Hannah is showing learned helplessness. Hannah does not think she is smart enough to individually finish the tasks given to her. She does not motivate herself to do the work and sits there non-responsive without trying. Hannah probably feels like there is nothing she can do to improve her grade and may feel helpless in her own learning. She may have low self esteem and low self-efficacy.
As a teacher, there are a few things I could do to try and help Hannah. I would try and improve her confidence by using a little bit or praise. I could praise her when she does work on her own. I could also pair Hannah up with other students so that she can share her answers and maybe think of new ways to do problems through them. Hannah also needs goals for herself either set me or by herself. She could work daily to complete a certain amount of problems correctly by herself and then check answers with me or with other students. She could also set long term goals for herself such as completing her work individually at the same time as other students. This goal would have to take place over a long period of time because she would have to work at her own pace. As she gets more answers right and moves at her own pace she will become more confident in her abilities. This will build her self efficacy and motivation. To help Hannah's intrinsic motivation I could find things that appeal to her that she would want to participate in. By intrinsically motivating Hannah she may feel more confident in her work and be more willing to try things for herself.
Is learned helplessness always connected to a belief about intelligence? That is your first conclusion, and I don't think that's always true. Learned helplessness is more explained by feeling that no matter what action she takes, she will get the same consequences or feedback (failure).
ReplyDeleteYou have a lot of ideas here. I think some would be more appropriate or less appropriate, depending on the actual problem. Praise would need to be very targeted. A lot of praise after small successes could give her feedback on her performance and help with learned helplessness. I disagree that long term goals would help--I think short term goals would allow her to see her own success in smaller steps, and give her feedback on her own performance in a way that would make her feel more in control (attribute success to controllable factors).
I like your ideas about using intrinsic motivation to improve confidence and self efficacy. Why would this be effective?