Unit II

UNIT II

MOTIVATION AND GROUP DYNAMICS

Motivation is the very heart of the learning process. It arouses interest. Interest is the mother ofattention and attention is the mother of learning. Desirable changes in learner’s behaviour are only possible when a learner is properly motivated. No learning is possible without motivation. The word motivation has been derived from the Latin word ‘moveers’ which means to move. Motivation is an internal force which accelerates a response or behaviour.

Definition

C.F.Skinner: Motivation in school learning involves arousing, persisting, sustaining and directing desirable behaviour.

J.P. Guilford: A motive is any particular internal factor of condition that tends to initiate and sustain activity.

Characteristics

1.      Motivation is arousing interest in learning

2.       Motivation is sustaining interest in learning.

3.       Motivation is directing behaviour.

4.       Motivation initiates and energies activity in learning.

5.       Motivation leads to self actualization in learning. 

6.       Motivation releases the tension and helps in satisfying the needs of the behaviour.

7.      Motivation is the internal condition or factor of learning..

Motivational cycle

Need creates tension in the organization. It sets up the goal and activates its efforts to reach the goal. When it reaches the goal it is satisfied. Needs are general wants or desires. Every human being has to strive for the satisfaction of his basic needs if he has to maintain or improve or fulfill himself in the world.

Biological Need: Air, Water, Food, rest, when tired, sex, demands of our senses.

Socio-psychological needs:   independence, security, love and affection, achieve, recognition or Social approval, self assertion, self expression.

Drive

A need give rise to a drive which may be defined as an  aroused awareness, tendency or a state of heightened tension that sets off reactions in an individual and sustains them for increasing his general activity level.

Motives

Motive is an inner state of mind or an aroused feeling generated through basic needs or drives which compel an individual to respond by creating a kind of tension or urge to act.

Types of Motivation

·         Intrinsic motivation

·         Extrinsic motivation

Intrinsic motivation

It refers to the internal forces that originate within and impel the learner to learn a given instructional goal. Internal forces such as attitude, interests, needs and anxieties represent intrinsic motivation.E.g. An interest in music, an attitude, towards a school subject, the need for food or sleep and the fear of failure in mathematics.

Extrinsic motivation

Extrinsic motivation refers to the external forces existing outside of the learner that press him to undertake a given learning taste. External forces such as rewards, punishments, physical circumstances and the desires of others represent extrinsic motivation.The teacher’s praise, the teacher’s rebuke, the announcement of the date of the semester examination, parental ambitions.

THEORIES OF MOTIVATION

 MASLOW’S HIERARCHY OF NEEDS

 Maslow (1954) suggested a hierarchal set of five basic needs which must be satisfied to reach the highest level of motivation. These needs are i) physiological needs ii) safety need iii) love and belongingnessiv) Self esteem v)self actualization. The highest need can be satisfied only after the lower needs are satisfied.

1) Physiological Needs.

These needs are like hunger, thirst, etc. and serve the function of the maintenance of the organism. The need for food, water, air, are also called primary needs. Satisfaction of these needs is very much essential even for the existence of an individual. Too much food, water and oxygen can be destructive to life and health as inadequate diet, lack of water and improper air.

2) Safety Needs

They include need for protection from danger (physical and psychological), for routine and for familiarity of environment. Man needs security of life both in economic and social sense.

                A child feels secure when it is loved by its parents, when it gets a great deal of time and attention. when it wishes are quickly satisfied, when economic circumstances allow its organic needs to be satisfied and when it is accepted for what it is because of its assets and in spite of its shortcomings.

                If it is insecure, fearfulness, timidity, social reticence, lying, stealing or retreat from competitions, over aggression, bullying and other attempts compensate for lack of security.

3) Love and Belongingness

When the child has his sense of security and trust, he develops affectionate relationship with other people (parents, peer, and teachers etc..) and  has the desire to belong to a wider group. Children need affection from all quarters. The individual needs to love and be loved if he is to develop into a happy and productive person. Loving care of parents, patience and kindness of teachers who maintain a friendly and empathetic atmosphere in the class room are necessary. The higher the degree to which one is loved, the higher the capacity to love will develop.

              Man is social being. He needs to associate with people, and belong to the group. Removing the child from group is often an effective means of checking deviant behaviour in school. Courteous behaviour helps to develop sympathy, tolerance and respect for others. Companionship provides the opportunity to gratify the need to love and be loved. Freedom, equality and justice are also basic to the satisfaction of need for companionship.

4) Self Esteem Needs

The child at this level is able to function well in interpersonal situations. He develops the desire for achievement and competence, for independence and  freedom, for reputation and prestige. For being wanted because one is good, worthy, able; the individual must feel that he is admired for qualities and skills he has. People need to achieve either in athletic activities, or in intellectual pursuits, or in improving moral living. It depends upon his talents and the environment in which he is.

