Self-Motivation

Yesterday, one of my learners told me that if she didn't get 80% or more on a test, her teacher would put her put in detention. Is this support or is this coercion?

I've used 'Duolingo' to brush up on my French and this external motivation happened to me too. I was rewarded me with points for making streaks of learning which seemed great at first.

That was until I felt I needed to come back to keep the streaks, even after my initial interest had subsided. It became addictive and when I did eventually break the streak and lose the points, the sense of failure made me less likely to want to carry on learning.

I wonder if, in a society with increasing anxiety, this is doing us any good at all.

I believe finding motivation within ourselves and where our achievement makes us feel confident and happy can have much bigger long-term positive effects on our desire to learn and on our ultimate well-being.

Do you feel self-motivation should be encouraged more in schools?