Chpt. 10: Motivation and Self-worth

By Tiffany

There were a couple of things that intrigued me in this chapter, so I worry I may be all over the place. Everything seemed to interest me. The first comment that stuck out in my mind was that teachers must encourage and nurture intrinsic motivation, while making sure that extrinsic motivation supports learning. I fully agree that this is true. I know I have been personally intrinsically motivated to go back to school. However, I would not be as motivated if there were not extrinsic motivation behind it. Getting the A on any assignment excites me and gives me more motivation to work harder!

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs has been around for quite some time. I know I have heard about this many times. It saddens me to think that you don’t ever accomplish the self-actualization phase. However, I guess it motivates us to keep going. I think one of the responsibilities of a teacher is to provide and support a student's self-esteem and intellectual achievement. If you give students a safe learning environment with reasonable goals, you can help maintain or increase their self-esteem. I know I have had a low self-esteem in the past; all through middle school and high school. I just wish I had a teacher back then that showed me that I was worthwhile and that I could achieve things if I tried. I hope to be that teacher for many students; a supportive teacher is essential in a child’s growth (in my opinion).

Self determination related a lot to me as well. The need to feel like you belong to a social group can really impact your education and your social life. I think as long as you provide a supportive and safe environment for your students, you can help them feel like they belong.

One thing I found interesting was that studies have found that students and parents prefer controlling teachers over teachers supporting autonomy. This does make sense to me because guidelines help students know what to do; what is expected of them. I for one, appreciate clear and concise guidelines, I know I am one who prefers controlling teachers. Perhaps this attributes to my lack of feeling of creativity. I think you need to know your school, your students and your parents to know what they need as students.

I had always felt alone growing up and I feel I lacked the bond with peers. That is why I really noticed the section about the need for relatedness. This need for closeness is important for the development of children and I think it really impacts a students want to be in school. I am not sure how a teacher can help with this, but I do feel it is something we should be aware of.

My final comment has to be the belief about self-worth. It made me laugh because it said that procrastination was a self-protective strategy. I know I have used procrastination as an excuse for failing (not really failing, but for getting a grade of a B). I never thought of it as an excuse, but that is what I used it for. As a teacher, I hope to prevent my students from doing this. I hope to be able to help them set realistic goals and to teach them how to learn and hold themselves accountable for their education. Basically, it seems I want to give students help in areas that I apparently lacked in. I just hope I can be an effective teacher and I feel I have a good chance of that with all of the information I have learned so far (and we are only in the first session!)