Goal+Theory

Goal Theory states that there are two goal orientations: mastery and performance. Mastery goal orientation focuses on mastering a task, accomplishing something challenging and doing so because of personal motivations. Performance goal orientation focuses on achieving competence in the eyes of others. How can a teacher use this? It is important for a teacher to recognize which goal orientation drives a student. Is the student driven to master a goal and why? Is it to have a sense of accomplishment or to avoid doing something incorrectly? Is a student driven to demonstrate competence or to avoid looking stupid? This can be extremely important as these questions impact student behavior media type="youtube" key="nwu2er-CAHU" height="346" width="462"toc
 * __Goal Theory __**

media type="youtube" key="9Ffxi0S7ggM" height="315" width="420" align="right" **Performance Avoidance (A part of Goal Theory):** **Avoiding appearing stupid in front of others.**

=**Case Study**: =

__Mastery approach__: Jennifer's goal in French class is to become fluent in the language because she is interested in the language and wants to be able to converse with others and read French literature.

__Mastery avoid__: Jason's goal in French class is to avoid misunderstanding the grammatical lessons presented by his teacher.

__Performance approach__: Haley's goal in French class is to demonstrate to her teacher and to other students that she is better at speaking French than many of her classmates.

__Performance avoidance__: T.J.'s goal in French class is to avoid appearing incompetent at speaking or reading French

=**Related Articles** =  McDonald, A. (2010). Keeping the vision alive: maintaining motivation and promoting effective learning. Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences, 3, 190-193.

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">(1) VALUE <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">"If we can frame a lesson with an action oriented task, the lesson will accrue perceived value in its own right, learners will see that focus of their attention has real-world significance and this will help maintain motivation throughout a course" (p. 191).

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">(2)SUCCESS-EXPECTANCY <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">"If our teaching is to be success-oriented and learning effective, we need to show that ability is not fixed, and the efforts a learner exerts will make a difference to their performance. Telling them why they did well on a task, and what they might need to do in order to improve will help them focus on perceptions of their own abilities and remove the likelihood that they see difficult tasks as personal threats to be avoided" (p.191).

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">(3)FEEDBACK <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Give specific ideas and instructions for improvement rather than delineating what was done incorrectly.

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">(4)MASTERY ORIENTATION <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">(vs performance orientation)

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Focusing on intrinsic goals and interests rather than personal grade or comparative status is the definition of mastery orientation and the goal we as teachers have for learners.

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"> <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Urdan, T.& Schoenfelder, E. (2006). Classroom effects on student motivation: goal structures, social relationships, and competence beliefs. //Journal of School Psychology, 44//, 331-349.

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">(1)ACHIEVEMENT-GOAL THEORY
 * 1) <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Personal goals
 * 2) mastery goals
 * 3) demonstrate increased persistence in meeting challenges
 * 4) performance goals
 * 5) demonstrate negative coping skills such as avoidance and procrastination
 * 6) <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Goal structure and scaffolding
 * 7) assign meaningful, challenging assignments
 * 8) feedback should be individual and not comparative
 * 9) offer student choices[[image:http://inspirationalwallpaper.net/wallpapers/bigthumbs/motivational/motivational18.jpg width="399" height="295" align="right"]]

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">(2)SELF-DETERMINATION THEORY
 * 1) <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">needs
 * 2) relatedness
 * 3) competence
 * 4) autonomy
 * 5) listening to feedback
 * 6) see "goal structure and scaffolding" above
 * 7) antonyms: awards, prizes, threats

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">(3)SOCIAL-COGNITIVE THEORY
 * 1) <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Self-efficacy
 * 2) past degrees of success
 * 3) "the last exam was no easier or harder and you did fine."
 * 4) social comparison
 * 5) "Johnny, did it; there's no reason you can't"
 * 6) verbal persuasion
 * 7) "you can do this"

=<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">What do the experts say? =

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">** Goal Theory **

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">** 1. Please provide some background information about yourself. ** <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">My name is Jim Allington and I am currently currently a Doctorial candidate in Clinical Psychology. I received my undergraduate degree and Master's Degree from East Tennessee State University and completed my Phd in California. I have had the opportunity to travel the world to work in my practice and have worked with many people. I chose this profession to make a difference in lives. I currently work as a behavioral analyst for people with developmental disabilities in order to help directly address dangerous and problem behaviors.

