This week I heard a radio report that ‘Nudge’ theory is being applied to education. This idea is based on the principle that with small ‘nudges’ behaviour can be changed and it has been applied in many fields such economics or social policy. Evidence has now been published that shows that personalized text messages to students and their parents can increase attainment. In one study the percentage of students re-enrolling after the freshman year rose from 54% to 68%, which was attributed to the use of regular text messages.
As I listened to this I could feel ‘the grumpy old woman’ ranting internally with the idea that these students need to grow up and take responsibility for their own studies, plus when they get to work, there will be no such ‘mollycoddling’.!
Yet as I reflected on the modern world I started to wonder if my thoughts were driven by a view of the working world that is now vastly out of date. The modern youth work in a world or reactivity. They keep in touch with events through Tweets, offers and advertising comes to them through push notifications, no longer do they need to seek out knowledge and information as subscriptions means it all comes to them. The result is that we become reactive not proactive. We deal with things as they come in, life is simply too busy to seek out any more than we already have to deal with! So maybe there is a place for nudge theory in reexamining how we view the changes now prevalent in the working environment.
How can you use the nudge principle with others to help achieve more?
What ideas do you hold about your working world, and which need a re-examination?
Where do you need to become more proactive rather than reactive?
As I listened to this I could feel ‘the grumpy old woman’ ranting internally with the idea that these students need to grow up and take responsibility for their own studies, plus when they get to work, there will be no such ‘mollycoddling’.!
Yet as I reflected on the modern world I started to wonder if my thoughts were driven by a view of the working world that is now vastly out of date. The modern youth work in a world or reactivity. They keep in touch with events through Tweets, offers and advertising comes to them through push notifications, no longer do they need to seek out knowledge and information as subscriptions means it all comes to them. The result is that we become reactive not proactive. We deal with things as they come in, life is simply too busy to seek out any more than we already have to deal with! So maybe there is a place for nudge theory in reexamining how we view the changes now prevalent in the working environment.
How can you use the nudge principle with others to help achieve more?
What ideas do you hold about your working world, and which need a re-examination?
Where do you need to become more proactive rather than reactive?
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