Relfection 4: Self-Efficacy Sources

            One of the most interesting things to me from the readings this week is the different sources of self-efficacy. There are many ways that students create a positive or negative sense of self-efficacy. It is important as educators that we always find the most effective combination of these sources to keep students motivated. Many of these sources are centered on how a person perceives certain actions or experiences, but because we are a driving force able to help with motivation, it is important that we help create positive perceptions.

Performance Outcomes

“If people experience only easy successes they come to expect quick results and are easily discouraged by failure. A resilient sense of efficacy requires experience in overcoming obstacles through perseverance effort. Some setbacks and difficulties in human pursuits serve a useful purpose in teaching that success usually requires sustained effort. After people become convinced they have what it takes to succeed, they persevere in the face of adversity and quickly rebound from setbacks. By sticking it out through tough times, they emerge stronger from adversity.”

This passage is one of the most interesting things I have read throughout this course. The passage above speaks to not only perseverance, but also to the fact that struggling is sometimes a good thing. This passage is speaking about past experiences. If a student has many experiences where they overcome obstacles they are more likely to be motivated even when something is hard. Many kids think that once they are bad at something they will never be good at it and give up. If we create the right combination of challenging tasks and easy tasks, then students can have a positive outlook on future obstacles that may arise. This passage reaffirms my belief that even if you may struggle with something, that struggle can be worth it in the end if it helps you overcome a bigger mountain.

Vicarious Experience (modeling)

            I think that this source of positive self-efficacy is the most obvious. If students see others succeeding at something they are trying to do, they become more motivated to succeed themselves. This is especially true in football. If you are on a competitive team, then you fight everyday for your position. You always judge how well you are doing based on how the other player going for your spot is doing. Yes, at the end of the day you are on the same team, but there is still that competitive nature that drives you to want to do better. You judge your own capability by the capability of those in the same position as yourself.

Social Persuasion

            Social Persuasion is probably the most important source of positive self-efficacy that educators have the largest hand in. This is basically coaching. This is someone telling the student that they can do the task in front of them. Just like football teams have a coaching staff, so should students. A football team has a head coach, but there are also many other coaches that help keep the team going. Each position has a coach responsible for keep each position’s players on track and motivated to do their job. I think this same thinking should be applied to students. Each student needs a coach to reassure them that they can do whatever they put his or her mind to.

            I know from personal experience that I always needed that one person in my corner to really push me to keep trying. Just one person can have a major impact in another person’s efforts. Sometimes its that little boost that will help a student continue to keep trying.

Emotional Status    

           

            This source of positive self-efficacy tells me to try my best to keep my students happy. When a student is happy they are more likely to want to do anything, and that is just common sense. If a kid feels sad, they will be less likely to be motivated to keep trying when they are doing poorly. Negative attitudes lead to negative results. Keeping kids motivated has a lot to do with how they feel, and if they feel bad, then they believe they will do badly.

I highlighted the sources of self-efficacy during this reflection because I feel like it is important for us to know how we can setup our students to have the best shot possible to succeed. There are a lot of ways we can affect these sources, and it is important that we make a positive impact.