Motivation is the psychological feature that arouses an organism to action toward a desired goal and elicits, controls, and

sustains certain goal directed behaviors. For instance: An individual has not eaten, he or she feels hungry, and as a response he or she eats and diminishes feelings of hunger. There are many approaches to motivation: physiological, behavioural, cognitive, and social. Motivation may be rooted in a basic need to minimize physical pain and maximize pleasure, or it may include specific needs such as eating and resting, or for a desired object. Conceptually, motivation is related to, but distinct from, emotion.

Motivation concepts
Motives can be divided into two types: external and internal. Internal motives are considered as the needs that every human being experience, while external indicate the presence of specific situations where these needs arise.
Intrinsic motivation: Intrinsic motivation refers to innate desire to initiate, sustain and direct reading activity for its own sake (e.g. a person is doing an activity for his own sake) Extrinsic motivation: Extrinsic motivation refers to sustaining and directing reading activity for a reward or grade (e.g. a person is doing the activity to receive some benefits).

Intrinsic motivation refers to motivation that is driven by an interest or enjoyment in the task itself, and exists within the individual rather than relying on any external pressure. Intrinsic motivation is based on taking pleasure in an activity rather than working towards an external reward. Intrinsic motivation has been studied by since the early 1970s. Students who are intrinsically motivated are more likely to engage in the task willingly as well as work to improve their skills, which will increase their capabilities Children's motivation for reading: Domain specificity and instructional influences. The Journal of Educational Research, Students are likely to be intrinsically motivated if they:

attribute their educational results to factors under their own control, also known as autonomy, believe they have the skill that will allow them to be effective agents in reaching desired goals (i.e. the results are not determined by luck), are interested in mastering a topic, rather than just rote-learning to achieve good grades.

Intrinsic motivation occurs when people are internally motivated to do something because it either brings them pleasure, they think it is important, or they feel that what they are learning is significant.

Intrinsic motivation and the 16 basic desires theory

Starting from studies involving more than 6,000 people, Professor Steven Reiss has proposed a theory that found 16 basic desires that guide nearly all human behavior.[5][6] The 16 basic desires that motivate our actions and define our personalities as:

Acceptance, the need for approval Curiosity, the need to learn Eating, the need for food Family, the need to raise children Honor, the need to be loyal to the traditional values of one's clan/ethnic group Idealism, the need for social justice Independence, the need for individuality Order, the need for organized, stable, predictable environments Physical activity, the need for exercise Power, the need for influence of will Romance, the need for sex Saving, the need to collect Social contact, the need for friends (peer relationships) Social status, the need for social standing/importance

Some motivational researchers believe that intrinsic motivation is the key to student success. If a student is intrinsically motivated, the student wants to read the material because he or she is interested in it. Educators often only think of basil readers and trade books when promoting reading. Although trade books are very importing to reading education, there are many other materials that can promote reading (Collins, Decker, 1996). "Newspapers, magazines, games, films and audio and video tapes offer additional ways for students to acquire information" (Collins, Decker, 1996). These information sources all have the potential of getting students interests. nother strategy that is used to promote intrinsic motivation is to find topics that students are interested in learning more about and have the students research it (Guthrie, Solomon, 1997). The students want to read the material because they are so determined to learn more about the subject; they will also want to work hard at it because they picked it out (Hunt, Lyman, 1997). Students can break the barrier of his or her instructional level when he or she is strongly interested (Hunt, Lyman, 1997). "Providing students with access to reading materials is crucial... students can be simultaneously encouraged and broadened" (Worthy, Moorman, Turner, 1999). This strategy not only provides intrinsic motivation for the time, but helps the students see a point to reading (maybe even on their own) (Guthrie, Solomon, 1997). There are other activities that can create intrinsic motivation in reading. Students can read the lyrics of songs or they can read poems (Hadley, Hadley, 1991). The different format of the writing can be less intimidating and thus decreasing the reasons for students not to be

motivated to do work (Hadley, Hadley, 1991). "Opportunities for self-expression are crucial to (intrinsic) motivation" (Guthrie, Solomon, 1997). These can be used at all levels (Carratello, 1991). First grade students can do something as basic as a "Poem Stew" (Carratello, 1991).