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">** 2. Share your thoughts on Maslow's Heiarchy of needs. What would be your top 5 needs for students? ** <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">I generally use motivational theory in two ways when working with others. The primary wayis that if we are not working on something that is important to the client, inother workds, somethng that the individual is motivated to do very little if any progress is made. The client has to be vested and I have found that starting with working on somethng the client heror himself wants to change before addressing outside issues is usually a good way to ensure better progress and compliance in the long run. The second main way that I use Maslow's hiearchary is to desern between which issues need to be addressed first. Issues of safety and basic needs takes procedence over issues of preferences and less immediately dangerous concerns.

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">** 3. How do you set goals for your students so that they can be motivated to achieve? Do you have them set personal classroom goals to achieve? How does it motivivate or does not? ** <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">There have to be basic standards in the classroom. Students find their own motivation ideally but sometimes need help finding motivation, such as understanding why the current tasks are important (to get on to the next stage of your education, because its important and practical to know, personal enrichment, etc.)

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">** 4. The goal orientation proposes that there are two general goal orientations that students can adopt toward their academic work: a mastery orientation or the performance orientation. What are your thoughts and can you provide examples of each? ** <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Performance is probably best exemplified by someone who needs a certain GPA to continue, apply to a program, or maintain a scholarship. Mastery is generally learning for its own sake or in professional programs and graduate school. The idea is to have and use practical information on a regular basis, usually for employment reasons.

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">** 5. The social cognitive theory focuses on increasing the self efficacy. If you have a student that has a negative attitude how do you or other educators increase their attitude so that they can be successful students in the classroom. ** <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Self-efficacy is more important than self esteem because self esteem is a natural side effect of self efficacy. Sometimes a bit of empowerment through increased skill is enough for the student to become more internally motivated to learn, which is always preferable. External motivation can be used as a reward for doing well or for doing small tasks.

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">** 6. Is there a theorist in motivation that has influenced your motivation or teaching technique? If so, who and why? ** <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Vygotsky because the zone of proximal development and scaffolding is basically universally effective and applicable

=<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Bibliography of Resources =

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">[[file:Goal Theory.docx]]
=<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">**__Goal Theory Theorists__** = <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">** Martin Ford **

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">**PhD, University of Minnesota**

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">**Professor**

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">**Senior Associate Dean, CEHD Administration** <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">** Contact Information ** <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">[|Send email to Dr. Ford]Phone: (703) 993-2004 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting (703) 993-2004 end_of_the_skype_highlighting

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Fax: (703) 993-2001 <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">George Mason University, Fairfax Campus

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Robinson Hall A 255

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">4400 University Dr. MS 2F1

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Fairfax, VA 22030

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">**Martin Ford’s** research focuses on motivation and competence development across the life span, with a special focus on adolescents and young adults. He is the creator of Motivational Systems Theory (MST) and co-creator of the Thriving with Social Purpose framework (with Peyton Smith) that links MST concepts and principles with optimal functioning. Martin has also developed assessment tools designed to help people identify their core personal goals and potential obstacles to the pursuit of those goals, including the //Assessment of Personal Goals// (APG; with C.W. Nichols), the Assessment of Personal Agency Belief Patterns (APP), and the APG Personal Application Guide (with Peyton Smith; see [|www.implicitself.com]).

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Martin received his bachelor's degree from Penn State’s College of Human Development in 1975, and his doctorate in child psychology from the University of Minnesota in 1980. During his 13 years at Stanford University, Dr. Ford received the APA Division 15 Early Contribution Award (1983) and Division 7's McCandless Young Scientist Award (1987). In 1993 he moved to George Mason University, where he applies motivational principles on a daily basis in his role as Senior Associate Dean of the College of Education and Human Development. Martin also served as Acting Dean of the College on two occasions (2000-2001 and 2009-2010), and in 2007 received the David W. Rossell Quill Award for leadership on initiatives resulting in advancement of the university's mission.

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">[]

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Murray, Henry A., 1893-1988, American psychologist, b. New York City. Murray was trained in a variety of disciplines, including psychology, chemistry, and biology. He taught at Harvard (1927-62), and helped found the Boston Psychoanalytic Society. His theory of personality drew from both Freudian and Jungian psychoanalysis, to form a complex system of basic motivational forces. Murray developed the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT), a projective test widely used by psychologists for assessing personality <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">[]

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