Understanding Learners

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Andre was very slow to begin his Crab Moon sheet, as he was reluctant to put away the drawing he was doing previously. Eventually he is asked to do so and he does. Andre begins working, however he periodically takes out his drawing. He allows himself to be distracted by Lian several times and converses with several other students sitting around him.

In other lessons Andre usually seems quite motivated, however today he seems to be quite disinterested and is allowing himself to be distracted. Perhaps means he is not enjoying the task.

I believe that Andre was extrinsically motivated to complete this task. At times he did not seem motivated at all, but when he eventually settled down and started working it was of poor quality with little to no effort involved. It appeared that Andre desired to complete the task as soon as possible in order to be finished and permitted to continue with the drawing he was working on before beginning the task.

How they relate to/affect each other

A child’s self-esteem has a significant impact on their motivation at school. Their perception of self-efficacy in relation to the task has them ask themselves, if I try, can I do this? Or will I fail? Combined with their emotional response to the task, this contributes to the child’s motivation to complete the task.

Berk, L 2006, ‘Self and social understanding’, Child Development, 7th edn, pp. 437-457.

McDevitt, TM, & Ormrod, JE 2004, Child Development: Educating and working with children and adolescents, 2nd edn, Pearson Merrill Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ.

O’Keefe, P 2012, week 2 – motivation, EEE208, 16th July, Burwood campus, Deakin University.