Lydia Zeller

Motivation – Chapter 11

February 10, 2014

                I am a seventh grade science teacher in an inner city middle school, and in this chapter there was one motivation theory in particular that really stuck out to me. I find that I battle this problem almost every day with a large number of students. The theory is “Competence and Self-Worth”.

                The very first line on page 366 under this heading talks about a student needing to believe that they can succeed. I find many of my students do not have a lot of self-worth. I am still trying to decide if this is because they are twelve going on thirteen or if there is something more due to the social economics of this cohort. Does being in a lower economic class affect self-worth? Does the fact that living in single parent households, or mixed family households, or living with other family members affect students? Does having parents who work odd hours, and so there is less supervision at home, affect the student’s confidence in their school work? Regardless, I see self-worth and believing in their own competence is a common issue for many of my students.

                The text mentions five self-handicapping forms students put upon themselves. I for sure see three out of six of these handicapping forms. First, many students reduce effort. They automatically assume they cannot do the work or that it is too difficult and so do not try before giving up. I also see plenty of procrastinating. Many students do not do their work in class, claiming they will do it for homework. The next day they come in and try to finish real quick before I pick it up. The other self-handicapping I see is cheating. They will copy from someone else’s assignment or on a quiz.  One problem is that the students do not have much confidence in themselves. (There are also many other factors but this is one affecting them for sure.)

                To combat these self-worth and competence issues, there are several strategies to work with. The text mentions three, the first of which is that teachers help students succeed, especially with difficult assignments. I often circulate around the room answering questions as students work and treating it as one-on-one tutoring during class. I also try to pair students up when group work is being done so that one partner may be able to explain a topic or assignment for a struggling partner. They may explain it in a way that a peer would understand that I have not thought of. Sometimes, but not always, peer tutoring works.

                A second way to help increase self-worth is by helping students set goals that are easy to track progress with. I like to give practice quizzes so that students can see how well they know material. By being practice (not a grade) the student does not necessarily give up as soon because that quiz is not in the grade. They still have a chance to learn the material before it affects their grade. It is also a chance for me to see which students are struggling most and with which topics they are struggling with.

                Another way to increase competence is to lower competition between other peers that would make them feel bad about themselves. I do not want them to believe that there are groups of “smart” students and groups of “dumb” students. When students place themselves in these groups, especially when a student places themselves lower, they lower their self confidence. Believing in themselves will often promote their own self-worth and competence without my help. I never want a student to underestimate themselves. However, there is also a flip side. Students who over believe in themselves can cause just as much damage to their self-worth when they do fail. There is a delicate balance between the two. As a teacher, it is my job to give a student high but attainable goals. Of course, there are always many factors affecting my students but I do not want to make anything worse but to help students succeed.