Discipline and Exhaustion: An Educational Psychological Reflection on Routine Rigid Check-In Learning Practices

Abstract

In primary and secondary education, routine rigid check-in learning practices have become increasingly prevalent, particularly in English learning activities such as daily vocabulary memorization, text reading aloud, and exercise-based training. Such check-in systems impose externally mandated requirements that standardize learning time and content, with some practices continuing uninterrupted during weekends and holidays. By treating learners as entities capable of stable and continuous output, rigid check-in practices overlook students’ emotional fluctuations, limited cognitive resources, and need for autonomy in managing their own learning processes. As a result, these practices may foster superficial and performative learning behaviors while gradually undermining students’ intrinsic motivation. Drawing upon educational psychology frameworks, including Self-Determination Theory, Cognitive Evaluation Theory, the Affective Filter Hypothesis, Self-Regulated Learning Theory, Cognitive Load Theory, and Learned Helplessness Theory, this paper analyzes the psychological risks embedded in rigid check-in learning practices, explains how external discipline may induce psychological exhaustion among learners, and distinguishes between “flexible supportive check-ins” and “rigid mandatory check-ins.” It further explores feasible pathways for redesigning learning tasks by restoring learners’ agency and promoting more sustainable learning engagement.