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A method for guiding students on their learning path.
In When Humans Need a Nudge Toward Rationality author Jeff Sommer reports on an interesting principal — something I would call “nudge theory”– as described in a new book titled Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness by Richard Thaler and Cass R. Sunstein.
The basic idea is similar to the old notion that you can attract more bees with honey than you can with dirt. The books’ cover illustration of a mother elephant nudging her cub is another excellent metaphor.
Nudging people for their own benefit in unobtrusive ways is part of what the co-authors call “libertarian paternalism,” a seeming oxymoron that links the notions of freedom from constraint and firm, well-intentioned guidance.
This concept as a teaching and leadership principle hit home in the most unlikely of places. When working as a support web developer for a local community college I was introduced to these new “green” urinals.
Etched into the porcelain is a small graphic of a bee. It makes for an irresistibly enticing target and coincidentally is the perfect spot for this type of waterless urinal. This, believe it or not, is an example of nudge theory.
…flies in the men’s-room urinals of the Amsterdam airport have been enshrined in the academic literature on economics and psychology. The flies — images of flies, actually — were etched in the porcelain near the urinal drains in an experiment in human behavior.
After the flies were added, “spillage” on the men’s-room floor fell by 80 percent. “Men evidently like to aim at targets…”
An enticing target — a new technique, etude, concerto or reward of some kind — can be just the right thing under the right circumstance.
Nudging vs. pushing
In regard to the bankrupt financial firms in the news of late, Mr. Thaler is quoted:
The trick is to try and figure out a way of forcing these firms to disclose more of what they’re doing without giving away so much that they can no longer make a living…
Substitute the word firms with students and this statement could easily apply to teaching.
It can be a delicate balance between giving a student the appropriate advice to better themselves and overwhelming them with too much information — the old “paralysis by analysis” ghost can sneak in and take over.
And for some students, an occasional kick-in-the-pants may even be appropriate — but as a general practice this can be very counter-productive. It can break down and even wreck a students’ musical well-being, possibly for life.
For some teachers, this approach is a means to separate the wheat from the chaff. The world is a tough place, the notion goes, and a student needs a tough skin in order to survive. If they can’t take it, they should get out of the business.
Here exists is a fine line between “tough love” and outright Detoxing the bad stuff
Yes, the world is a tough place but this does not give license for teachers to push their students to the breaking point. Giving a student a dose of reality is one thing; crushing their love of music is something else entirely.
Determined, self-motivated students who have felt abused will hopefully pursue musical therapy with a new teacher. This, in order to detox themselves from a past negative influence.
Et cetera
An effective teacher applies different teaching methods in order reach different learning styles. Nudge theory may be one tool to explore. It might lead a student into analyzing themselves better and towards making more informed choices.
- The authors have a blog that is also worth a look – nudges.wordpress.com.
- Conductors of all walks … please take note. Nudging your musicians is infinitely more respectful and productive than dictating.
