CASE STUDY IN MOTIVATION

EDU 615, Motivational Theory and Class Management: Module 8

Case Study in Motivation
December 21, 2013
Christopher Michele
University of New England

CASE STUDY IN MOTIVATION

I. Introduction:
Vincent is a fourth grade student and exhibits a constant roller coaster ride of emotions,
mostly relating to shutting down which causes him to be unmotivated to the point of extreme
difficulty. It seems, in every class, Vincent starts off very well as he performs his warm-up
exercises. This makes me think and believe he will have a great, productive day in my class. As
warm-ups end and I begin the description of my lesson for that day, I find Vincent immediately
becoming reckless in his assigned spot he is sitting on. As I get through the end of my
description, I can see the class is ready to begin the lesson.
An example of Vincents listening skills and lack of self-control is when a game is being
played that involves just throwing. As I view the whole class listening and following directions
correctly, I find Vincent kicking the ball. That is not a problem but when he kicks the ball and it
hits another student in the face, I then have to address the situation. After a few warnings, I have
to then sit Vincent out for a few minutes and that is where the breakdown intensifies. As Vincent
sits there, if a student looks at him or smiles at him, he thinks they are talking about him and
starts to scream and cry. He says Their laughing at me, tell them to stop!, as I have to calm
him down and explain they are not. A second example is when Vincent answers a question with
an answer that seems funny and the students laugh; he gets upset and feels they are making fun
of him. I have to explain to him they are laughing with him and not at him but that really does
not help mediate the situation.
Lastly, of the many situations that I have dealt with, Vincents lack of motivational
attitudes seems to be the worst. If he cannot perform to his expectations with a lesson, like

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making a basket when playing basketball, he quickly becomes frustrated and wants to give up
and sit down.
To get to know Vincent a little bit more he has an older sister, (that I also teach and is
nothing like Vincent) and a younger sister who is in Special Education (who I also teach). So, in
a sense, I feel for Vincent, but when he constantly cannot follow directions and needs to be
disciplined all the time, is when I put my foot down and have to be affirmative. I feel that after I
sent a few warning notices home to his parents, I found out more about Vincents home life.
When I have to send discipline notices home, I mention it to his older sister that Vincent has to
give it to his mother. I have sent notices home for Vincents mother to be read and brought back
the next day signed by her. One letter sent home is:
Dear Ms. ***:
Today, Vincent had a rough day because he was not able to follow the class rules and
directions during the lesson. Unfortunately, these turn of events have been continuous during my
classes for a few weeks now. I have tried to give Vincent the benefit of adjusting his actions but
he has not yet lived up to his promise. To make you understand the situation, for the past few
weeks, Vincent comes into my class screaming and runs around reckless weaving through and
around his other classmates. There were a few instances where Vincent actually leap-frogged
over two students and so sat him out immediately before warm-ups even began.
Other disciplinary problems with Vincent include when I ask the class to roll the bouncy
balls to the pinballs when we are playing pinball-prison ball. I found Vincent kicking the ball so
hard that he lost control and the ball struck an opposing classmate in the face who was a girl. I
am notifying you because Vincent is now making his girl classmates feel uncomfortable and
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scared to participate in the lessons. Vincent needs to know that he is not only putting himself in
danger but now his classmates as well and that is something the school will not tolerate. I have
notified my principle what has been going on with Vincent and is well aware of his
performances. If Vincent continues his behavioral issues, we will have to set up a student/parent
conference to discuss his behavior. I hope that we can put this matter behind us because when
Vincent does listen and follows directions, he is a great student. I will always believe in Vincent
and try to teach him to believe in himself. If you have any questions, please feel free to call the
school and speak with either myself or if you would like, our principal. Thank you for your time
and again I am always willing to give students chances and always will keep giving them to
Vincent as well.
Mr. Michele
School #5 Health & Physical Ed.