           Each person needs to feel that he is worthwhile, that he has something of value to give to others; others seek his advice aid and companionship because he is noteworthy. Recognition tends to give the pupil a feeling of confidence in himself and provides an incentive to tackle new problems.

5) Self actualization Needs

This is the highest level of motivational goals. It refers to a child’s desire for self fulfillment, to realize his potentialities. This has a special significance at the adolescence stage. Self actualization means that one seeks to be, and is, as much of what he can be and wants to be as is possible. It means openness to new experience and an awareness of one’s deep feeling. It means that one is creative, uses his potential and seeks to release his potential.

Characteristics of Self actualizers

1. They demonstrate an efficient perception of reality and acceptance.
2. They accept themselves and others.
3. They show high degree of spontaneity and simplicity
4. They posses problem centered orientation.
5. They believe in privacy.
6. They are somewhat detached
7. They appreciate goodness
8. They tend to be autonomous and independence of their environment.
9. They develop deep interpersonal relations with others.
10. They are creative adaptable, democratic in outlook.

Educational Implications

• A learner who comes to class hungry or tired is likely to seek physical rest and to withdraw psychologically from the classroom. Such needs will, therefore, interfere with learning. When the basic needs are met, he is relaxed and happy in the class.
• Similarly students who come from problematic home environment may not respond to long, unstructured, independent assignment. Request for such students to make independent decisions may threaten their survival needs.
• A student who is insecure is unlikely to initiate behaviour. Students who have had many unpleasant experiences at home or at school will not become autonomous learners. When a student is frightened or anxious, he is likely to learn a little in the class.
• The most stable and most healthy self esteem is based on respect from others. When the student is respected for his achievement by the teacher and his peers, he learns better.
• Most students lack the selfdirective abilities. If the teacher forces such students to shoulder major responsibilities prematurely, they will make poor progress.

THEORY OF ACHIEVEMENT MOTIVATION

         C. Mc.Clelland David (1953) and Atkinson W.John (1958) came to the conclusion that in the individual there is the need for achievement. A person who has a high need for achievement considers problems and obstacles as challenges to be met. According to this theory, a human being differs from one another in the strength of motivation to achieve that is important motivation.

         This difference in the strength of motivation to achieve that is important in understanding the development. The need for achievement develops in early childhood in life. It depends upon the discipline of the home, parent’s expectation and guidance to the child develop need for high achievement in life.

DEVELOPMENT OF ACHIEVEMENT MOTIVATION

          The teacher can play an important role in the development of achievement motivation by taking the following steps.

1. The teacher should emphasis the importance of achievement motive in life by means of narrating the exploits of great personalities and their achievement. Students may be motivated to follow the footsteps of great persons.
2. The teacher’s encouraging and friendly attitude and his enthusiasm in work will create the necessary environment for achievement motive in children.
3. The teacher will guide the students in developing realistic achievement motives.
4. Attempts should be made to convince the students that new motives will improve their self- image and is an improvement upon the prevailing ones.
5. The teacher should develop habits of self- study among students.
6. The teacher should encourage the students to evaluate their own achievements from time to time.
7. The teacher should develop conductive social environment in the class so that every student should think that he is wanted and has a role to play.

ROLE OF REWARD AND PUNISHMENT

Reward and punishment are two learning techniques that are always used in many environments including education, work, and life. Most learning activities in our lives are impacted by these techniques. They have many variations which need to be applied by considering time, place, personality, facilities, and several other variables to yield the best results.

In a literal sense, reward means to make someone excited, willing, and wishful

Definition of Reward

 When a behavior leads to desirable outcomes, it is more likely to occur in future situations. Therefore, reinforcement is merely the impact seen by the reinforcing agent. To determine whether an event is capable of reinforcing, its impact should be considered.

Types of reward

Non-material rewards :These are the incentives like praise, encouragement, appreciation, position of importance and honour, higher marks and ranks etc. These rewards work wonders with the children because they are self respecting and want to show off.

Material rewards: These are the incentives like prizes, medals, books, cash, scholarship, articles.

General Principles to be followed

Ø  Group rewards is preferred over individual rewards. this will save the individual from a false sense of pride.

Ø  They should be few in number. If they are too many then they will lose its value.

Ø  Rewards should be of low intrinsic value. They should not appeal to material consideration. The pupil should not run after them for any monetary benefit.

Ø  Rewards should be given for efforts not for attainment so that effort could be encouraged.

Ø  Rewards should be given immediately. Delay minimizes their charm and value.

Ø  Rewards should be given for the minor virtues of conduct such as punctuality, regularity and personal cleanliness.

Ø  Rewards should be free from the element of partiality and favouritism.

Merits

1.      It is a positive approach and directs the attention of the learner to the degree of success that has been achieved.

