MODULE 21: STUDENTS' (Wingfield, 1994 quoted by

DIVERSITY IN MOTIVATION Ormrod, 2004)

B.
Introduction: Students who, by  Elementary students tend to
themselves are already as diverse, attribute their successes to
also differ in motivation. This effort and hard work.
diversity in motivation may be  By adolescence, however,
traced to differences in age, students attribute success
developmental stage, and gender, and failure more to an ability
socio-economic, cultural that is fairly stable and
background. How these factors uncontrollable. Effort becomes
influence student’s motivation is the a sign of low ability (Nicholls,
concern? 1990: Paris & Cunningham,
1996 quoted by Ormrod, 2004
A.
 Young children often want to
C.
gain teachers; approval to be
 There are different
motivated while the older ones
motivational patterns for
are typically more interested
students belonging to ethnic
in gaining the approval of
communities, Students form
peers. (Juvonen and Weiner,
Asian-American families may
1993 quoted by Ormrod,
feel more pressured to
2004).
perform well in school.
 Student often become less
 Students’ cultural background
intrinsically motivated as they
can influence their
progress through the school
attributions. For instance,
year. (Harter, 1992 quoted by
students of Asian background
Ormrod, p.507) Learning goals
are more likely to attribute
may go by the wayside as
academic achievement to
performance goals become
unstable factors like effort and
more prevalent and as a
attribute appropriate or
result, students will begin to
inappropriate behaviors to
exhibit preference for easy
temporary situational factors
rather than challenging tasks.
that students brought up in
(Harter 1992: Igoe and
mainstream Western culture,
Sullivan, 1991 quoted by
(Lillard, 1997; Peak, 1993
Ormrod, 2004)
quoted by Ormrod 2004)
 Increasingly, student will
value activities that will have
D.
usefulness for them in their
 Females are more likely than
personal and professional
males to have a high need for
lives, and subjects that are
affiliation Block, 1983 by
not directly applicable will
Ormrod p.508.
decrease I n popularity,
  Females are also more
concerned about doing well in
school. They work harder on
assignments, earn higher
grades and are more likely to
graduate from high school.
(Halpern, 1992; McCall, 1994
quoted by Ormrod, 2004)
 We typically find more boys
than girls among our
“underachieving” builds
students.
E.
 Students from low-income
families are among those most
likely to be at risk of failing
and dropping out of school. A
pattern of failure may start
quite early for many lower-
income students especially if
they have not had the early
experiences upon which
school learning often builds.
F.
 Students with special
educational needs show the
greatest diversity
motivation. Some students
who are gifted may have high
intrinsic motivation to learn
classroom subject matter ,
yet they may become easily
bored if class activities don’t
challenge their abilities
(Friedel, 1993; Turnbull et al,
1999 quoted by Ormrod, 2004
 Students with specific or
general academic difficulties
(e.g. those with learning
disabilities, those with mental
retardation) may shows signs
of learned helplessness with
regard to classroom tasks,
especially if their past efforts
have been repeatedly met with
failure.( Deshler &
Schumaker, 1998; Jacobsen,
Lowery, & DuCette, 1986;
Seligman, 1975)
 Students who have difficulty
getting along with their
classmates (e.g. those with
emotional and behavioral
disorder) may inappropriately
attribute their social failures
to factors beyond their
control. (Heward, 1996 quoted
by Ormrod, 2004)
ABSTRACTION/GENERALIZATION
Our student’s motivation may
vary on account of age, gender,
cultural, socioeconomic background
and special education needs, our
class is a conglomerate of students
with varying ages and gender and
most especially cultural background
and socioeconomic status. Our
students’ motivational drives reflect
the elements of the culture in which
in
they grow up-their family, their
friends, school, church and books.
To motivate all of them for learning,
it is best to employ differentiated
approaches. “Different folks,
different strokes. “What is medicine
for one may be poison for another.
Two principles to consider
regarding social and cultural
influences on motivation are:
1. Students are most likely to
model the behaviors they
believe are relevant to their
situations
 2. Student develop greater
efficacy for a task when they Factor A- Intelligence and
see others like themselves Special Abilities-------50-60%
performing the task
successfully (Ormrod,2004) Factor B- Industry, Effort and
What conclusion can be Effective Study Methods-----
derived from the two 30-40%
principles? “Students need Factor C- Chance and
models who are similar to Environmental Factors------
themselves in terms of race, 10-15%
cultural background,
socioeconomic status, gender, Later in college… the
and (if applicable) disability proportions may change as
(Ormrod, 2004) such:

Then it must be good to Factor A- Intelligence and

expose our students to Special
models of their age and Abilities---------------------------
to models who come -30-40%
from similar cultural, Factor B- Industry, Effort and
socioeconomic Effective Study
backgrounds. Methods-------------50-60%
Factor C- Chance and
Do we have limit Environmental
ourselves to live Factors-------------------------
models? Not 10-15%
necessarily. We can
make our students Compare this with the
individuals who were in research findings in Activity B
situation similar to above. Do they job or do they
them. contradict each other? What is
your stand?
SYNAPSE STRENGTHENERS
1. From the Survival Kit
prepared by the Guidance
Office of St. Louis University,
success or achievement
depends not only on ability
and hard work but also on
effective methods of study,
Very roughly, the differences
between individuals in their
capacity for work and study
are determined by: