Running head: FIVE THEORIES RELATING TO CLASSROOM MOTIVATION !

Five Theories Relating to Classroom Motivation from Anderman and Anderman Jeremiah Paul Connell University of New England

FIVE THEORIES RELATING TO CLASSROOM MOTIVATION !

Eric and Lynley Hicks Anderman outline ve theories pertaining to educational psychology and student motivation in chapter one of Classroom Motivation. Attribution theory To what do we attribute things that happen in our lives? [A]nswers to this question direct our motivation toward further engagement with or disengagement from similar activities (Weiner, 1986, 1992 as cited in Anderman, p. 4). Attribution theory groups attributions under three factors: stability, locus, and control. Stability has to do with whether the perceived cause of an event is constant across time and situations (p. 4). A person might connect a failure with events and situations that surrounded it, and might be willing to try the task again when conditions are different. The situation a person is in when s/he attempts a task certainly will affect his/ her performance and thus the outcome. Locus refers to whether the cause of an event is believed to be internal or external to the individual (p. 4). Was I responsible for succeeding at a certain task? Was the success due to my own abilities and efforts or was it due to luck, someone elses contributions, or the conditions present when the task was being worked on? The locus deals with this internal versus external attribution. [C]ontrol refers to an individuals beliefs about whether or not he or she can personally control the causes of certain events (p. 4). If you are in a parked car and are struck by another motorist and you never saw it coming, you could correctly state that the event was beyond your control. If you have an auto accident on a rainy night and say to

FIVE THEORIES RELATING TO CLASSROOM MOTIVATION !

yourself I should have gone slower or I should have pumped the brakes instead of slamming my foot down on the pedal and keeping it there you are saying that you think you had some control over whether or not you totaled your car. Expectancy-value theory [M]otivation to engage with a task is determined by both ones expectancies for success...and ones...valuing of the task (p. 5). I think that most of us make calculated decisions about what areas we apply ourselves in based on what we want for rewards/goals and our perceived likelihood of success. I dont think students are likely to put in a lot of effort when we just expect them to take on faith statements like if you do well in school, youll have access to more opportunities later. Later is a long time away, especially for teenagers. I think students need examples where a link between effort and a worthwhile return is obvious, or at least recognizable. Teachers have more control over students feelings about academic success than they do over students intrinsic motivation. Social-cognitive theory [P]ersonal attributes, environmental characteristics, and behaviors...each of those three variables inuence and are inuenced by each of the others (Bandura, 1986 as paraphrased by Anderman, 2010). Self-image and personal attributes: does a student see him/herself as organized? Does he/she see him/herself as as a good student? Environmental characteristics: is a students home-life one of chaos, possibly rife with danger? Or does he/she leave the school environment and go home to one where academic success is valued and supported? Behaviors: are a students behaviors congruent with those of his/her peers,

FIVE THEORIES RELATING TO CLASSROOM MOTIVATION !

or is he or she going against the grain? How much does peer pressure affect a particular students motivation to succeed academically? [S]tudents can be motivated to engage in behaviors they see modeled in others (Anderman, p. 5). The fact that the behaviors are modeled in others shows that those behaviors are possible. Whether a person chooses to emulate those behaviors or not has to do with how much they esteem the person showcasing the behavior, how the group responds to those behaviors, whether the behavior is a successful technique for obtaining or avoiding something, etc. Social-cognitive theory addresses the importance of self-efcacy. Self-efcacy is a persons belief in his/her ability to affect outcomes. Self-efcacy should not be confused with self-condence; feeling good about oneself and feeling capable, feeling that the decisions one makes make a difference as to how things turn out, are two different things. Self-determination theory Self-determination theorists...argue that humans have three basic needs: the need for autonomy, the need for competence, and the need for relatedness (Deci & Ryan, 1985; Ryan & Deci, 2000 as cited in Anderman, 2010, p. 4). The assumption that we are more likely to be successful and motivated in tasks that we are already interested in appears to be supported by the literature. It is encouraged, and fairly commonplace, nowadays to have students develop their own classroom rules. Teachers nowadays are often encouraged to have student-led learning activities in their classrooms. I think that self-determination theory has something to do with this.

FIVE THEORIES RELATING TO CLASSROOM MOTIVATION !

