Volume 5 Winter 2011 Number 2 - Charleston Law Review

SCHULZE FINAL.doc1/20/2011 6:14PMCHARLESTON LAW REVIEW [Volume 5avoidance of debating as an instructional technique. 107Thus, a pedagogy that focuses solely on the Socratic Methodignores the field of learning styles and inherently ignoresHispanic and African-American learners. Humanizing the lawschool environment, however, recognizes all members of the lawschool community.IV. WHAT ARE SELF-DETERMINATION THEORY ANDAUTONOMY SUPPORT?Self-determination theory (SDT) is “a meta-theory forframing motivational studies, a formal theory that definesintrinsic and varied extrinsic sources of motivation, and adescription of the respective roles of intrinsic and types ofextrinsic motivation in cognitive and social development and inindividual differences.” 108 SDT generally holds that whenstudents experience competence, autonomy, and relatedness—when they understand and appreciate the motivation for aneducational task that might seem unhelpful and uninteresting—they tend to learn better from that task. 109 The related concept ofautonomy support, in turn, holds that students who perceive agreater degree of support from their teachers and schools—inthat they feel that they have active control over choices in theireducational pursuits—fare better in learning.A. What Is Self-Determination Theory?According to SDT, all human beings need to experienceautonomy, competence, and relatedness to thrive and maximizetheir potential. 110 Put another way, people need to feel that they107. Id. at 906 (emphasis added) (footnotes omitted) (internal quotationmarks omitted).108. Self-Determination Theory, U. ROCHESTER, http://www.psych.rochester.edu/SDT/theory.php (last visited Oct 22, 2010).109. See Richard M. Ryan & Edward L. Deci, Self-Determination Theoryand the Facilitation of Intrinsic Motivation, Social Development, and Well-Being, 55 AM.PSYCHOLOGIST 68, 76 (2000).110. Marylène Gagné & Edward L. Deci, Self-Determination Theory andWork Motivation, 26 J. ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAV. 331, 336–37 (2005).300