From: Suzanne Burg
Email:
Course: CD169: Motivating Children and Adolescents in Educational Settings
College: SJSU
Instructor: Eugene Matusov
ClassWeb: http://www.ematusov.com/cd169
ChildrenObservations: No
Date: 19 May 1997
Time: 14:13:04
Remote Name: ww-tc03.proxy.aol.com
Parents and teachers are the biggest influence on a childs life, especially when it comes to academics. There are many questions as to how we can get children motivated when it comes to school . The things that affect a child when it comes to academic performance is the teachers and the parents attitudes. Another thing to look at is how the teachers and parents are communicating. Are they coming up with ideas together on how to get the child motivated and focused? Are they working together as a community to meet the needs of the child? Another thing to look at is if the teacher is being culturally sensitive to the children.
Todays schools are making many efforts in order to successfully educate children. One article, called Connecting families and schools to help our children succeed, put out by the United States Department of Education mentioned several ways in which the education system can improve. It mentioned that parents and children are spending less time together because parents are too busy juggling their jobs and their families. It suggests that families face the on-going struggle of making ends meet and to meet the needs of their children. If the parent could take a look and see that when thy donšt spend quality time with their child it will affect them in a negative way when it comes to school performance. According to the U.S. Department of Education, when parents are partners in their childrenšs education, the results are improved student achievement, better school attendance, reduced dropout rates, and decreased delinquency, regardless of the economic, racial or cultural background. Some suggestions they have are to read to your child or have them read to you on a regular basis, this will help improve their academic achievement. Parents and teachers need to keep in touch pertaining to the childs progress. This allows the parents to be aware of what their child is learning, know what the assignments are, and how their child is doing. When parents are informed of their childs performance it can contribute to higher achievement. Parents are a dominant factor in their childs education, when they positively influence the child they bring up the childs confidence and motivation to a be a successful learner.
Things teachers can do to motivate the child is to actively involve the parents. If this occurs, ties between families, students and teachers can establish a stronger environment for the learning (U.S. Department of Education, http://ericps.edu.uiuc.edu/npin/reswork/genres/confam96html). Another idea is to design homework that engages the parents into the process. An example of this would involve family trees, recounting the family history, etc. Give parents a voice in decisions, parents should be actively involved in decisions regarding their childs schooling (U.S. Department of Education, http://ericps.edu.uiuc.edu/npin/reswork/genres/confam96html).
Barbara Bowman wrote an article called Cultural diversity and academic achievement. This article describes many ideas in which to motivate children. According to her article, educators need to set goals behind education that is multicultural and socially reconstructionists are to improve academic outcomes, promote equality among gender, ethnicity, and exceptionality. In order to do this educators need to engage in multicultural awareness, learn to appreciate diversity and to take action (Bowman, 1994). If all this occurs, the childs self-esteem will go up and they will be more motivated to learn. Many teachers donšt take into consideration the differences between the children. this can affect the child negatively. Many children operate off their own experiences, beliefs, traditions, and culture and if a teacher neglects this it takes away from the childs learning experiences. The National Assessment of Educational Progress reported that students from low socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds and many children of color consistently achieve below the national average in math and language skills and the gap widens as children continue through school (Bowman, 1994). If only schools and teachers could incorporate cultural issues and SES into the planning these children will have a better chance. Part of this would include the exploration of differences in each students background and share life experiences, the children can get a different perspective as well as broaden their horizons.
So long as the teacher plans instruction effectively the child will be motivated to learn. An example of this would be to set short term and long term goals that the teacher and the child could work on together. The teacher also needs to know how to identify individual and group needs and plan appropriate strategies so the child can successfully follow through. A great way for the child to get involved is to incorporate time for a journal. This will allow the child a time of reflection, about school, their experiences and also to respond to group discussions. The best way to get a child motivated is to promote confidence and perseverance in the student. In order to do this the teacher needs to engage in prompt feedback. Prompt feedback will allow the student to, realistically, set goals so they can increase their motivation and take ownership of their learning (Massachusetts Department of Education, http://info.doe.mass.edu/doedocs/evalregs3.html). Another example is to develop and support students awareness of themselves as learners and their ability to overcome self-doubts associated with learning and to take risks (Massachusetts Department of Education, http://info.doe.mass.edu/doedocs/evalregs3.html).
Parents and teachers are the educators of our future generation and our future leaders. If we have a poor education system then we will surely have poor leaders of our nation. The United States is working on a way to raise the education standards, but as far as I am concerned we need to see results now. The key to a successful nation is an effective education system. How can we be proud of the education we have to offer right now if it leaves people of culture behind? It is something we, as a nation, need to think about.
Reference
Bowman, Barbara T. (1994). Cultural diversity and academic achievement. Urban education program. Urban monograph series. North Central Regional Educational Lab. Publications Department.
Principles of effective teaching and examples of descriptors. Massachusetts Department of Education. http://info.doe.mass.edu/doedocs/evalregs3.html
Connecting families and schools to help our children succeed. U.S. Department of Education, Office of Public Affairs. http://ericps.edu.uiuc.edu/npin/reswork/genres/confam96html