Role of parenting
Uploaded by cognetto on Nov 05, 2001
Role of Parental Motivational Practices in Children’s Academic Intrinsic Motivation and Achievement (Gottfried)
Article Summary
I chose to write my journal article research paper on the role of parents in children’s academic motivation and achievement. The article relates the parent’s role and at home practices, and the effect of these practices on the child’s performance and motivation.
In the longitudinal study of children ages 9 and 10, two types of motivational practices were assessed:
“Parental motivational practices that encourage pleasure in the learning process, curiosity, persistence, and task endogeny are positively related to children’s academic intrinsic motivation and achievement.” (Gottfried 105)
“ Task-extrinsic parental motivational practices that emphasize external control, diminished autonomy, or devaluation of competence are negatively related to children’s academic intrinsic motivation and achievement.” (Gottfried 105)
The data observed and given in the article from mothers also provided
information on which motivational practices are used, such as provision of rewards, help with schoolwork, encouragement, punishment and negativity for unsatisfactory achievement.
It is important to note that although the conceptual model was derived from theory and research pertaining to parents in general, the data collected in the article were solely on mothers. The findings of the research were that the predicted variables were proven positive, and there was a high correlation between parental motivational practices and a child’s academic intrinsic motivation and achievement. The study’s findings also proved that mothers’ provisions of task-extrinsic consequences had a negative effect on children’s academic intrinsic motivation, and were directly related. The study findings also showed that there were indirect effects on subsequent motivation and achievement through their effects on earlier academic intrinsic motivation.
Remarks
After reading the aforementioned journal article, I can only remark upon the fact that to me, this study seemed to only validate the obvious. I am in agreement with the findings to a point. I do believe that if you make children interested and motivated in what they are doing then they will have a higher achievement rate then children who are “bored” with school. I believe that most parents have the knowledge of what they should and should not do to help in their child’s academic performance but fail to achieve this task for many reasons.
I do take into consideration, however; that although it may be detrimental to a student’s intrinsic motivation, in some cases to give rewards or encouragement, in other cases it is the only way some parents feel that they can...