey uses the Platonic ideal that some forms of meaning are inherent in situations. This meaning exists "independent of the individual’s interpretive viewpoint." Experience and knowledge is influenced by situations "outside" the subjective, thinking individual. The meaning can be directly "had" rather than learned through interpretation or analysis. This meaning is apparent immediately. The world acts upon the individual and then that individual consequently acts upon the world differently. Dewey proposed that learning constitutes a "gaining of control and also relinquishing that control."
Dewey also sees a connection between "suffering" and "undergoing." He sees "suffering" as being acted upon by the world. This is often against one’s will. He also describes passion as an arcane synonym for suffering. Both passion and suffering mean to experience intensely while being acted upon by the world. These terms are both also associated with heightened vitality and renewed life.
Most people think of Dewey as emphasizing "active inquiry-based learning." Wong shows how surrender (or receptivity) is also a central part of Dewey’s vision of learning. This surrender is necessary while in the "undergoing" process. Dewey states that receptivity/surrender is not a passive process. Instead, this "is a responsive act that accumulates toward objective fulfillment."
Wong describes anticipation as being the major part of the "undergoing" process. Anticipation is a way to look and attend forward. An individual is drawn forward by the sense of the possible. The individual is part of the experience and also being acted upon.
He differentiates this from reflection. Reflection is being apart from the experience. We pause to consider what has happened, and therefore act on it from a distance. He contends that "one cannot anticipate and reflect at the same time. He describes how Jackson analyzes aesthetic meaning associated with anticipation. According to Jackson (1998), "what Dewey is saying is that we sense or feel the situation we are in without thinking of it per se, without it becoming an object of reflection" (p. 21). Wong also feels that it is a teacher’s duty to open the realm of possibilities of ideas for the students. Teachers should not look at the subject-matter and try to make it interesting for the students. Instead, the teachers need to focus on how to open the minds of their students with the bold ideas of the subject matter. He wants these ideas to have "self-propelling power."
Wong describes how making choices is important to an intelligent learner. He proposes that Dewey saw many choices that students have to make; for example, whether to try one activity or another, whether to use one learning strategy or another, and whether to undergo (relinquish control) in the experience of an activity. Finally Dewey emphasizes that individuals "have responsibility in determining the meaning and value of an experience."
Wong also describes his image of an ideal learner. The ideal learner has the "capacity to coordinate both doing and undergoing, reflection and anticipation, control and the opposite of control." He states that this capacity is based on certain "virtues;" that is, the courage to relinquish control/take a risk, the sincerity to act without personal gain (thus allowing for transformation), honesty with oneself, and the faith that the meaning of an idea is determined "ex post facto, not a priori."
Wong proposes that Dewey does see the importance of control in learning and motivation, but that control is significant only in relation to its opposite. There is a balance between doing and undergoing. This balance makes aesthetic experiences "both transformative and motivating." There is an important transaction between student and subject-matter. The idea of transaction is central to Dewey’s philosophy. It "reflects his effort to locate meaning in the doing/undergoing relation rather than ‘in the head’ or ‘out in the world’." The individual has a strong anticipation, and thus looks forward to how it will transform us and our world."
Wong also asserts that Dewey would think that anticipation is intrinsic motivation. In anticipation, "we experience what it means to be ‘fully human.’ .... The cognitive, emotional, behavioral capacities are engaged and integrated." We are "poised between the actual and the possible, between the present and the future." By being too controlled, the possibilities may be restrained. Wong advocates using a light touch in order to see imagination and creativity emerge.