I don’t mean to brag, but fifth grade was my year. I made the honor roll, achieved a special recognition for keeping a 4.0 in social studies throughout, had vastly improved in orchestra (I played the violin), and I had made a few new friends. Don’t be fooled, my fifth grade year didn’t start out as seamlessly as it sounds. After all, in years prior I was the girl who was eliminated from the school spelling bee for confusing the letters Y and W. There was also that one time when I tripped on the way up to the chalkboard when called upon to try a difficult math problem. As embarrassed as I was, there was also a tinge of relief to have avoided the math problem all together. So how did I get on the right track to achieve success and thrive in the fifth grade? Recognizing my potential, an inspired teacher named Mrs. Gibson, crafted an intervention plan that would get me on the right track. She included my parents so that the approach was consistent. She set me up with new contacts (a new friend named Liana), and gave me extra homework. My instructions were to start having fun with my schoolwork, because I was more than capable of doing it.
While this method seems to fall under the category of external regulation (influence from a teacher and parents), I would argue that it also included some self-determination (desire to achieve derived from internal motivation) (Schneider, 2012). The positive, yet stern push from my teacher helped me dust off a tired academic self-concept. My struggles with math seemed so overwhelming at the time; I didn’t think I would ever grasp fractions and percentages! With extra practice and a positive frame of mind, I began to believe that I could keep up with my classmates and pass my math level tests. Pinxten et al., (2014) found that the more positive an individual (grades 3-7) was about their math ability, the more they achieved in the subject. Further, with a positive outlook on math performance they were not as negatively influenced by the hours of study required.
Many times outside encouragement is needed to propel one’s academic self-concept. In turn, self-determination will take over and the individual will experience positive results more frequently. As I approach my final semester (Fall 2014) as a World Campus student, I look back with fondness to power through my most challenging courses of my academic career. I remind myself of the strategies I used to enjoy my coursework as a fifth grader, and consistent with Schneider et al., (2012), these methods seem to work at any age.
References:
Pinxten, M., Marsh, H.W., De Fraine, B., Van Den Noorgate, W., & Van Damme, J. (2014). Enjoying mathematics or feeling competent in mathematics? Reciprocal effects on mathematics achievement and perceived math effort expenditure. British Journal of Education Psychology, 84(1), 152-174
Schneider, F.W., Gruman, J.A., & Coutts, L.M., (2012) . Applied Social Psychology: Understanding and Addressing Social and Practical Problems. London: Sage Publications.
Before anything, I want to tell you that your writing style is absolutely terrific. It was very personal and both fun and easy to read – almost like a teen novel. I think it’s very interesting that you brought up 5th grade, because I remember always feeling pretty good about myself back then, too. I think it’s wonderful that your teacher paid enough attention to realize that you needed help and to give you what you needed to make school and learning fun, as it’s meant to be.
Your academic success was because of a wonderfully devoted teacher who knew how to help with an innovative intervention, but mine was a pretty different story. You pointed out individual help and intervention, but what about other forces that are playing a part in the school environment? What about social groups? What about prejudice and discrimination? When I was in the 5th grade, school was easy, teachers were very ready to compliment, and I remember getting treats like Jolly Ranchers whenever I answered a question right in class. My academic self-concept was, without a doubt, soaring at that time in my life. High school was still good and I felt great about myself even then, but not like in 5th grade.
In 5th grade, I remember that cliques didn’t matter much. Everyone had their own group of friends, yes, but it wasn’t concrete and solid in a way that no one else could get in for a while. I remember some people playing more with certain kids than others, but if I ever wanted to play with anyone (and I mean anyone at all), I could. We were all pretty accepting of one another for the most part and maybe even saw ourselves as a big group – the kids of ___ Middle School. Our school was small enough that most of us knew each other from a very young age anyways. As we grew older, however, groups based on physical appearance or hobbies did start to become more concrete, and it was pretty difficult to just change up who you sat with at lunch every day. As we began to divide ourselves much like Ms. Elliot did her class, stereotype and discrimination started to become rather frequent.
Some kids who thought themselves cool, but in a cocky way rather than a confident one, would pick on kids that they saw as uncool. ‘Jocks’ would make fun of the emo kids and the goths because they “dressed weird” or were “freaks” and the pre-hipster groups would make fun of the jocks for being muscle-heads or not thinking straight. We went from playing with everyone and sharing our toys to making fun of everyone and treating them like they were toys. It’s not a huge surprise that the kids who tended to get the best grades in school were the jocks, preps, and what I like to refer to as pre-hipsters (before being a hipster became ‘mainstream’). They were the groups higher up in the hierarchy of command, and they were the ones more likely to have greater self-concepts and self-esteem. The kids who did the most poorly in school tended to be the goths and the emo and scene kids, with the exception of a few who did pretty well. I don’t want to chalk all of that up to academic self-concept, but it would be silly to say that it had absolutely nothing to do with anything. They were some of the kids who were most picked on (way more than ‘band geeks’) and who were constantly treated as if they were strange, and not only in school, but also in the outside world. I’ve seen how people treat kids who dress in dark clothes and heavy make-up and the kids who have oddly-colored hair, and it’s generally not nice at all. There’s always social stigma for being scene, goth, or emo, and even the adults who are meant to nourish the adults of the future are brutally cruel in their judgment of these kids. Being treated as if they’re not only different but also lesser both in and out of school really has to play a big part in their self-concept, self-esteem, and surely even their self-identity.
