Autotelic - Not an everyday word, but one that I've decided all learners should know. It is composed of two Greek roots: auto (self), and telos (goal).
Nowadays people are often externally driven: things such as comfort, money, power, or fame are the motivating force behind what they do.
But someone who is autotelic does things for their own sake.
The Hungarian-American psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi used the term “Autotelic” as part of his Flow Psychology. An autotelic person experiences flow in work, in family life, when interacting with people, even when alone with nothing to do. They are less dependent on the external rewards that keep others motivated. They are more autonomous and independent because they cannot be as easily manipulated by external threats or promises of reward. At the same time, they are more involved with everything around them because they are fully immersed in the flow of life.
In the modern world, it's easy to lose sight of the fact that learning is a very personal experience. It is different for everyone: Different motivation, different pleasures, different goals, different fears.
An autotelic activity is one we do for its own sake, simply because the experience is the main goal, which is why I'm now going to describe our sessions as autotelic activities. As a learner, you do these activities for their own sake, without any inducement of external rewards (beyond the occasional badge). Don't get me wrong, points, badges and leader boards can motivate you to perform well, but in our sessions, it is the activity itself that is the reward.
So get involved, find your flow, and enjoy a truly rewarding (and autotelic) experience!
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