From: CYNTHIA ROBINSON
Email: hrobinso@email.sjsu.edu
Course: CD169: Motivating Children and Adolescents in Educational Settings
College: San Jose State University
Instructor: Eugene Matusov, Ph.D.
ClassWeb: http://www.ematusov.com
ChildrenObservations: No
Date: 22 May 1997
Time: 19:02:15
Remote Name: 146.74.93.24
A major component in creating a motivational learning environment is interactive teaching. The paper demonstrates strategies that are necessary in order to reach at-risk students, youths of color (i.e., Hispanic), and the disadvantaged. Motivation is the key ingredient a teacher can give to his or her students...motivation can be intrinsic, extrinsic, achievement oriented or social (with intrinsic motivation related to interest in the subject). An inclusive educational system - one that "blends" tolerance, sensitivity of guidance, and inspiration - will enhance every students' abilities and/or opportunities. As a classroom group project, I helped to present a different perspective concerning multicultural perspectives on education. Collectively, we discussed pros and cons of varying types of education and the limitations some minorities feel in American culture. The area I researched involved educational achievement in the Hispanic community. Part of my paper will include research I presented of a study done with women of color....
Children usually begin their early years in learning with a high degree of motivation, but as they get older, other things begin to compete for their attention (BJU Press, 1995). Teachers generally believe that all children are curious and eager to learn at an early age. The needs to explore, discover, and understand are said to be inherent in a child's nature. However, as they grow older, children seem less curious about many classroom activities (Larson & Richards, 1991). In order to reach a diverse student community, teachers need to incorporate interactive teaching as an answer to motivational learning. Besides providing motivation, interactive teaching can give teachers the opportunity to evaluate what their students are learning. For decades, teachers have known the value of making teaching relevant but have been slow in applying it. A common question among teachers and parents is: What happens to a child's natural motivation to learn? Many at-risk students do not see learning activities as personally meaningful because they are unable to connect the activities to some aspect of their lives, such as their families, community activities, or future employability. However, there are strategies a teacher can use that will make learning more relevant.
First, the content of the curriculum can be related to the students' needs, concerns, goals, interests, and experiences; moreover, it is important to encourage students themselves to become involved in making content more relevant. Second, student-generated projects which incorporates real and present problems can help learning become more meaningful, as well as making the student take responsibility for their own learning. Finally, teachers need to communicate the intended value of a particular learning activity; teachers can share their own thoughts about "why" the content is interesting, informative, and valuable. These strategies are important to guarantee each and every student's ability to learn.
While collecting data for my group's project, I found it appalling that the educational system has not been as successful in educating youths of color as in educating Anglo-American youths. To understand how different schooling experiences can influence the motivation to learn it is important to distinguish its qualities in situations or on learning tasks that individuals perceive as interesting, fun, personally meaningful, or relevant versus tasks that are perceived to be boring, tedious, meaningless, or irrelevant from the individual's perspective (McCombs, 1996). At this point, I would like to discuss the disadvantages that the Hispanic community has to deal with in the area of education.
Although there has been an increase in the enrollment of Hispanic students in the elementary grades, there has been a decrease in the upper-grade levels, confirming high dropout rates (Perez & De La Rosa Salazar, 1993). Dropout among Latino youths is a form of underachievement that has far-reaching consequences. Motivation is "key" to an individual's desire to attain success; it's no wonder that the Hispanic community is left behind in our educational system given the fact that they are constantly being negatively reinforced through stereotyping and neglect.
A report published by the Texas Education Agency (1989) recognized that poverty and undereducation are interdependent. There are four variables that are positively associated with dropping out of school: low socioeconomic status, minority group status, increase household stress, and lack of social support. Chapa and Valencia (1993) added underachievement because of low expectations by the educational system; moreover, the role of racism and discrimination in the underachievement of youths of color cannot be discounted. To examine the pattern of educational achievement of a group of young women of color, a small pilot study was conducted with a sample of 84 Mexican American women who were the first in their families to attend college. The issue of achievement in education was considered from both a cultural and structural perspective.
The majority of the 84 participants in this study were between the ages of 20 and 25. The responses to the question about what it was like growing up as a woman of color generated data that were broken down into two categories for purposes of clarity: growing up as a woman and growing up as a person of color. Within their culture, their experience can be summed up by the following statement: Daughters were expected to assume traditional spousal roles, prepare for marriage, marry within their race, and bow to men. But their parents had different expectations of their brothers, who had more freedom to experiment, date, and leave home for college and had fewer family responsibilities. Outside of their culture, the women felt that they had to prove themselves. They felt that they had been held down by the school system, teachers, and employers because of their gender. They also reported having few role models. Almost one-half of the respondents reported that the educational system, their social environment, and other structures negatively influenced their experience of growing up as a person of color. The following statements capture their experiences in their school environments: "We were physically punished for speaking Spanish"; "I felt intimidated by the white students"; "I had to work twice as hard to prove myself"; "It was difficult not being able to express our heritage"; and, "It was difficult - I could not identify with what was being taught".
