Parental Psychological Support, Self-Efficacy and Self-Regulated Learning in Taiwan - Dissertation Example

The academic success of students is becoming more valuable with time, and it is often difficult for parents to provide their children with constant incentives for success. Children who like to study and have a personal investment in their own success are more likely than others to study without much supervision and to value their academic achievements. These children take pride in their successes and are driven by internal goals rather than external encouragement. They are able to make decisions that would help them achieve the said goals and turn to adults when they need inputs.

Children are not born with such internalized educational goals, and it is necessary to provide them with the appropriate environment that will help them to internalize the desire to succeed and the ability to set personal goals (Ryan & Deci, 2000). Such an environment may be provided by parents and the school, though parents play a more important role as compared to the teachers or the school (Soenens & Vansteenkiste, 2005). Children learn to respond to rules and targets set down by parents early in their lives.

Parents are a primary source of information, discipline, and appreciation for young children, and they quickly learn to internalize the goals and attitudes that gain them appreciation and affection from the parents. This makes it important that parents present the child with experiences that help to develop the qualities that they require in order to succeed. One such set of behaviors and attitudes have been discussed by the Self Determination Theory, a macro theory that attempts to explain human decisions, choices, and behaviors in terms of the source of motivation.

The term self – determination was initially coined to describe political and philosophical perspectives on the nature of the State and its governance and the attributes of the Person and was used to some extent in Psychology to describe the way humans viewed themselves.