Transforming Students’ Motivation to Learn

Carol S. Dweck

Winter 2008

“the belief that intelligence is fixed dampened students motivation to learn, made

them afraid of effort, and made them want to quit after a setback.”

Aristotle once said: “ The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet.”
Such an iconic message emphasizes that hard work, specifically in education, can
lead to rewarding intellectual, personal, and overall beneficial triumphs. However,
what entails a proper education? Societal standards of a proper education are not
random, rather structurally formed for a greater purpose. For example, in today’s
society we are more fixed in how an intelligent person is “supposed” to be that we
may forget to think out of the box (the box being societal constructs defining what
a favorable outcome should be) and overlook other aspects of intelligence. The
present day educational system may be training students that failure is not aloud,
but it is simultaneously discouraging students to do something they may be
passionate about. By instilling a system that doesn’t explore an individuals
strengths and weaknesses and exploring those strengths and weaknesses in relation
to the individuals capabilities, we are setting a gold standard that all must abide by:
the grading system. By certain measurements, intelligence is could be based on the
amount of information someone may have simply memorized with no clear deeper
understanding all for the sake of completing an end goal, for example: being able to
regurgitate world history for the sake getting a degree non-related to world history.
instead children are inforced into a system that doesn’t necesarly tailor an
individulas talents. We forget to think that there are different types of intelligence,
labeling the kids by being “smart” or “dumb” based on a grade they get. As Katy
Silva says in “J- Child Psychol. Psychiat. Vol. 35, No. 1, pp. 135-170, 1994”, “The
learning of specific knowledge and skills is a direct effect of classroom teaching
(Good & Brophy, 1986b). However, social cognitions and feelings are also
influenced by school and these may be just as powerful in predicting later outcome
as intelligence or school curriculum. Such indirect effects of school are more
elusive because they are mediated by children's motivation to learn or avoid
learning, their conception of themselves as pupils, and the attributions they create
for explaining success and failure.”. The reminder of paper examination might
influence the child in a good or a bad way, by that I mean that it can motivate him
or make him give up because he already was considered “dumb” so he was
predisposed to fail. Also the pressure, and imposition of subjects to a student would
make them not want to study, for example my cousin she would always slack of
from studies, while her mother is forcing her to by comparing her to other children,
and comparing her grades, and such comparison is making feel even dumber,
because he didn’t get a grade as big as x and y at math, but she does great in the art
field, but because of those imposed rules, she has to excel at everythong. On the
other hand the fact that teachers also have preferences, preferring the students that
get higher grades and focus mostly on them doesn’t help. As an additional example
I will use myself, back when I was in middle school there was a group of girls with
higher social status, better tutors, so obviously they will get better grades, the
teachers would only focus on them, they would explain only to the the ones in
favour, and grade them better, as well as taking them easier on their asigments,
while with the “common” or “dumb” students they were more harsh and unfair,
especially, they would grade them lower than the “smart” students just by assuming
they didn’t do enough because they are too “dumb” to get a better grade. This kind
of social and educational imposed rules can cause the student to give up and lose
hope on studying, as he got used to be the “dumb” student, and he wouldn’t care
anymore.
In conclusion, we should emphasize more with the skills of the students, drop the
labels, while encouraging them to focus on what they are good at, and on what they
could excel, with this students will feel more confident, and more eager to learn
and evolve.