Date of Award
1-1-1991
Document Type
Practicum
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Department
Child and Youth Care Administration
Advisor
Robert Heppler
Committee Member
Steven J. Friedman
Keywords
academic achievement, coaching, collegial support, instructional strategies, learning motivation, lifelong learning, middle schools, modeling, motivation techniques, professional development, self-motivation, student attitudes, student motivation, teacher collaboration, teacher workshops, teaching strategies
Abstract
This practicum was designed to address the problem that teachers at the writer’s school had in finding specific teaching strategies that would help students become empowered and self-motivated in terms of their academic efforts and achievement. The teachers wanted the techniques to be directly integrated with the presentation of academic content, rather than separate from that content.
The writer developed a booklet of 13 strategies; presented a workshop to introduce the strategies: met regularly with the six participating teachers during implementation; recorded meeting results; developed a pre/post checklist of intrinsically motivated behaviors in students; and administered pre- and post-measurements to all participating teachers and students.
Analysis of the data revealed that a successful workshop, by itself, did not ensure adequate transfer of teaching strategies. Regular post-workshop meetings for collegial support were not a substitute for a continuous program of modeling, coaching, and practice. Students as well as teachers needed a period of adjustment when new teaching strategies were implemented in the classroom. Sporadic use of new motivational strategies on an irregular basis, However well-meaning, were not enough to contribute to positive attitudinal changes in students.