We need to have control over our own lives. We need to feel capable of performing certain tasks (p. 4); and I would add that we need the freedom to perform the tasks at which we are most capable. We need to feel connected to and accepted within a larger social network (p. 4). Humans are social animals. Beyond just living in a community with other humans, I would postulate that for a person to really feel connected, he or she needs to be with like-minded individuals, people who share similar values and interests. The idea of self-determination gets me thinking about the right to the pursuit of happiness and the issue of academic freedom. Some people think that when colleges and universities require certain core classes not pertinent to students interests or intended elds of study, they are impinging on students academic freedom. When an individual is interested in, and internally motivated to pursue, a certain course of study but he/she cannot do it for whatever reason (i.e. jobs in that eld dont pay enough to cover the cost of study in that area) this is also seen by some as an infringement on academic freedom. I believe that without self-determination and without autonomy, people are likely to feel that their locus of control is external rather than internal. I feel that when people are conditioned into thinking that they cannot affect events in their lives, they are likely to experience learned helplessness (a now widely accepted psychological theory developed by Martin Seligman). Goal orientation theory What are a students goals regarding a certain task?

FIVE THEORIES RELATING TO CLASSROOM MOTIVATION !

Mastery goals have to do with a students desire to be procient in a certain area, to have a felicity with a certain skill or subject. Because mastery of a topic is signicant and multifaceted, I believe a student needs signicant motivation to be successful. I think the student would need to be either intrinsically motivated or have humongous external motivating factors working upon him/her in order to master something. Performance goals have to do with successfully showing something. A student doesnt need to master material to get a good grade, he or she just needs to meet all of the expectations for a given assignment.
Approach and avoidance goals

A mastery-avoid goal involves a focus on avoiding the misunderstanding of the task (p. 6), important because practicing something incorrectly is detrimental to success. A performance-avoid goal would be avoiding doing poorly in front of others to avoid embarrassment. Performance goals are interesting because they involve--nay, require-the ability to anticipate what others think and expect, something not easy for all people. Teachers can and should consider these theories when addressing the issue of student motivation.

References Anderman, E.M., & Anderman, L.H. (2010). Classroom motivation. Columbus, OH: $ Merrill/Prentice Hall.

FIVE THEORIES RELATING TO CLASSROOM MOTIVATION !

November 6th, 2011 Greetings Parents, Guardians and Caregivers: As we all prepare for the beginning of the school-year, Id like to take a moment of your time to talk a little bit about student motivation and to hopefully open a dialogue. One of the things I try very hard to teach my students (along with all the history and geography stuff) is that what they do matters. Self-efcacy is the belief that one has the power to affect outcomes. Of course, I want all of my students to have high self-esteem, but I want students to know the power of their actions, and to possess a level of high-self esteem that they can connect to real, measurable, academic successes. Think about self-efcacy as being the opposite of learned helplessness. Students are being asked more and more nowadays to take charge of their own learning. Part of the reason for this trend has to do with education research telling us that we all need to take into consideration variation in learning styles and learning preferences. Students should be able to work from their strengths whenever possible and appropriate. Students need to know what their strengths are in order capitalize on them. Instead of just teaching kids the material in the textbooks, we do our best to teach them how to learn. I guarantee that every student I work with this year has the power to improve. Together, I hope we can get--and keep--them motivated. I think that most of us make calculated decisions about what areas we apply ourselves in based on what we want for rewards/goals and our perceived likelihood of success. I dont think students are likely to put in a lot of effort when we just expect them to take on faith statements like if you do well in school, youll have access to more opportunities later. Later is a long time away, especially for teenagers. This idea has to do with another ed-psych principle: expectancy-value theory. Nobody wants to play a game if they think there is a 0% chance of winning, and to get somebody to play a game that they dont enjoy playing (I, for one, have no interest in Winter sports or anything Winterrelated), the reward has to be pretty considerable. When a kid plays a game just because he or she enjoys it, we say he/she is intrinsically motivated. When he or she does it because of outside pressure, we say he or she is extrinsically motivated. Wherever possible, I hope to build learning activities that incorporate students interests. This may result in you hearing about some classroom occurrences that may seem silly at rst, but let me assure you that there are sound reasons behind me doing what I do. I welcome your questions and I look forward to meeting all of you, Best regards,

FIVE THEORIES RELATING TO CLASSROOM MOTIVATION !

Jeremiah Connell, MSEd