Education in Liberia - Essay Example

Download file to see previous pages ?Assignment My final project will report on education in Liberia. I will pay particular attention to teenage girls and how their education has beenignored. I will also talk about their motivation that may be present and what their needs may be for education. I would think that going into this country to help these children would take a strong personality for someone who did not know the children well. What does it take for a person to be happy? How does personality affect the individual's ability to be happy? These were questions that came to my mind when I started reading this chapter. Reeve (2009) points to research that suggests that extroverts are happier than introverts but I am not sure this is true. I know several introverts who live very happy lives without having to be very social. When I think about teens in Liberia, I would think that many of them would be happy with their lives because they may have no reason not to be happy. As an example, these children may all have similar experiences that move them more towards happiness than towards sadness. Many of the girls will be motivated to achieve more because they are feeling happy. Reeve (2009) states that arousal is important when thinking about motivation. The inverted-U curve suggests that when someone has a low level of arousal they are more likely to have a poor level of performance. In my understanding, arousal could be seen as engagement. In other words, if someone is engaged in learning, they are more prone to follow through with their goals. The girls may have a low level of arousal in the beginning, but if their education is stimulating and begins to engage them, they would be more prone to have a higher level of arousal. I would also think that stress would come into play with else girls because they may not have been in a classroom or formal education in the past. This could initially mean that they could become overly aroused. Reeves states that this could cause anxiety and other negative emotions that could impede their progress. When looking at personality and goal achievement, Jayasurija, Caputi, Gregory and Meloche (2007) found that students with a high achievement motivation were more prone to develop self-efficacy skills in computer use. They saw that goal orientation was a personality trait for those students who were the most motivated were more prone to develop self-efficacy skills in computer use. They saw that goal orientation was a personality trait for those students who were the most motivated to achieve their goals. Lee, Sheldon, and Turban (2003) suggest that individuals must have an understanding of self-control in order to develop strong mental focus. Mental focus helps an individual become more involved in their goal orientation, thus allowing a student to have a way to feel more positive about achieving their goals. Mental focus would also help in perceived control when an individual has challenges sticking to their goal. Students in Liberia may have difficulty understanding how to set and achieve goals but it would seem that their personalities would show quickly as to those who would have a higher or lower level of perceived control. Reeve (2009) states that those with higher levels of perceived control would be more apt to move their goals from inaction to action. References Jayasuriya, R., Caputi, P., Gregory, P, and Meloche, J. (2007). The role of achievement goal orientation in the development of self-efficacy during computer training. Retrieved February 5, 2011 from http://www.pacis-net.org/file/2007/1288.pdf Lee, F.K., Sheldon, K.M., and Turban, D.B. (2003). Personality and the goal striving process: The influence of achievement goal patterns, goal level, and mental focus on performance and enjoyment. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88 (2), 256-265. Doi: 10.1037/0021-9010.88.2.256 Reeve. J. (2009). Understanding motivation and emotion (5th ed.). CA: Wiley. Assignment 3 Loretta is a professional illustrator who decided to go back to school. She chose a well known, accredited correspondence school that also provides college credit. Her long-term goal is to become an internationally known illustrator and writer of children's books She has been an artist since she was 16 years old and has sold many paintings by private commissions. She want to make her work available on a larger scale. Currently, she is working on several projects as she goals to school, in addition to her school projects. School is answering questions for her that she was not able to answer on her own (she is a self-taught artist). She wants to achieve this goal because, as she explains it, "paint runs through her veins". When asked to say more about this, she says that she has never wanted to do anything else in her life except her art. She has never held a job in the past, she has only created art. To date, she has been somewhat successful, but her health has sometimes held her back. Her health is one of the barriers she faces, but she tries not to let it stop her form achieving her goal. She knows she needs help to create a website and with marketing; she has someone to help her with this goal when she is ready. Loretta is a very outgoing and pleasant woman. She is very driven to achieve her goals and one can tell that although she has struggled, she is able to move through the struggles. Loretta seems to have a high level of intrinsic motivation. She has shown this through the fact that she has worked with many people through commissions. She has held a couple of menial jobs in her life but she only kept them a short time and went back to her art. She is on disability but wants to make consistent income with her art so she can get off disability. Loretta is highly engaged in her art. Reeve (2004) states that this is important to insure that someone will be persistent in accomplishing their goal. One example of this with Loretta is that she had questions about some details in art so she enrolled in a school that could answer these questions. One of the issues that every artist must face is marketing and being hopeful that there is a market for their work. Loretta's work is highly specialized and she has tested the market and knows that there are people who want it. In fact, she had an appraisal of one of her paintings and the appraiser told her to put a price tag of $10,000 on it because of the piece. Currently, she made the piece in to Giclee prints. She has an acute understanding of the art world, but does not produce what she thinks will sell; instead, she paints for herself and knows that people will respond to what resonates with them. The only suggestions I would give her is to hire a marketing person who markets art and to create a website where she can show her art. A good marketing plan would ensure her success. She already has a business plan and she updates it regularly. References Reeve. J. (2009). Understanding motivation and emotion (5th ed.). CA: Wiley. ...Download file to see next pages Read More