Activating the desire to learn /

Every teacher dreams of creating a classroom environment in which motivated students learn and create quality work. Sullo, an educator with 30 years of experience and a senior fellow at the William Glasser Institute, reintroduces Glasser's "choice theory" as a way to achieve this goal. Choice theory is the current term for control theory, which was used in the 1980s. Choice theory evolved in response to behavior modification strategies based on external motivation that still dominate many classrooms and schools today. The volume provides both research and rationale for adopting strategies using internal motivation to create positive school and classroom environments. The author presents internal and external dialogues involving teachers, counselors, and administrators struggling with the complex task of creating motivating environments from elementary to high school. Sullo explores the dilemmas and pitfalls of implementing a classroom management system that is radically different from systems using external rewards to control students' behaviors. Descriptions of the effect of choice theory on administrators' leadership style and interactions with their staff provide powerful examples of how this approach affects school culture and environment. Summing Up: Highly recommended. General readers, upper-division undergraduates and above. A. Graber University of Colorado at Boulder