Conditions for Confident Learners: Investigating the role of motivation when working with challenging texts

Confidence and motivation are critical to success in the world of work. Having enough self-esteem to put work forward, be proud of the product, and having the interest to complete it are essential ingredients in a productive day. So, how do these same factors impact schooling, especially for students with learning differences who are approaching a difficult task?

I am continuing to investigate my study question [What are the potential barriers for students with learning differences to access primary source documents in the history classroom?] through a review of related literature. See my previous post for my journey to find my question.

Defining Terms

I want to be specific about how I am operationalizing these terms since my focus is on motivation and confidence in young learners.

Motivation: Whether students possess the “desire, reason, and predisposition to become involved with a task or activity.” This is a frequently cited definition from the Institute of Educational Sciences at the U.S. Department of Education and fits well with my concept of potential barriers.

Confidence: “A belief in oneself and the ability to succeed. Being confident is to possess a realistic sense of one’s capacity and feel secure in that knowledge.” This definition comes from Psychology Today but also effectively encapsulates the importance of being realistic in expectations.

A few other terms also deserve to be clarified, since they are key to the investigation: primary sources and Learning Disabilities (my operational definition for learning differences).

Primary sources: “Immediate, first-hand accounts of a topic, from people who had a direct connection with it.” This definitions from the University of Massachusetts emphasizes what I do in classes when I explain the differences between primary and secondary sources, and the value of learning from these documents.

Learning Disability: “A disorder in one or more basic psychological processes that may manifest itself as an imperfect ability in certain areas of learning, such as reading, written expression, or mathematics.” This definition has the most potential to be problematic, especially because of the growing movement around learning differences being an unusual approach but not necessarily imperfect, challenged, or flawed. I chose this term from the Learning Disabilities Association of America because it addresses all the ways Learning Disabilities (LD) or learning differences can impact academic experiences, which is key to this research. I hope that we continue to reframe these differences and help students celebrate their unique gifts, but we cannot disregard the way it impacts (usually negatively, in one way or another) their educational experiences under the current paradigm of schooling in the United States.

What Does the Research Say about My Question?

Triangulating my terms has been difficult in this stage of the research, but I searched for overlap, particularly to find research on assisting students with LD connected to the other terms. Reviewing the field of existing research has revealed a four key themes:

1. Due to their educational histories, students with LD may find it challenging to stay motivated and maintain their confidence.
2. Motivation and confidence are inter-connected.
3. Engagement and routine can help students with LD access difficult content.
4. Students who are confident learners and self-advocate tend to be more successful in the long-term.

Below I’ll briefly explore each of these themes with a few of the related readings from the literature, but please note this quick review is by no means exhaustive of all of the relevant research and articles.

History Leading to Motivation and Confidence Risks

There is considerable literature recognizing the challenges that students with LD face due to negative educational experiences. Previous failures or frustrations likely helped flag students for analysis, diagnosis, and additional support, but it can take a toll on their self-image and ability to set realistic expectations.

Jonathan Cohen, Richard Lavoie, and the Institute for Progressive Education & Learning have written about the difficulties of “performance inconsistency,” when students can perform at a high level on some days but not on others. This can lead students to doubt their own abilities and be unable to anticipate their performance at any given time.

The Institute for Progressive Education & Learning does a deep dive on this motivational hurtle and provides guidelines for ways to relearn habits and rebuild confidence. While thoughtful, logical, and thorough, I had one concern with their recommendation that “Frustration level” educational materials (“90 percent or below in reading accuracy and below 75 percent accuracy in comprehension. Reading is halting, slow, and laborious”) should be avoided when working with students with learning differences. My study is striving to challenge that notion in the way we use primary sources in the classroom. Perhaps it would take time and scaffolding, but my hope is that we can create educational environments for students to interact with and build confidence with highly challenging texts.

Motivation and Confidence Connection

Negative educational experiences and lowered self-esteem can also take students down the road of learned helplessness. James Chapman looked at the connections some students with LD had with lowered self-perceptions of ability and learned helplessness. The fear of continued failure and disappointment can lead to a decrease in motivation to try in the first place. This can also lead to defensive behaviors and avoidance that get in the way of attempting an educational task.

Part of having an interest in engaging an activity is based on previous positive experiences with something similar. In order to improve motivation, damage done to confidence must similarly be repaired, and these elements must be re-addressed and built upon on a continuous basis.

“In general, they [students with LD] are more likely to have moderately lower academic self-esteem (Bear, Minke, & Manning, 2002; Zeleke, 2004), but even on this dimension scores can vary widely.” James C. Raines has noted the risks of lowered self-esteem for students with LD (while they may vary) and presents a number of interventions to help them develop more confidence.

Engagement and Routine Setting the Stage

There is a growing body of evidence supporting the effectiveness of strategies for helping students with LD. Strategies include creating comfort through predictable routines and engaging students in the content before challenging them at a high level.

There has been evidence supporting the use of Content Enhancement for students with LD to interact with primary sources in the history classroom. Content Enhancement which is based in a series of instructional routines and organizers to help students compartmentalize and sort information.

While not specifically designed for students with LD, Engagement First strategies have been shown to increase motivation for students when working with challenging texts. Finding ways to assign students roles and think critically can create a more accessible environment.

There is also some promising evidence for Universal Design for Learning (UDL) strategies when working with students with LD, and these are compatible with historical inquiry. Tools such as text dependent questions, and digital graphic organizers can create familiar routines and engagement through critical thinking.

Long-Term Goals: Confident Learners and Self-Advocates

Part of the big picture of my research question is about the long-term benefit for students to feel confident working with difficult texts, because I know they cannot avoid them forever. Augusta Gross reports that self-advocacy has been linked to long-term academic success for students with LD, but building those skills takes time and buy-in. What may be even more challenging is helping students become confident learners when being a learner is such a dynamic process. Gross explains the process:

Students with specific learning disabilities… Adjusting to new learning environments, new teaching staff, new and more complex learning material, requires large reservoirs of patience, energy, motivation and emotional resilience. Students need to rely on their basic sense of learning competency overall, in order to negotiate those times when they are having learning difficulties. They need confidence to know when to seek assistance, and accommodations that are tailored to their learning needs.

So What’s Next?

After this review, I have renewed appreciation for the importance of this research, to help students with LD better access challenging texts, but the exact constellation of factors is still elusive. We recognize motivation and confidence are key, but we need more information on the mechanism and ways to remediate and help students navigate equilibrium.

My next steps will be to develop data collection strategies and collect data to begin investigating these mechanisms! Follow my journey here on Medium and follow me on Twitter!

Image credit: Photo by Sharon McCutcheon on Unsplash