The Social Psychological Influences on Academic Achievement - Essay Example

? Looking back at the earlier years in school, the only obligation and problem of the individual or is how to get by attending school everyday, and how to leave school with a diploma. Whether they are rich or poor, what is expected of them by their parents is to graduate in as high as the secondary level of education. Graduating in school is the ultimate success for a student. Getting a grade of “A” is an achievement, but improving a grade of “C” to “B” is likewise an achievement. William J. Ekeler said in his book The Black Student’s Guide to High School Succes, “improving a grade of “C” to “B” is an achievement, marking academic success and reflecting the student’s desire to continuously work toward improvement. Your academic success today is not necessarily indicative of your success in the future. Working to improve shows others that you have not given up on yourself, so others will not likely give up on you (Ekeler, W. 1997).” The aspiration of every parent for their children is that they develop themselves into mature individuals who can have faith and confidence in themselves that they will succeed in life. Although the interaction within the family is a factor that can help mold the attitude and characteristics of the students, the parents have a high regard for the teachers in school to reinforce this perception. It is a fact, that in the schooling years, the children would spend at least one-third of the day in school, five days a week, thus the influence of the teachers and the interrelationship with their peers, provide the bigger factor in a child’s social development. While in school, the student have to decide with whom to conform, either with a chosen group, or the teacher’s influence with regards to his identity, that he had seemingly impressed upon the teacher. It can help when one realizes how difficult it is to decide whether to belong to a group, or to take the risk of giving up old friends, being aware that time will come, when they will be going in different directions. One discouraging idea for an individual to pursue the satisfaction of his own self identity, is that it can be lonely. Generally, a student is not aware of the Social Identity Theory, which explains that a person has not one personal self, but rather several selves that correspond to widening circles of group membership, in which the quest for positive distinctiveness means that people’s sense of who they are is defined in terms of “we” rather than “I.” (2010) A classroom experience has the tendency to implant a lasting impact, and unbeknownst to the teachers, can affect the attitude and behavior of a student towards his learning growth or outlook towards himself. For example, the process by which the teachers would normally segregate the students in a classroom, based on their own judgment, which is not always true and accurate, can prove to be discouraging. There was this one student who believes he has the potential to excel. However, he has not shown that side of him yet, because there was no chance. The teacher did not see him as an achiever, therefore, he was placed among the lower set, while the perceived achievers were grouped seated separately. Naturally, he was not given an opportunity to show his bright academic side. He got easily influenced with the others in his group, who were comfortable and conveniently happy that the teachers did not expect much from them. Therefore, he did not see the importance of working and studying harder. During the final test, he got a low mark, even though, at the start of the sessions, he was confident that he has the ability to tackle complex exercises. The above experience may be the result of first impressions that readily form the social perception. If there is no special reason to think negatively about a person, one's first impression of that person will normally be positive, as people tend to give others the benefit of the doubt. However, people are especially attentive to negative factors, and if these are present, they will outweigh the positive ones in generating impressions. (2011) Claude Steele, in one of his talks discussed about his findings in many studies, that when a person’s social identity is attached to a negative stereotype, that person will tend to underperform in a manner consistent with the stereotype. He attributes the underperformance to a person’s anxiety that he will conform to the negative stereotype. (Steele, C. 2004) Indeed, to counter all the negative allusions that will be experienced by a student, it takes a lot of confidence and faith in one’s capability, that should have been impressed upon him at home. The only way is to be in control of one’s life and not to allow others to be in control. There should be no room for giving up, and insist to drive the wheels of one’s life. The fault of the teachers that can be pointed out is that they prefer that their job would be easier if they concentrate their effort on students who can learn fast. The students that they can negatively stereotype, will be out of their way, and they can always claim that rotten group are not trying. There was even one teacher, who did not mind that not everybody in his class are paying attention to his lecture. According to him, he is doing well when some of the students are attentive some of the time. This kind of attitude from a teacher is disadvantageous for the students and the parents as well, who pay for the education of the children. This kind of educators should change their attitude and be properly motivated to perform better, because their performance will affect the generations to come. They should work harder at bringing back teaching as a noble profession. It would be best, that when they find out there are students who are not so eager to learn, the latter should be given preferential attention, such as a separate academic program intended for the slow learner. This is where the importance of internal motivators should be enhanced. It is always essential that an individual is aware of the importance of what he has to learn. Studies have shown that it does not matter in what