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Purpose, Problem of Practice & Essential question (deliverable #1)
The main purpose of this portfolio is to guide educators through the knowledge of learned helplessness, by providing accurate information as to what it is, why we should consider it a matter of high importance, etc. In order to motivate them [educators] to seek learning about psychological strategies that will help their students on their path towards overcoming learned helplessness and improve their performance at school, achieve better grades, higher motivation and thus contributing to healthier learning environment.
The problem of practice is explicitly stated in the following statement. Motivation has always been one of the most important definers of success, this is partially because this is the invisible power that drives people’s motives and intentions in order to get them to a desired “ideal” place, state, etc. Why is motivation so important for learning success? It is the “key to persistence and to learning that lasts. The challenge is to help each person clarify his or her important purposes and then to find, or create, the combination of educational experiences that lead to those desired outcomes” (Chickering and Kuh, 2005, p. 1). Sadly, society carries a very damaging tendency that seems to transfer from one individual to another, hindering motivation and preventing students from reaching their full potential. This tendency is called “learned helplessness” and is truly a matter of much importance especially in the school setting. For this reason, educators must be very involved in the matter of getting their students into the right path that will guide them through the necessary steps towards motivation and a good self-concept about their innate potential to learn and succeed at school.
For this, the essential question that will guide this portfolio will be: How might overcoming learned helplessness give students the needed motivation to strive to learn and develop skills at school?
Textual Evidence and Explanations for Learned Helplessness Traits
(deliverable #2)
Important background and evidence for this behavior:
When an experimentally naive dog receives escape-avoidance training in a shuttle box, the following behavior typically occurs: at the onset of the first painful electric shock, the dog runs frantically about, defecating, urinating, and howling, until it accidentally scrambles over the barrier and so escapes the shock. On the next trial, the dog, running and howling, crosses the barrier more quickly than on the preceding trail.
This pattern continues until the dog learns to avoid shock altogether. We have found a striking difference between this pattern of behavior and that exhibited by dogs first given uncontrollable electric shocks in a Pavlovian hammock. Such a dog's first reactions to shock in the shuttle box are much the same as those of a naive dog. However, in dramatic contrast to a naive dog, a typical dog which has experienced uncontrollable shocks before avoidance training soon stops running and howling and sits or lies, quietly whining, until shock terminates.
The dog does not cross the barrier and escape from shock. Rather, it seems to give up and passively accepts the shock. On succeeding trials, the dog continues to fail to make escape movements and takes as much shock as the experimenter chooses to give.
We use the term "learned helplessness" to describe the interference with adaptive responding produced by inescapable shock and also as a shorthand to describe the process which we believe underlies the behavior. The phenomenon seems widespread, and such interference has been reported in dogs by a number of investigators. Nor is it restricted to dogs: deficits in instrumental responding after experience with uncontrollable shock has been shown in rats, cats, fish, mice, and men.
(Learned Helplessness, Martin E. P. Seligman, PH.D.1, Departments of Psychiatry and Psychology, University of Pennsylvania)
As we can read in this study, human and some animal minds have shown a "give up" tendency that tends to develop when there is a certain challenge ahead that has repeatedly been failed. Scientists have referred to this as learned helplessness. Specifically referring to humans, this can be a very harmful tendency, since it can restrict goal accomplishment, learning, knowledge increasing and the development of a good sense of self realization.
Professional Outcomes
Professional Outcomes
(deliverable #3)
The following are excerpts found on the book "Child Development and Education" by Pearson and my personal insights on them.
Children settle into patterns of making certain kinds of attributions. When young people have frequent success in new endeavors, they gain confidence that they can master a variety of tasks. They attribute their accomplishments to their own ability and effort and have an I can do it attitude known as a mastery orientation. Yet other youngsters, especially those who encounter a consistent string of failures, become increasingly pessimistic about their chances for future success. They develop an I can’t do it attitude known as learned helplessness (508).
Achievement leads to success and an increased self-stem and confidence in student's own abilities. In the other side failure leads to pessimism, and a "I can't do it attitude", for that reason I consider that teachers can contribute to the first type of outcome by making sure their students students understand failure from an "opportunity for growth" point of view.