The responses given by the participants to the question about their individual strengths were divided into five categories: 1) cognitive, 2) relational, 3) emotional health, and 4) motivational. The cognitive strengths identified by the participants were bilingualism and biculturalism, academic skills, hard work, self-discipline, intelligence, multiple talents, and the ability to learn from their mistakes. The relational strengths identified by the participants were good communication skills; responsibility, reliability, and dependability; the ability to listen and get along; honesty; fairness; and a non-judgmental nature. The characteristics identified by the respondents in the emotional health category were determination, perseverance, confidence, spiritual depth, faith, independence, anger, open-mindedness, strong will, belief in taking care of self, and enthusiasm. Motivational strengths included being able to take on a challenge; being goal oriented, ambitious, aggressive, and assertive; being positive and visionary; and having a sense of calling and the desire to succeed.
The participants reported experiencing gender, racial, and ethnic discrimination in numerous ways; such experiences prove to be detrimental to achievement because they increase emotional stress and reduce the motivation to learn. Both social workers and teachers need to be convinced not only that labeling, deficiency, and remediation practices hurt children of color, but also that the treatment of children of color as if they were culturally disadvantaged will persist unless helping professionals actively intervene (Boykin, 1986). These professionals are the ones who have the power to make positive structural changes. They can begin by recognizing, affirming, and respecting diversity. Diversity is affirmed when teachers and social workers acknowledge that being bilingual and bicultural are strengths; moreover, teachers affirm diversity when they expect children of color to achieve and when they use the children's learning styles and cultural context in teaching.
Every culture carries with it a rich legacy. The young women saw their culture, including family, beliefs, customs, language, and support systems as a strength. The social and historical context from which children come, as well as celebrating holidays and the history of the development of the neighborhood, need to be incorporated into the curriculum. Stories of life, the immigrant experiences, and community heroes also need to be woven into the curriculum; this form of teaching is called: Culturally sensitive teaching. Children should not have to choose between family and school, between a sense of belonging and a sense of succeeding. According to the participants the stress involved in balancing these choices leads to low self-esteem, shame, and isolation. The promotion of diversity leads to the enhancement of learning for both teachers and students. Many young lives are being wasted because of lack of reform of a school system that is becoming increasingly diverse. Teachers cannot prevent all students from dropping out, but they can do a great deal more than is currently being done.
It is true that most at-risk students are not motivated to learn in classrooms. Teachers become frustrated as they try various ways to motivate at-risk children and to help them understand the value of learning. The identification of effective motivational strategies for this particular student population is crucial. Teachers realize that many learning activities that are necessary for teaching reading, writing, and math skills are not inherently interesting or enjoyable and thus not intrinsically motivating. Thus, teachers find themselves using extrinsic rewards to get students to do some class work. Teachers can use rewards either to inform students about their competence or to control their behavior. When teachers give students feedback about improvement and performance, they may increase interest in a task. At-risk students may be willing to expend effort on an assignment when they expect to perform successfully and believe they are responsible for their own performance. Teachers can raise students' expectations by conveying confidence in them, by facilitating students' sense of control, by encouraging positive self-talk, and by emphasizing effort.
In CD169, we have discussed different perspectives on motivation. In my opinion, an emergence curriculum seems to be the best option in a multicultural society. As future teachers, we need to blend ideas, beliefs, customs, and methods of teaching in order to "fit" the students in which we will be entrusted with. The expectations of the school should fit the community's expectations; parents need to feel a sense of belonging and a sense of commitment towards their children's educational experience. Sensitivity of guidance (be it from parent or teacher), is an important component to a student's self-worth and/or future success. The sociocultural perspective on motivation cannot be denied; it is a powerful factor among minorities in America. We, as a "blended" nation of many cultural backgrounds, must have an inclusive educational system - one that instills a high sense of respect, motivation, and agency in each and every child.
REFERENCES
Boykin, W. (1986). The triple quandry and the schooling of Afro- American children. In U. Neisser (Ed.), The school achievement of minority children: New perspectives (pp. 57-92). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Chapa, J., & Valencia, R. (1993). Latino population, dempgraphic characteristics, and educational stagnation: An examination of recent trends. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 15, 165-187.
Home School Helper., Bod Jones University Press: 1995. http://www.bju.edu/press/resource/hsh/070ib.html.
Larson, R.W., & Richards, M.H., 1991. Boredom in the middle school years: Blaming schools versus blaming students. American Journal of Education.
McCombs, B.L., Understanding the Keys to Motivation to Learn: http://www.merel.org/products/noteworthy/barbaram.html.
Perez, S., & De La Rosa Salazar, D. (1993). Economic, labor force, and social implications of Latino educational and population trends. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, IS, 188-229.
Texas Education Agency. (1989). Successful schooling for economically disadvantaged at-risk youths. Austin: Author, Publications Distribution Office.