Consider your performance when you are “made” to do something. You complete the required task, but you probably don't put forth your best effort. Because personal motivation comes from within—you are motivated from the inside out—when someone “makes” you do something, your goal is to get the other person to leave you alone. External control may lead to compliance, but it never inspires you to do your best.

Now think of a time when you gave your best effort, when your performance reflected high quality. You no doubt found the experience to be satisfying. Perhaps the activity connected you to others. Immersed in the task, you felt competent and tasted the satisfaction that accompanies hard-earned success. You might have had some choice in how the task was to be done, or even been able to choose if you were going to do the task at all. It was probably enjoyable and you learned something as you worked. In short, because it was need-satisfying, you wanted to do your best.

In the first task, you were driven to escape the control of another. The result: minimal compliance and lower-quality performance. In the second task, you were motivated to do your best because doing quality work allowed you to satisfy your own needs. In both instances, you were motivated from the inside out.

For over 30 years as an educator, I have observed students who do their best and I have seen students who do as little as possible to satisfy teachers and parents who were trying to control them. In the last 22 years, I've discovered that inspiring students to work hard is infinitely more exciting and professionally enriching.

The job of an educator is truly an awesome responsibility. It is also an incredible opportunity. We create the future every day in our classrooms and schools. It's time to move beyond external control psychology, a model that has taken us as far as it can. By applying internal control psychology, we can create learning environments where students and staff meet their needs by vigorously engaging in the pursuit of academic excellence.

Activating the Desire to Learn introduces a comprehensive theory of behavior that challenges the prevailing external control model. You will become acquainted with research that validates the efficacy of an approach based upon internal control psychology. You will read fictionalized accounts of real-life teachers, counselors, administrators, and students who have put these ideas into action. It is time we gave our children an educational experience that matches what we now know about human behavior and motivation. It is time we created schools that are based upon motivation from the inside out.