2.      It utilizes the learners’ desire for approval

3.      They create pleasure associations that are strong inducements to repeat the desired act.

4.      Being pleasant, they generate interest and enthusiasm

5.      They appeal to ego maximization and develop high morale.

Demerits

Ø  They are mostly extrinsic in motivating the pupil toward winning a prize instead of cultivating a taste for the thing itself.

Ø  May sow the seed of temptation to cheat

Ø  Encourage the wrong attitude.

Punishment

It refers to a process whereby an unwanted behavior is followed by negative reinforcement to prevent the behavior from reoccurring.

Types of punishment

As in rewards, two types of punishment can be considered: positive and negative.

Positive punishment: If the introduction of the annoying stimulus leads to the reduction of the undesirable behavior, a positive punishment takes place. As an example consider a child who tears his sister’s shoes and is punished by being slapped. Thus, the child is less likely to repeat this behavior.

Negative punishment: In the case of negative punishment, eliminating the reinforcing agent decreases the likelihood of the negative behavior. For instance, an object is taken away from a child (elimination) because he/she throws it at others. By doing so, the chances of the bad behavior decreases.

Precautions while awarding Punishment

1.      Punishment should be proportionate. it should vary in accordance with the seriousness of offence, its nature , capacity and the character of offender.

2.      It should be given when it is assured that the desired purpose would be fulfilled.

3.      It should be given immediately when a wrong act has been done although after investigation.

4.      The wrong doer should be provided with opportunity to explain and clarify his position before the punishment is awarded.

5.      It should be reformatory and should not be given in anger.

6.      It should be exemplary. Others should also notice that a similar treatment awaits them if they also commit a mischief.

7.      It should be compensatory. The receiver should realize that those affected by his offence have a right to compensation. He must clearly know why he is being punished.

Merits

·         Punishment can often act as a prevention of undesirable

·         Serve as a form of discipline

·         They are especially useful if they appear as a natural consequence of the undesirable behaviour or when are used in combination with reward.

·         If the child can be made to realize that it is the undesirable act and not himself that is being punished.

Demerits

      They are based on fear, not a healthy emotion.

      They lose effectiveness if the children are no longer afraid or are not willing to face the consequences.

      They are likely to reinforce the undesirable conduct by overemphasis.

      The results are not always permanent.

      They may engender ill-will toward teacher and society

      There is no reliable measure of severity in punishments.

Level of Aspiration

The concept of level of aspiration was developed by Kurt Lewin. Level of aspiration refers to the standard which a person sets up for himself in any area of activity. How high the level of aspiration can be depends on the difficulty involved in a given task. In other words, if a person desires to do a very difficult task, it is said that his level of aspiration is very high.

Definition

Level of aspiration is the standard a person expects and hopes to reach in a given performance

Factors affecting level of aspiration

Success and failure

·         Children who are successful tend to set realistic goals.

·         Children who are greatly disturbed by failure often set unreasonable goals.

·         Success or hope of success usually increases interest.

·         Failure is not necessarily followed by improvement. Failure leads to hopelessness and withdrawl or to irrational attempts to improve immediately.

Personality

—  Self confident and secure children set realistic goals

—  Children with a strong need for competence and achievement prefer tasks where there is some risk of failure.

—  Many persons with low self concept set low level of aspiration to protect themselves from risk and anxiety.

Group standards

The standards held by a group make individuals fix their level of aspiration in terms of group expectations.

Reward and punishment

—  Reward tends to encourage the repetition of a response.

—  Increases in reward beyond the necessary amount for the purpose of getting a person himself seriously in a task, has no effect on learning the response. In fact it may narrow his attention to the precise aspect for which the reward is given.

—  Punishment has its chief influence in suppressing a response where the punishment is encountered.

—  Increasing punishment reduces the capacity of the individual to respond effectively.

Social class

·         Children from the same social class are likely to have some-what the same level of aspiration

·         The child-rearing practices which place high demands on the children tend to raise the aspiration level of the children.

·         Occupation of the father and the level of intelligence of the child are positively related to level of aspiration.

Leadership

Leadership can be described as the ability of an individual to influence, motivate, and enable others to contribute toward the effectiveness and success of an organization or group of which they are members. A person who can bring about change, therefore, is one who has this ability to be a leader

Leadership Traits

1.Intelligence                                9.Self-awareness

2.Courage                                    10.Confidence

3.Vision                                       11.Enthusiasm

4.Innovation                                12.Wisdom

5.Adaptability                            13. Strong inter-personal skills

6.Effective communication           14. Belief in others

7.Peer respect                             15. Insight

8.Sense of humour                      16. Competence

Leadership styles

Leadership style is the manner and approach of providing direction, implementing plans, and motivating people. As seen by the employees, it includes the total pattern of explicit and implicit actions performed by their leader (Newstrom, Davis, 1993).

