Louis R. Martino
May 1, 1993
Citations
2
Influential Citations
10
Citations
Journal
Middle School Journal
Abstract
Many young adolescent students are frustrated, reluctant learners. They may seem resigned to learned helplessness—the sense, based on their past experiences, that nothing they do will matter. This self-defeating behavior has led many of these young adolescents to become failure-accepting students. Their sense of self-worth has deteriorated. They have convinced themselves that their problems have resulted from low ability, and they believe there is little hope for change. Just telling students that "trying harder" will lead to future achievement is not particularly effective. In order for these students to believe their situation could change, they will need real proof that their efforts will pay off. This article offers a goal-setting strategy that can help young students become failure avoiding instead of failure-accepting students. Recently, educational research has focused on goal development in at risk young adolescents as a powerful method of helping them develop responsibility and an "I am-ness" in achieving academic success. Atman and Hanna (1987) have identified steps by which successful students manifest goal-oriented efforts. They include recognizing a problem, setting a goal, visualizing how to achieve the goal, organizing, beginning to make it happen, pushing forward without procrastination, concluding the activity, and fitting the achievement into a long-range sense of purpose. Locke, Saari, Shaw, and Latham (1981) concluded that in about 90% of the studies analyzed on the effects of goal-setting and task performance, writing specific and challenging goals led to higher performance than did writing vague goals. Although the authors' review drew heavily on business and management data where goals are usually assigned instead of individually chosen, the authors also found that goal-setting is likely to improve task performance by directing attention, mobilizing effort, and increasing persistence. Atman and Hanna (1987) hypothesized that goal-oriented behaviors of students in grades 6-8, distinguish those who are achieving from those who are not. Non-achievers appear to lack conative development, desire, and practice in striving. Givens (1990) stated the difference between those who accomplish their dreams and those who only dream of accomplishing them is planning and control. Thus, discouraged students can become successful learners when