2. Even when children with a mastery orientation and those with learned helplessness initially have equal ability, those with a mastery orientation behave in ways that cause higher achievement over the long run. In particular, they set ambitious goals, seek out new challenges, and persist in the face of obstacles. Children with learned helplessness behave quite differently. Because they underestimate their ability, they set goals they can easily accomplish, avoid challenges that might enhance their learning, and respond to failure in counterproductive ways (e.g., giving up quickly; Altermatt & Broady, 2009; Seligman, 1991; Ulusoy & Duy, 2013) (508).
Mastery orientation can help children with learned helplessness traits to still be able to persist in obstacles and avoid underestimating their abilities.
3. Among factors influencing children’s motivation are the attributions children make regarding their successes and failures in particular activities. Children are most optimistic when they attribute both successes and failures to internal factors that they can control (e.g., amount of effort and use of good strategies). Ultimately, some children acquire a general I can do it attitude (a mastery orientation), whereas others acquire an I can’t do it even if I try attitude (learned helplessness). Children’s mind-sets about intellectual growth or fixed status are connected with their goals and learning strategies; the growth mind-set is more favorable in an achievement setting (512).
Children's perceptions on their own abilities can be affected by how well they perform in certain things. However, they can remain optimistic if they learn to effectively attribute their successes and failures to internal factors they can control. Educators can contribute to this by helping them ponder about this.
4. Children’s motivational goals and beliefs are affected by personal characteristics and experiences. Children’s temperaments and any disabilities they might have affect how they display their curiosity as well as their ability to delay gratification and exercise self-determination. Boys and girls exhibit a few differences in motivation, particularly in their interests, academic aspirations, and confidence. Cultural values partly determine how children express their autonomy, persist with tasks, make attributions, and form aspirations for the future. During childhood, students’ goals become multifaceted, future-oriented, and intertwined with reflection (512).
Educators must be mindful of children's disabilities and temperaments. Sometimes they might just have a more difficult time than other children performing certain tasks but that does not necessarily mean they have developed learned helplessness.
5. People with depression feel exceptionally sad, discouraged, and hopeless; they may also feel restless, sluggish, helpless, worthless, or unusually guilty. Children with depression may be unresponsive to caregivers, withdraw from social interactions with peers, report such physical complaints as headaches and stomach pain, and be perpetually sad or irritable (Alba, Calvete, Wante, Van Beveren, & Braet, 2018; Braaten, 2011; A. Carr, 2014). Depressed youngsters may have trouble concentrating, keeping up with usual activities, eating, and sleeping (American Psychiatric Association, 1994). A variation of depression, bipolar disorder, occurs when individuals experience periods of extreme elation and hyperactivity as well as phases of deep depression (493)
Educators must also stay aware of any signs of depression on children, this illness can trigger, among many other things, low performance in school, low self-stem and a sense of learned helplessness.
6. Learned helplessness occasionally appears as early as age 4 or 5 after a history of failure. By age 5 or 6, a few children begin to show an inclination toward learned helplessness. They express little confidence about tackling challenging tasks and quickly abandon activities at which they initially struggle (McMillan & Jarvis, 2013; D. I. Ziegert, Kistner, Castro, & Robertson, 2001). By and large, however, children seldom exhibit extreme forms of learned helplessness before age 8, perhaps because they still believe that success is due largely to their own efforts (Eccles et al., 1998; Lockhart, Chang, & Story, 2002; S. G. Paris & Cunningham, 1996) (509)
Learned helplessness can start early on during a child's life after failure. One was educators and parents can recognize this trait is by noticing little confidence in themselves and their abilities.
Identified needs and suggestions for educators to deal with learned helplessness in the classroom
(deliverable #4)
Instruction should meet diverse learning needs by:
Promoting growth mindset over fixed mindset.
Developing meaningful and respectful relationships with their teacher and classmates.
Establishing high expectations and establish clear goals.
Fostering affirmation and rewards.
Demonstrating structure.
How to effectively create learning experiences that are based on assessment; cognitive, social, and emotional development theory; and best practices: (applied to this topic)
Learn about strategies to overcome helplessness and implement one every week, record the outcomes.
Reach out to a different professionals, and educators to get their input on the topic and ask for personal experiences helping students.
Study about learned helplessness often, including strategies for overcoming it, and organize an action plan to implement in the classroom.
Major characteristics, triggers and strategies to cope with Learned Helplessness
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