Learned Helplessness In Our Students And Learning How We HELP!

What Is Learned Helplessness?

• Before students even have a chance to see what they were working on they feel defeated.

• Learned helplessness “exists when individuals believe that their own behavior has no influence on consequent events” (Seligman, 1975).

Seligman believes this phenomenon is comprised of three different parts;

• (a) an undermining of one’s motivation to respond;

• (b) a retardation of one’s ability to learn that responding works; and

• (c) an emotional disturbance, usually depression or anxiety.

10 Ways to see if your student exhibits learned helplessness behaviors!

Does your student….

• 1. Prefer to do easy problems rather than hard ones?

• 2. Takes little independent initiative?• 3. Fail one part of a task and is certain to fail at

the entire task?• 4. Make negative or degrading comments

about his/her ability when s/he performs poorly?

• 5. Give up when you correct them?

Does your student….• 6. Stop trying when s/he encounters an obstacle in

school work?• 7. Asks for help from aides, other students more than

necessary?• 8. Fail a few problems, and continues to do poorly even

though the problems are within his/her ability range?• 9. Not respond with enthusiasm and pride when asked

how s/he is doing on an academic task?• 10. Attribute their good grade to luck, problems being

easy or you were being nice?

How does learned helplessness affect your students?

• The most common signs of learned helplessness are those of “shared depression symptoms such as passivity, interjected hostility, weight loss, appetite loss, and social deficits. In addition to these familiar signs, learned helplessness also has some diagnostic symptoms including depressed mood, feelings of worthlessness, and suicidal ideation

*Academic failures of the past lead to flawed deductive reasoning in children, the conclusion of which is that failure is the norm.

*This vicious cycle of failure, doubt and failure again can manifest in both academic achievement and social development. Thus learned helplessness is not only an additional learning barrier but also a comforting internal excuse.

*Once behind in academic skills, students feel hopeless and lose interest in even trying.

How can I teach these students?

• The first thing we can attempt with these students is forms of positive reinforcement.

• When good performance is achieved; perhaps positive verbal feedback, tokens, stickers or some type of reward for a job well done; anything that will give these students a pat on the back and make them feel worthy.

In addition to the positive praise we give students, we also need to be aware of the type of critical response we give.

Process criticism like ;

• "Maybe you can think of another way to do it?" leads to a healthier academic attitude.

• "I'm very proud of you" leads to student centered outcomes such as "I'm a success, I'm a failure;" whereas process praise like

• "You must have tried really hard" leades to challenge centered outcomes such as "I can do this" (Sutherland and Singh, 2004, pg. 175).

Conclusion

• In today’s society, our students have additional pressure for high academic performance from their parents, school systems, and state tests.

• This additional anxiety often leads to learned helplessness behaviors that we see in the classroom more and more. Although these behaviors are difficult to handle in our classroom management, it is our duty to try different methods to combat this condition.

We need to make conscious efforts to give special attention to these students

so that they may succeed in their academic career.

Lastly..

• As teachers ;

keep it simple: praise, praise, praise on procedure and model the positive behaviors in your classroom.