Teaching and Motivating the Adolescent Child

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Teaching and Motivating the Adolescent Child

• Presented by
• Dr. Warren Shillingburg
• CSN Education Professor

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Best of Times and Worst of Times

• Time of Evaluation
• Time of Decision Making
• Time of Commitment
• Time of Carving Out a Place in the World

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Issues

• Face more numerous demands and expectations
• Face less stable environments
• Not a homogeneous group
• Period of physical growth with puberty
• Hormonal changes
• Body image issues
• Early/late maturation
• Adolescent Egocentrism (David Elkind)
• Imaginary Audience everyone is looking at them
• Personal Fable - no one knows how they feel

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Developmental Learning Theories

• Piagets Cognitive Development Theory
• Concrete Operations (7-12 years old)
• Formal Operations (12-adult)
• webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/piaget.html
• Eriksons Psychosocial Development Theory
• Stage 4 Industry vs. Inferiority (6-12 years
  old)
• Stage 5 Identity vs. Role Confusion (12-18)
• webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/erikson.html

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Video Clip

• Peers most important aspect of lives
• Group affiliation important to self-concept and
  identity development
• Learn identity from peer group
• Social isolation linked to many problems
• Coaching has been shown to improve social skills

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Adolescent Development Issues

• Depending on childs mental development
  preschool-parents elementary-teachers
• Media big influence TV, magazines, music,
  videos, Internet
• Development of intimate relationships big part of
  later development for self-concept and searching
  for love (Charlies story)
• Discipline for major issues out of view of peers

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Theories of Motivation

• (defined as internal process that activates,
  guides, and maintains behavior over time)
• Behavioral Learning Theory (Skinner)
  Reinforcements and Punishments-Intrinsic more
  powerful, but may need to start with extrinsic
• www.bfskinner.org/home.html
• Maslows Human Need Theory Deficiency Needs to
  Growth Needs
• webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/maslow.html

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Maslows Hierarchy of Needs
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Theories of Motivation

• Motivation and Attribution Theory (Mindsets by
  Carolyn Dweck) What attribute successes and
  failures to will determine our motivation
• Ability, effort, task difficulty, or luck want
  to focus on effort, which is tough in schools
  with grades, etc.
• Develop an internal locus of control, due to own
  efforts and abilities external locus due to task
  difficulty and luck-have no control or power over
  these
• www.stanfordalumni.org/news/magazine/2007/marapr/f
  eatures/dweck.html

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Theories of Motivation

• Motivation and Expectancy Theory probability and
  incentive of success to motivate proper
  challenge (tennis example) achievement is better
  predicted from students beliefs than actual
  ability
• Motivation and Personality Theory
• Need to develop love of learning
• many through parents passions

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Enhancing Motivation

• Focus on learning, not performance
• Deal with learned helplessness (common in
  LD)-give opportunities for success by breaking
  tasks to smaller steps, giving immediate
  feedback, and consistent expectations and
  follow-through
• Teacher expectations-students will live up to
  your expectations

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THANK YOU
Enjoy the rest of your day!