The Fastest Way to kill a kid's motivation with Brenna Clarke Gray | OpenEd

Teaching is relational work. When we turn what a child naturally loves into a graded assignment, we destroy the very motivation that made it beautiful in the first place.

Join Brenna Clarke Gray, an educator and researcher who studies how technology and systems shape learning, as she explains why grading something your child loves might be the quickest way to kill their intrinsic motivation.

Brenna hosts the podcast **Community of Praxis**, which explores big ideas in education through a care-centered, student-focused lens while acknowledging real structural limitations like time, funding, and precarity. As a mother of two, she advocates for protecting childhood, limiting data harvesting, and teaching kids to think critically about technology rather than simply using it.

Resources:

- Brenna's website: https://brennaclarkegray.ca/

- Community of Praxis Podcast: https://www.wlupress.wlu.ca/Scholarly-Podcasts/Community-of-Praxis

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00:00 - Welcome & Guest Introduction

00:31 - How Brenna Got Fascinated by Teaching

02:46 - Faculty Support and the Hidden Problem with Education

05:26 - Why Teaching and Learning is Relational Work

08:20 - We Measure Compliance Instead of Learning

10:41 - Universal Design for Learning: Multiple Pathways

15:46 - The Content Overload Problem

18:36 - The Pandemic's Missed Opportunity

21:05 - How External Standards Shape Student Behavior

24:35 - The Intrinsic Motivation Paradox

30:10 - Boredom as the Fuel for Lifelong Learning

34:30 - The Moment You Kill Your Kid's Love of Learning

37:00 - Home Culture and Technology Boundaries

41:20 - Intentional Limits on Screen Time & Data Privacy

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