No matter how many notices I send home, I never get one signed let alone returned. As I
continued to learn about Vincents home life, I found out the child does have a difficult living
situation because his dad is not around and the mom isnt quite the best parent. Who am I to
say? But, in a sense, now a clearer picture is being painted as to why Vincent does act the way he
does. If there is no discipline at home, then it can be inferred this is the reasoning for these
disciplinary issues in school. It is unfortunate, but I will continue to send them home in hopes
one day the change comes for Vincent and he will start making positive decisions and thinks
about his actions before he does them.
II. Observations:

CASE STUDY IN MOTIVATION

I feel Vincent lacks one of the most important motivational theories, called Social
Cognitive Theory. This is described as one who has a role model that they look up to. I have a
student who uses the social cognitive theory excellently. Anderman & Anderman quotes
Bandura argued that human behavior involves triadic reciprocality among an individuals
personal attributes, environmental characteristics, and behaviors (2010, p. 6). I feel that this
student fits this theory because of the positive attitudes she embraces. She has great visual
learning styles and follows up on all lessons that I teach. One sport in particular that she is
incredible in is soccer and that is because of the background her father has in it. She says that
she enjoys the sport and mimicked what her father does at his practices and it shows how well
she can perform now. Students can be motivated to engage in behaviors they see modeled by
others, especially if the individual being observed is perceived as being similar to the observer
(Anderman & Anderman, 2010, p. 6). There is no better thing than to have a daughter modeling
her father and therefore that is why I chose her for social cognitive theory.
This is what I feel Vincent is lacking and only want to keep trying and maybe he can
realize teachers can be role models and he should not feel alone. I only hope that his mother will
become a better parent so Vincent has a constant role model in his life not just 8 hours a day at
school. Only time will tell and I know Vincent will continue the battle of dealing with his
behavioral issues. I only hope it will not be too late for Vincent when he does make these bad
behavioral decisions.
Another theory I hope that Vincent could one day achieve is the expectancy-value theory.
Compared to Vincent, I have a student that is definitely qualified for this theory. She is a third
grader and I could not be more proud of being her teacher because of what she does as a student.
I have been her teacher since she was in kindergarten and watched her become an excellent
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student. She is very active in my class and she is always there to help a student when they are
having difficulty completing the tasks of my lessons. It seems she strives in all three learning
styles but if I were to pick one of them it would be Kinesthetics. I feel she qualified for this
theory because she has all the aspects of it. Anderman & Anderman states that the basic tenet
underlying all of them is that motivation to engage with a task is determined by both ones
expectancies for success at a task and ones perceived valuing of the task (2010,p. 6). She
takes all my lessons seriously and goes beyond using my lessons to a whole other level. For
example, when she realizes she is doing something wrong, shell tell me that she apologizes for
the lack of self-control she was expressing and will do better from that point on. She would say
to a student they too are lacking self-control and to use it when I am addressing the class with
instruction. This is a great sign of a future leader and that it fits the description for the
expectancy-value theory. This again is a theory Vincent lacks and I feel he would have more
confidence and motivation in himself if he can do the things this student does.
Vincent also lacks another important motivational theory, goal orientation theory. Goal
orientation theorists are interested in students reasons for engaging in academic tasks
(Anderman & Anderman, 2010, p. 6). If there were a choice between mastery goals and
performance goals, Vincent would be better in performance goals. I feel this way because he
does not try to master the material but rather comparing what he does to others, which is why I
feel he is characterized in a performance goal. As I continued to read goal orientation theory, I
also feel Vincent is more of a performance avoider, which involves a focus on avoiding being
perceived as dumb or incompetent because of his past actions. I hope to change that and make
him more of an approach learner rather than an avoidance learner. I also feel this student lacks
self-determination because of the constant negativity he brings upon himself. He always says
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how he is terrible and cannot complete a lesson even if it is a simple task. I feel by using this
self-determination theory, I can find ways to motivate him by using the three basic needs:
autonomy, competence, and relatedness and then I can somehow change his attitude to a more
positive level. I chose this student for a case study because he is a student that I have had
difficulty motivating and I hope choosing him can help me change the situation from a negative
to a positive.
III. Effective Strategies:
When I ask myself what steps I would have to take to help Vincent accomplish his
challenges, I feel I have to incorporate differentiated instruction for him. Many teachers
incorrectly assume that differentiated instruction means giving some students more work to do,
and others less (Tomlinson, pg. 4, 2001). This is very important to be explained to Vincents