school a person will study, he can still excel and succeed in life because it always depends on one’s interest in learning. Molnerney said that a key to an individual’s motivation lies in his or her desire to improve personal performance, solve problems and gain understanding, particularly in ambiguous or problematic situations that are personally relevant, they become intrinsically motivated when they show interest in the task at hand. (Molnerney, D. 2000) The students in their school years are oblivious of what is happening all over the world. Their concerns are trivial and simple, but for them, their worries about how they look, how they dress and how they perform academically are serious and require immediate attention, either from their friends, group, teachers or family. It is their fear that they will be humiliated inside the classroom, that as much as possible, they shy away from unnecessary attention, lest their inadequacies will be noticed. Any cause of embarrassment for them in the classroom can cause them to shirk and hide like a turtle, and if this will not be remedied, can last a lifetime. The teachers should always find time to notice the reactions and the facial expressions to ascertain the emotions that the students are in at any given moment. Once humiliated, the child will not learn to reach out for answers. A lot of times, children are afraid to seek help, or ask questions because, they assess their questions might be considered as flimsy or insignificant. They should realize that they should always ask their teachers when they are confused about ambiguous assignments, when they find out the answers, a feeling of relief can be felt that it is better to be a fool for five minutes, than be ignorant for the rest of their lives. There are mixed impressions among teachers, that those who do not ask questions are either shy or know the answers already, or else, they are still shy or they know nothing at all. Either way, the quiet ones who do not seek help are the ones who should be helped most. Traditionally, help-seeking has been viewed as a manifestation of dependency, immaturity, and even incompetence, yet for a good number of schoolchildren, in fact often those who are most in need of academic assistance, sitting passively in the classroom and not seeking help, are the norm. (Schunk, D. H. 1992) It is well to remember for the school officials to check if their teachers are knowledgeable about attribution theory, which is a motivational theory looking at how the average person constructs the meaning of an event based on his motives to find a cause and his knowledge of the environment, and making attributions gives order and predictability to lives, helps in coping. Medway added to his definition of attribution theory, that when you make attributions you analyze the situation by making inferences about the dispositions of others and yourself as well as inferences about the environment and how it may be causing a person to behave. (Medway, F. 1992) The teachers can be very effective if they will strive to be experts in determining academic behavior. There is another practice in other schools in other countries, where they group the students into sections, which are based on the intelligence quotient or abilities of the students, which again are not always indicative of the true potentials of the students. When a highly intelligent student would be placed in the group of timid and lazy students, and there is no opportunity for the teachers to draw out from the superior average student his full potentials, because their focus is on the other section, it could be devastating for the child. In this instance, the confidence and faith in one’s self shall be tested. It is now up to the child to come out from hiding. It takes a lot of confidence to defy the perception or impression of the teachers and the fellow students, and show that he has the capacity to succeed academically, even risk some amount of ridicule. This is where the role of the parents or home life would play a great amount of contribution, who should assert aggressively on the child what he can do. This way, the child will not be easily dissuaded to prove that he is better than the others. It is well to remember that one determined person can make a significant difference, and that a small group of determined people can change the course of history. (Johnson, S. 2009) There is a need for government and politicians to help improve the method of inculcating behavioral standards in schools, even if it had to be scientific, because various problems in interpersonal relationships usually stem from the insufficient standard of norms offered to the children while getting educated. For all intents and purposes, to achieve academically naturally lies in the basic core of an individual, in his desire to succeed and counter all negative forces that he is bound to hurdle for the rest of his life. It takes a lot of passion to succeed, and passion is very hard to learn, because it only comes from within, but it can serve well if this will be taught in schools. Francois de Fenelon, a French archbishop and author, was bold enough to have said that discouragement is simply the despair of wounded self-love. (De Fenelon 2009) Works Cited: De Fenelon, F. 2009. Health and Home, Mar-Apr, 2009. p 19. Ekeler, W. J. 1997. “The Black Student’s Guide to High School Success. p 31. Johnson, S. 2009. Health and Home, Jan-Feb, 2009. p 39. Medway, F. J. 1992. School Psychology: A Social Psychological Perspective. p 47. Molnerney, D. M. 2000. Helping Kids Achieve Their Best: Understand and using instruction in the classroom. p. 8. Schunk, D. H. 1992. Student Perceptions in the Classroom. p. 123. Steele, C. 2004. College Street Journal. Retrieved from: http://www.mtholyoke.edu/offices/comm/csj/092404/stech.shtml 2010. University of Twente. http://www.utwente.nl/cw/theorieenoverzicht/Theory%20clusters/Interpersonal%20Communication%20and%20Relations/Social_Identity_Theory.doc/ 2011. Retrieved from: Social Perception - People, Tend, Person, Impressions, Impression, and Factors http://psychology.jrank.org/pages/594/Social-Perception.html#ixzz1LGgEcoQQ Read More