from Life Learning magazine, May/June 2003
The Flow of Self-Directed Learning
by Amy Spang

There has been discussion in recent years about a psychological concept known as “Flow”. The concept was originally defined by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (Professor C. for short here) at the University of Chicago. His research identifies conditions under which human resources and skills are totally utilized in the accomplishment of a task. During the course of certain activities, a state of intense concentration is achieved and sustained for a period of time...and this is known as the “flow experience”.

Professor C. distinguishes the state of flow from a state of happiness in that it is not produced by outside influence, but by an intrinsically focused state. Here, the full range of a person’s abilities are met with a task slightly above the margin of their capacity – for example, the doctor performing a challenging surgical procedure. One of the factors Professor C. attributes to a state of flow can be found in his book Finding Flow: The Psychology of Engagement with Everyday Life: “When a person likes what he does and is motivated to do it, focusing the mind becomes effortless even when the objective difficulties are great.”

Determining factors in the achievement of flow include voluntary activity, a consistent set of goals, the concentration of attention and immediate, relevant feedback. These combine to create the flow experience – “when a person’s entire being is stretched in the full functioning of body and mind”.

What conditions negate the experience of flow according to Professor C.? Stagnation – defined as inactivity or a feeling of inertia – is one factor cited as being particularly harmful to the health of the psyche. Anxiety, stress, passive leisure activities (such as television watching), and environments of constraint at work and school also contribute to conditions which limit precipitation of flow.

Professor C. notes that some flow experiences occur at work for adults, but motivation to achieve them is stronger at home. Similarly, home is preferred by children as a motivational setting, while school is the location least apt to foster flow experiences. As he asserts of children in general, “They feel most constrained in school, in churches, and other places where their behavior must conform to others’ expectations”.

The Professor acknowledges that although self-motivation is ideal, most individuals have long since lost the ability to understand what stimulates them. . . .

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This essay has been included in the book Life Learning: Lessons from the Educational Frontier.

Amy Spang and her husband Michael unschool their three sons in West Shokan, N.Y. She is a certified teacher who has worked in public schools and as a private tutor. She now lives and learns at home with her family, cats, dog, chickens, fiber rabbits and vegetable gardens.