The ideal of theoretical integration in motivational approaches to education is worthy, but in this commentary, I raise some (semi)contrarian concerns about both the meaning of theoretical integration and how that occurs. Integration is more than an aggregation or combination of measures but rather involves synthesis into a framework with theoretic and meta-theoretic integrity. Across disciplines and fields of inquiry, the development of science largely happens within theories and at their boundaries. Integration in practice (e.g., interventions) raises different issues, mainly concerning the coordination of elements that may address different classroom issues, and therefore can stem from multiple models and theories. I also describe the common direction and progress of motivational psychology over the past several decades, albeit with some “jingle –jangle” trends muddying our conceptual waters. Yet contrary to the view that it is our multiple perspectives that confuse teachers, I argue that confusion more centrally lies in the wide gap between our generally student-centered theories and public policies and institutional norms that hinder their implementation and their integration into practice.

教育动机方法中理论整合的理想是值得的，但在这篇评论中，我对理论整合的含义及其如何发生提出了一些（半）逆向的担忧。整合不仅仅是措施的聚合或组合，而是涉及综合到具有理论和元理论完整性的框架中。跨越学科和研究领域，科学的发展很大程度上发生在理论及其边界内。实践中的整合（例如干预）提出了不同的问题，主要涉及可能解决不同课堂问题的要素的协调，因此可能源于多种模型和理论。我还描述了过去几十年来动机心理学的共同方向和进展，尽管有些“叮叮当当”的趋势混淆了我们的概念水域。然而，与“我们的多重视角让教师感到困惑”的观点相反，我认为，困惑更主要地在于我们普遍以学生为中心的理论与阻碍其实施和融入实践的公共政策和制度规范之间的巨大差距。