mother because when she does contact the school, it is to complain that his workload is too
strenuous for him. Vincent does have difficulty succeeding at maximum capacity but that does
not mean his mother should not spend time helping his needs so he can be successful in school.
The next solution I feel Vincent has an issue in is very informative and important which
must be discussed when introducing DI to him. I agree when Tomlinson states Differentiation
calls on a teacher to realize that classrooms must be places where teachers pursue our best
understandings of teaching and learning everyday (2001, pg. 17). Again, when Vincents
mother sees the positive grasp DI will have on Vincents needs, it will change the learning intake
for him.
Adapting to the students level of educational learning style and allowing them to interpret
the lesson you are teaching builds confidence in the student and they strive for positive attitudes.
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I believe differentiated instruction allows the students to build their confidence while at the same
time, allowing them to know they can do anything they want, rather than feeling discouraged and
negative towards themselves and life decisions for children like Vincent. In my P.E. class, I am
always using differentiated instruction with Vincent. For instance, Vincent uses DI during a
basketball lesson because I use three different size basketballs: a bouncy ball, a small basketball,
and a regular size basketball. Vincent has a choice to pick whichever ball he wants. Chapman
and King state Be aware of individual and group needs (p. 175, 2005). This type of DI
involves using three different size basketballs from a smaller to a medium to a regular size.
Vincent has a choice to use whichever ball he wants and this distracts the class from which one
he chooses. Adding to that, when he shoots, I have three different shooting lines or foul lines
you are allowed to stand on. The closest line is one point, followed by the second line worth two
points and the third worth three points. This as well masks differentiated instruction because the
students want to make a basket to achieve their points. If they do not make the basket they still
receive a half of a point. By using this learning style, it prevents Vincent from being discouraged
and embarrassed from the class and continues to build confidence in a positive way for him.
That is why I feel differentiated instruction is so important for a teacher to use during their
lessons for students like Vincent to use.
As a health and physical education teacher, I have a classroom not similar to any. You
can hear someones voice echo when you whisper in my class. When students enter my
gymnasium, which is not a large one by any means, they seem to become excited to the point
where they call out or begin to interrupt my lesson before it even begins. Time after time, I have
to repeat to Vincent about rules and what I expect from him. It seems as though each day
Vincent needs reminding of the school and classroom rules as if it were the first time he ever
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heard them. No matter what and no matter how many times I have to say the rules, I will never
give up on him because I believe one day he will understand what I am trying to teach him.
Wong states, Effective teachers spend a good deal of time during the first weeks of school
introducing, teaching, modeling, and rehearsing procedures (2007, p. 7). I agree with Wongs
statement because I am constantly trying to model these procedures and rules to show Vincent
how to properly act in school. A series of procedures and routines creates a structure for the
classroom (Wong, 2007). No matter how many times Vincent make these same mistakes, I
continue to repeat myself and go over rules and regulations knowing it will better my teaching
strategies but more importantly help Vincent understand the importances of structure and selfcontrol. I want Vincent to understand because that is why I continue to teach him the
significances of why you must follow rules.
IV Conclusion:
Throughout the years I have been teaching Vincent, I found his situation worsening. I can only
hope that one day he will break through this negative atmosphere and realize what kind of
potential he really has. His mother situation, I feel is a key trigger towards Vincents actions and
wish him nothing but the best with his parental struggles. His bad behavior throughout the
school needs to be priority number one for Vincent and he needs to realize how to control his
actions. Vincent is a bright child who just needs to find more self-control and classroom-rule
following skills. Vincent needs to be motivated to the maximum force because he does lack all
these features. All I know is that I am at least trying every day to help Vincent and I will continue
to try and help him become more familiar with self-control and self-confidence and teach him
what motivational expectations he should have for himself. It is unfortunate Vincent does have to

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go through this during his adolescent years but as his teacher, it will be my pleasure as well as
my duty to guide him and correct him during these hard times.

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Work Cited
Chapman, C., King, R. (2005) Differentiated assessment strategies: one tool doesn't fit all.
United States: Corwin Press, Inc.
Tomlinson, C. A. (2001). How to differentiate instruction in mixed-ability classrooms. (2 ed.).
Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision & Curriculum Development
Anderman, E. M., & Anderman L. H. (2010). Classroom motivation. Upper Saddle River, NJ:
Pearson Education, Inc.
Wong, H. K. (2007). The Well-Managed Classroom. Professional Reference For Teachers.
Retrieved from http://go.hrw.com/resources/go_sc/gen/HSTPR034.PDF.

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