Before I close this comment, I want to go back to your story, because it was really inspiring to me – a fifth grade teacher helped a person in a way that stuck all the way through college. You didn’t expand a lot on social issues that may have occurred with you in your school due to your clothing choices or through association, but do you think that a teacher like that would have been able to help you effectively if you were bullied at school? Do you think that Mrs. Gibson’s method could also have a big effect on the goth, emo, and scene kids I described?
Thank you for your post. It was a very good read.
Ana Luisa
Before anything, I want to tell you that your writing style is absolutely terrific. It was very personal and both fun and easy to read – almost like a teen novel. I think it’s very interesting that you brought up 5th grade, because I remember always feeling pretty good about myself back then, too. I think it’s wonderful that your teacher paid enough attention to realize that you needed help and to give you what you needed to make school and learning fun, as it’s meant to be.
Your academic success was because of a wonderfully devoted teacher who knew how to help with an innovative intervention, but mine was a pretty different story. You pointed out individual help and intervention, but what about other forces that are playing a part in the school environment? What about social groups? What about prejudice and discrimination? When I was in the 5th grade, school was easy, teachers were very ready to compliment, and I remember getting treats like Jolly Ranchers whenever I answered a question right in class. My academic self-concept was, without a doubt, soaring at that time in my life. High school was still good and I felt great about myself even then, but not like in 5th grade.
In 5th grade, I remember that cliques didn’t matter much. Everyone had their own group of friends, yes, but it wasn’t concrete and solid in a way that no one else could get in for a while. I remember some people playing more with certain kids than others, but if I ever wanted to play with anyone (and I mean anyone at all), I could. We were all pretty accepting of one another for the most part and maybe even saw ourselves as a big group – the kids of ___ Middle School. Our school was small enough that most of us knew each other from a very young age anyways. As we grew older, however, groups based on physical appearance or hobbies did start to become more concrete, and it was pretty difficult to just change up who you sat with at lunch every day. As we began to divide ourselves much like Ms. Elliot did her class, stereotype and discrimination started to become rather frequent.
Some kids who thought themselves cool, but in a cocky way rather than a confident one, would pick on kids that they saw as uncool. ‘Jocks’ would make fun of the emo kids and the goths because they “dressed weird” or were “freaks” and the pre-hipster groups would make fun of the jocks for being muscle-heads or not thinking straight. We went from playing with everyone and sharing our toys to making fun of everyone and treating them like they were toys. It’s not a huge surprise that the kids who tended to get the best grades in school were the jocks, preps, and what I like to pre-hipsters (before being one became ‘mainstream’). They were the groups higher up in the hierarchy of command, and they were the ones more likely to have greater self-concepts. The kids who did the most poorly in school tended to be the goths and the emo and scene kids, with the exception of a few who did pretty well. I don’t want to chalk all of that up to academic self-concept, but it would be silly to say that it had absolutely nothing to do with anything. They were some of the kids who were most picked on (way more than ‘band geeks’) and who were constantly treated as if they were strange, and not only in school, but also in the outside world. I’ve seen how people treat kids who dress in dark clothes and heavy make-up and the kids who have oddly-colored hair, and it’s generally not nice at all. There’s always social stigma for being scene, goth, or emo, and even the adults who are meant to nourish the adults of the future are brutally cruel in their judgment of these kids. Being treated as if they’re not only different but also lesser really has to play a big part in their self-concept, self-esteem, and surely even their self-identity.
Before I close this comment, I want to go back to your story, because it was really inspiring to me – a fifth grade teacher helped a person in a way that stuck all the way through college. You didn’t expand a lot on social issues that may have occurred with you in your school due to your clothing choices or through association, but do you think that a teacher like that would have been able to help you effectively if you were bullied at school? Do you think that Mrs. Gibson’s method could have a big effect on the goth, emo, and scene kids I described?
Thank you for your post. It was a very good read.
I think it is terrific that your 5th grade teacher took an interest in helping you find your will to succeed. I believe if more teachers took this personalized look at their students, it may be possible to instill this necessary confidence early.
You mentioned that you look to the strategies that you developed as a 5th grader even now as a college student. Not just a college student, but a successful one who is about to graduate. In my opinion, your story should serve as a light bulb to school districts that currently have large class sizes. Perhaps minimizing class size, even at the expense of hiring more educators, would see a future generation with a hunger for education and the persistence to endure the hard courses they’ll face in their college years. All too often, students don’t quite make the grade in their post high school courses and are forced to withdraw and give up on the dream of obtaining a college degree. Perhaps this failure may be thwarted by providing an early education for the next generation in how to be a successful student at any age and grade level.
I would suggest developing a sort of intervention plan within public school districts. In addition to minimizing class sizes, providing an exciting course for educators with a powerful message to increase one-on-one time with each student and determine what intervention may be necessary to ensure their long-term educational success. Developing an educator base that is passionate about bringing out the best in the children in their classes instead of being bogged down by too many students and the work that comes with larger class sizes may be the path to creating better educated future generations.