Philosophy and Theories
Children have a need to be loved and feel self-worth (The Glasser Approach, 2010). Relationships between teachers and students are important to build self-management, self-efficacy, motivation, and engagement in students for success. In order to manage behavior, teachers need to know how a student learns, what motivates them, and what structures and routines work best for a student to learn.
Children seek meaning in information and reconstruct that information to make it their own. The individuality in students causes them to learn in different ways. Teachers can collaborate with students to develop a meaningful construction of information that leads to higher thinking skills (Vygotsky, 2014). In collaboration, teachers help develop students as learners where they can learn different ways to learn. It teaches a child self-management skills as they learn to take responsibility for their own learning and behaviors.
Individual performance gives the student information for self-evaluation (Schunk, 1985). Understanding instructions and explanations with cognitive modeling builds self-efficacy and promotes skill development. The more successes students have, the higher self-efficacy they gain. The educational practices a teacher provides are important influences in a student's self-efficacy.
A child's motivation is influenced by both internal and external factors. Pain from consequences, rewards of grades or praise, a need for peer interaction, or to receive a special prize are all external factors that motivate children. At the same time, internal factors of making a parent proud, wanting to be the best, or wanting a specific goal drive motivation. A teacher can drive motivation best by focusing on the inner motivations to seek the meaning a child craves. To do this, a teacher should give choices and encourage challenges the build growth.
Self-efficacy makes a significant difference in attitude, behavior, and achievement (Hicks, 2012). It builds motivation for learning. Teachers can build motivation in students with support, encouragement, listening, accepting them where they are, trusting, respecting, and negotiating the differences (The Glasser Approach, 2010). Being a role model, nurturing responsibility, being fair, and giving natural and logical consequences can motivate students who do not care (Bauman, 2009).
Active self-engagement increases with opportunity for student response (Simonsen, 2008). Allowing a student opportunity for response helps build a child's sense of self-worth and helps them feel they belong in the classroom. It also encourages engagement among peers in classroom activities. The teacher/student relationship should build core values of mutual respect for diverse cultures and a spirit of honesty. Focusing on core values enables students to learn about and interact with other cultures with respect and dignity.
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