Flow Theory

Flow is a state in which people feel in control of their actions and feel a deep sense of exhilaration that is long cherished and that becomes a landmark in memory for what life should be like. Flow has been established as a legitimate theory and concept in the psychological literature. Because it is a psychological theory, it is best defined with examples of the experience:

• A flow experience represents a distinct state of consciousness that integrates high but effortless concentration, intrinsic motivation, loss of awareness of self and time, facile response to challenge, and feelings of competence and freedom. Flow is a feeling of intense involvement in an activity that tests but does not overpower one's abilities; it has been established as a legitimate psychological concept in the literature, with powerful implications for improving the quality of workplaces and productivity.
• Flow is the key to intrinsic motivation. It is a state in which people are so involved in an activity that nothing else seems to matter; the experience itself is so enjoyable that people will do it even at a great cost, for the sheer sake of doing it.

Flow theory is easily associated with pop-psych phenomena such as being in the zone, peak experience, and other personal experience theories as popularized in lay literature; however, flow is conceptually and distinctly different and has a strong psychological research base.

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi has provided supervisors in all fields of work with a concept that provides a new perspective on the intricacies of work life. It offers a powerful alternative for viewing the work environments of teachers—a new perspective on the intricacies of their work life in schools and what motivates and satisfies them. Flow has received some attention in America's schools, and it is growing. In this writer's estimation, flow offers powerful insight into the aspects of work life that motivate and satisfy teachers. Since teachers are the ones who actually do the most important work in school—teaching students—it is imperative that we investigate what will make their job more rewarding. This entry is intended to explicate the potential of flow theory in improving the work lives of teachers. This insight has been offered to education at a crucial juncture in the state of teacher attitudes toward their work.

Albert Einstein's term cosmological constant describes what he called “negative gravity.” Using this term, he theorized that all of space is bubbling with an [Page 400]invisible form of energy that creates a mutual repulsion between objects normally attracted to each other. Negative gravity describes the current gravitational status between educators and schools and the current high teacher attrition rate. For decades, teacher and administrative jobs attracted high numbers of applicants. These people were driven by a powerful desire to do the job, and they believed they would be successful: They believed they could help young people achieve. They found satisfaction in doing so. However, teacher satisfaction levels have plummeted. Recent studies show that teachers'desire to stay in teaching and their overall satisfaction and morale have dropped dramatically over the past two decades. This is education's negative gravity: schools and teachers repulsing each other. Schools repulse teachers because of poor working conditions, and teachers depart because they find so little success in achieving their noble and number one goal: helping students learn. Examples of these poor conditions are reported by teachers: They are isolated in classrooms; they receive little training that they value; they are given scant, if any, feedback from others on the quality of their work; they have few opportunities to confer with other teachers; their schedules are grossly deficient in amounts of time needed to reflect on their practice; and they are provided with little assistance helping them deal effectively with the many problems they face in their classrooms. The bottom line is that they receive little help that they can use to improve the quality of their work. The sad result of this is that their potential for further increasing their success is severely limited while their tendency to leave teaching is on the rise.

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