Autocratic

The autocratic leader uses power and authority, commands and expects compliance, is rigid and positive, and leads the organization by the ability to withhold or give reward and punishment.

Characteristics of Autocratic Leadership

Some of the primary characteristics of autocratic leadership include:

·         Little or no input from group members

·         Leaders make almost all of the decisions

·         Group leaders dictate all the work methods and processes

·         Group members are rarely trusted with decisions or important tasks

·         Work tends to be highly structured and very rigid

·         Creativity and out-of-the box thinking tend to be discouraged

·         Rules are important and tend to be clearly outlined and communicated

Positives

—  enables leaders to impose their will and perspective on others

—  this style is considered good for getting routine jobs done by employees who require close supervision or in situations where decisions need to be made quickly.

—   people who like order, and set rules and instructions thrive under this kind of leadership

Negatives

—  does not take others inputs into consideration

—   no one is allowed to make suggestions or to question the decisions and instructions of autocratic leaders, even if it's in the best interest

—  most creative people resent being treated this way.

Democratic

The democratic leader consults with group members on proposed actions and decisions and

encourages participation from them in the management process. The democratic leaders

involve the group members in the decision-making process and listen to the members’

opinions. The democratic leadership style is also known as the "participative" leadership style because it depends on employee participation.

Characteristics of Democratic Leadership

Some of the primary characteristics of democratic leadership include:

·         Group members are encouraged to share ideas and opinions, even though the leader retains the final say over decisions.

·         Members of the group feel more engaged in the process.

·         Creativity is encouraged and rewarded.

Positives

—   boosts the morale of the team members as when the leader considers their inputs, it makes them feel valued and satisfied

—   makes employees  more willing to accept changes as they consider themselves a part of the decision-making process

 Negatives

—  the leaders reserve the right to take final decisions

—  slows down the decision- making and can even affect efficiency

—  also spoiled by the likelihood that team members may not have adequate expertise to provide high-quality input

Laissez-faire

The lasseiz fair leader uses his power scarcely, if at all, giving sub-ordinates a high degree of independence in their operations. Such leaders largely depend on group members to set the goals and the means of achieving them.

Characteristics of Laissez-Faire Leadership

Laissez-faire leadership is characterized by:

·         Very little guidance from leaders

·         Complete freedom for followers to make decisions

·         Leaders provide the tools and resources needed

·         Group members are expected to solve problems on their own

·         Power is handed over to followers, yet leaders still take responsibility for the groups decisions and actions

Positives

—   the leaders delegate the responsibility to take decisions to group members

—  allows people to work at their own pace and provides maximum scope for innovation and flexibility

—   most effective with self- motivated employees

Negatives

—  people who prefer supervision, careful monitoring, and clear instructions are often not comfortable working under the laissez- faire leadership style

CLASSROOM CLIMATE

 Meaning

It is the generalised attitudes towards the teacher and the class that the students share in common in spite of individual difference.

Definition

—  Amborse et. al. (2010) define classroom climate as the intellectual, social, emotional, and physical environments in which our students learn.

—  Climate is determined by a collection of interacting factors that include faculty-student interaction, the tone instructors set, instances of stereotype or tokenism, the course demographics (for example, relative size of racial and other social groups enrolled in the course), student-student interaction, and the range of perspectives represented in the course content and materials” (p.170).

LEADERSHIP AND CLASSROOM CLIMATE

Autocratic leadership and classroom climate

—  In this pattern teachers are dominant and they force the students to follow one routine, which is presented to them in readymade.

—  The teacher is reducing readiness to think, reducing readiness to reason

—  Students are discouraged

—  Teachers thought that they were “doing their job” but they never tried to analyse what their job  is.

—  The teachers have the knowledge, the intelligence and the inherent abilitiesto bring children to self controlled learning, but this never seem to be Important to them.

—  They operates on schedules and does not care for the slow nor hurry for the fast leaners

—  Solve one problem and asks to solve other problems in the same manner

Laissez fair style and classroom climate

Laissez-faire means an idea of certain person that one should not make too many laws but allow things to go on in their own ways. This is a classroom-teaching pattern in which coordination and planning become part of teaching approach.

—  The teacher do not make too many laws but allow things to go on in their own ways

—  The teacher gives Importance to students and asks them ’what do you want to do this period?’

—  Students can do whatever they want, the teacher there to help them

—  The students select the topics. Everyday the groups meet to work in allotted corners and other spaces of the room.

Democratic style and classroom climate

·         The teacher is a guide and friend

—  They are firm and demanding

—  They are Permissive

—  No threat in the class

—  Freedom to learn but no freedom to disrupt learning

—  Students select the topics to be learnt , later each topic will be discussed by the class. it’s advantages and disadvantages will be weighed in the light of the amount of class time available.

—  Poor students and class-shy students have better opportunity to exert leadership