Yet, other researchers claim that simply discussion intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation is not enough (Metsala, McCann, Dacey, 1997). Some researchers say that there are eight motivating factors that educators must look at: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Reading efficacy (Intrinsic): Student belief that he or she can do the task. Reading Challenge (Intrinsic): Student satisfaction in mastering text ideas. Reading Curiosity (Intrinsic): Student is interested in learning about a topic. Reading Topics Aesthetically Enjoyed (Intrinsic): Student enjoyment of experiencing different kinds of informational texts. Recognition for Reading (Extrinsic): Positive reinforcement for student reading. Social Reasons for Reading (Extrinsic): Student is able to tell peers or family about something that they read. Competition in Reading (Extrinsic): Student wants to out do others in reading. Reading Work Avoidance (Extrinsic): Student desire to avoid difficult reading activities. (Metsala, McCann, Dacey, 1997)

Other researchers believe that the following are the six motivating factors that educators must look at: 1. Attitudes (i.e., sentiments toward the learning community and the target language) 2. Beliefs about self (i.e., expectancies about one's attitudes to succeed, selfefficacy, and anxiety) 3. Goals (i.e., perceived clarity and relevance of learning goals as reasons for learning) 4. Involvement (i.e., extent to which the learner actively and consciously participates in the language learning process) 5. Environmental support (i.e., extent of teacher and peer support, and the integration of cultural and outside-of-class support into learning experience) 6. Personal Attributes (i.e., aptitude, age, sex, and previous language learning experience) (Ngeow, 1998). INTELLIGENCE from "Intelligence: Knowns and Unknowns" (1995), a report published by the Board of Scientific Affairs of the American Psychological Association: Individuals differ from one another in their ability to understand complex ideas, to adapt effectively to the environment, to learn from experience, to engage in various forms of reasoning, to overcome obstacles by taking thought. Although these individual differences can be substantial, they are never entirely consistent: a given person's intellectual performance will vary on different occasions, in different domains, as judged by different criteria. Concepts of "intelligence" are attempts to clarify and organize this complex set of phenomena. Although

considerable clarity has been achieved in some areas, no such conceptualization has yet answered all the important questions, and none commands universal assent. Indeed, when two dozen prominent theorists were recently asked to define intelligence, they gave two dozen, somewhat different, definitions.

LEARNING STYLES are various approaches or ways of learning. They involve educating methods, particular to an individual, that are presumed to allow that individual to learn best. Most people prefer an identifiable method of interacting with, taking in, and processing stimuli or information. Based on this concept, the idea of individualized "learning styles" originated in the 1970s, and acquired "enormous popularity".[1] Proponents say that teachers should assess the learning styles of their students and adapt their classroom methods to best fit each student's learning style, which is called the "meshing hypothesis".[2][3] The basis and efficacy for these proposals are extensively criticized. Although children and adults express personal preferences, there is no evidence that identifying a student's learning style produces better outcomes, and there is significant evidence that the widespread "meshing hypothesis" (that a student will learn best if taught in a method deemed appropriate for the student's learning style) is invalid.[1] Well-designed studies "flatly contradict the popular meshing hypothesis".[1]

Neil Fleming's VAK/VARK model

One of the most common and widely-used [16] categorizations of the various types of learning styles is Fleming's VARK model (sometimes VAK) which expanded upon earlier Neuro-linguistic programming (VARK) models:[17] 1. visual learners; 2. auditory learners; 3. kinesthetic learners or tactile learners.[18] Fleming claimed that visual learners have a preference for seeing (think in pictures; visual aids such as overhead slides, diagrams, handouts, etc.). Auditory learners best learn through listening (lectures, discussions, tapes, etc.). Tactile/kinesthetic learners prefer to learn via experiencemoving, touching, and doing (active exploration of the world; science projects; experiments, etc.). Its use in pedagogy allows teachers to prepare classes that address each of these areas. Students can also use the model to identify their preferred learning style and maximize their educational experience by focusing on what benefits them the most.

Anthony Gregorc's model

Dennis W. Mills discusses the work of Anthony F. Gregorc and Kathleen A. Butler in his article entitled "Applying What We Know: Student Learning Styles". Gregorc and Butler worked to organize a model describing how the mind works.[8] This model is based on the existence of perceptionsour evaluation of the world by means of an approach that makes sense to us. These perceptions in turn are the foundation of our specific learning strengths, or learning styles. In this model, there are two perceptual qualities 1) concrete and 2) abstract; and two ordering abilities 1) random and 2) sequential.[8] Concrete perceptions involve registering information through the five senses, while abstract perceptions involve the understanding of ideas, qualities, and concepts which cannot be seen. In regard to the two ordering abilities, sequential involves the organization of information in a linear, logical way and random involves the organization of information in chunks and in no specific order.[8] Both of the perceptual qualities and both of the ordering abilities are present in each individual, but some qualities and ordering abilities are more dominant within certain individuals.

