0.4 Motivational challenges in the classroom  (Page 2/3)

Learned helplessness

Learned helplessness has roots in self-efficacy as well as attribution theory. If a person’s sense of self-efficacy is very low over repeated experiences, he or she can develop learned helplessness, a perception of complete lack of control in mastering a task. The attitude is similar to depression, a pervasive feeling of apathy and a belief that effort makes no difference anddoes not lead to success. Learned helplessness was originally studied from the behaviorist perspective of classical and operant conditioning by the psychologist Martin Seligman (1995). The studies used a somewhat “gloomy” experimental procedure in which an animal, such as a rator a dog, was repeatedly shocked in a cage in a way that prevented the animal from escaping the shocks. In a later phase of the procedure, conditions werechanged so that the animal could avoid the shocks by merely moving from one side of the cage to the other. Yet frequently they did not bother to do so!Seligman called this behavior learned helplessness. Click here for a short demonstration of inducing learned helplessness in the classroom.

In people, learned helplessness leads to characteristic ways of dealing with problems. They tend to attribute the source of a problem to themselves, togeneralize the problem to many aspects of life, and to see the problem as lasting or permanent; in other words, an internal, stable attribution offailure. More optimistic individuals, in contrast, are more likely to attributea problem to outside sources, to see it as specific to a particular situation or activity, and to see it as temporary or time-limited. Consider, for example,two students who each fail a test. The one with learned helplessnessis more likely to explain the failure by saying something like: “I’mstupid; I never do well on any schoolwork, and I never will.” The other, more optimistic student is more likely to say something like: “I failedthis test because I didn’t study hard enough; I can study harder next time.” Note that the latter example implies that there are factors withinone’s control that can be adjusted in the future.

Overcoming motivational challenges related to self-efficacy and control

Self-handicapping , learned helplessness, and some types of procrastination stem from an underlying perception of low competence as well as the feeling that theydon’t have much control over their circumstances. Teachers can minimize these challenges in students by encouraging their sense of self-efficacy aswell as their sense of control over factors that can influence their success.

Here are some best practices to support students’ needs for autonomy and competence , and help encourage students’ positive sense of self-worth:

• Have students keep a journal, noting their procrastination and other self- handicapping behaviors and reflecting on their reasons. The goal is to helpstudents better recognize when they are sabotaging themselves, so that they are more likely to stop.
• Model effective “procrastination busters.” When assigning larger tasks, break them into smaller ones, and eventually teach students how to dothis themselves. Dividing a research project into several stages, with deadlines along the way, encourages students to focus on each stage, ratherthan the whole project (Schubert Walker, 2000). See also “ Supporting the need for competence. ”
• Teach self-regulation strategies, such as time management, organizational skills, and self-motivation. For example, have students set up a timeline, then reward themselves forcompleting tasks by the scheduled deadline. The use of self-regulation promotes a sense of control, an important factor in minimizing procrastination (Cleary&Zimmerman, 2004).
• Help students adopt a mastery orientation. Reduce students’ anxiety over being evaluated by focusing their efforts on mastery goals (Schubert Walker, 2000). Research suggests that students who engage in tasks in order to learn as much as they can, or because the task is interesting oroptimally challenging, are more likely to give appropriate effort and persist to completion (Ryan&Deci, 2000).
• Don’t allow students who exhibit learned helpnessness to give up. Instead, adjust the difficulty of learning tasks so that students have a realistic chance to master them. Provide support and encouragement until they succeed. Most importantly, attribute their successes to internal attributions such as effort, persistence , and resourcefulness (Weiner, 2005).
• Whenever possible, minimize boredom-related procrastination by connecting assignments to students’ personal interests. In addition, teach studentsto find the interesting aspects, or to find ways to make it interesting or challenging. Because students are more likely to stick with tasks - even boring ones - when they know they are important, help students see the value of what they are learning with the task (Ryan&Deci, 2000). See also “ Supporting the need for autonomy .”