Sudbury model of democratic education

Some critics (Mazza) of today's schools, of the concept of learning disabilities, of special education, and of response to intervention, take the position that every child has a different learning style and pace and that each child is unique, not only capable of learning but also capable of succeeding. Sudbury Model democratic schools in the United States assert that there are many ways to study and learn. They argue that learning is a process you do, not a process that is done to you, and that this is true of everyone; it's basic.[9] The experience of Sudbury model democratic schools shows that there are many ways to learn without the intervention of teaching, to say, without the intervention of a teacher being imperative. In the case of reading for instance in the Sudbury model democratic schools, some children learn from being read to, memorizing the stories and then ultimately reading them. Others learn from cereal boxes, others from games instructions, others from street signs. Some teach themselves letter sounds, others syllables, others whole words. Sudbury model democratic schools adduce that in their schools no one child has ever been forced, pushed, urged, cajoled, or bribed into learning how to read or write; and they have had no dyslexia. None of their graduates are real or functional illiterates, and no one who meets their older students could ever guess the age at which they first learned to read or write.[10] In a similar form students learn all the subjects, techniques, and skills in these schools.

Self-concept
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (Redirected from Self concept)

Jump to: navigation, search "Self-construction" redirects here. For other uses, see Self-construction (disambiguation). Not to be confused with Self-awareness, Self-consciousness, Self image, or Self-perception.

Self-concept (also called self-construction, self-identity or self-perspective) is a multidimensional construct that refers to an individual's perception of "self" in relation to any number of characteristics, such as academics (and nonacademics),[1][2][3][4][5] gender roles and sexuality,[6][7][8] racial identity,[9] and many others. Each of these characteristics is a research domain (i.e. Academic Self-Concept) within the larger spectrum of self-concept although no characteristics exist in isolation as ones self-concept is a collection of beliefs about oneself.[10][11] While closely related with self-concept clarity (which "refers to the extent to which self-knowledge is clearly and confidently defined, internally consistent, and temporally stable"),[12] it presupposes but is distinguishable from selfawareness, which is simply an individual's awareness of their self. It is also more general than self-esteem, which is a function of the purely evaluative element of the selfconcept.[13] The self-concept is an internal model which comprises self-assessments.[14] Features assessed include but are not limited to: personality, skills and abilities, occupation(s) and hobbies, physical characteristics, etc. For example, the statement "I am lazy" is a selfassessment that contributes to the self-concept. However, the statement "I am tired" would not be part of someone's self-concept, since being tired is a temporary state and a more objective judgment. A person's self-concept may change with time as reassessment occurs, which in extreme cases can lead to identity crises. Another model of self-concept contains three parts: self-esteem, stability, and selfefficacy. Self-esteem is the "evaluative" componentit is where one makes judgments about his or her self-worth. Stability refers to the organization and continuity of one's self-concept. Is it constantly in flux? Can singular, relatively trivial events drastically affect your self-esteem? The third element, self-efficacy, is best explained as selfconfidence. It is specifically connected with one's abilities, unlike self-esteem.[15] Researchers debate when self-concept development begins but agree on the importance of persons life. Tiedemann (2000) indicates that parents gender stereotypes and expectations for their children impact childrens understandings of themselves by approximately age 3.[16] Others suggest that self-concept develops later, around age 7 or 8, as children are developmentally prepared to begin interpreting their own feelings, abilities and interpretations of feedback they receive from parents, teachers and peers about themselves.[17] Despite differing opinions about the onset of self-concept development, researchers agree on the importance of ones self-concept, influencing peoples behaviours and cognitive and emotional outcomes including (but not limited to) academic achievement, levels of happiness, anxiety, social integration, self-esteem, and life-satisfaction.[18][19][20]

Furthermore, the self-concept is not restricted to the present. It includes past selves and future selves. Future or possible selves represent individuals' ideas of what they might become, what they would like to become, or what they are afraid of becoming. They correspond to hopes, fears, standards, goals, and threats. Possible selves may function as incentives for future behavior and they also provide an evaluative and interpretive context for the current view of self.[21] The perception that people have about their past or future selves is related to the perception of their current self. Temporal self-appraisal theory [22] argues that people have a tendency to maintain a positive evaluation of the current self by distancing negative selves and bringing close positive selves. In addition, people have a tendency to perceive the past self less favourably [23] (e.g., I'm better than I used to be) and the future self more positively [24] (e.g., I will be better than I am now).