Self-Th eories and Motivation: Students’ Beliefs About Intelligence

For some students, school is a struggle from the beginning. How can we keep these students motivated and prevent them from giving up? Should we praise them whenever we can, assure them of their intelligence, and, in these ways, try to build their confi dence? Other students may achieve success early on, but then encounter diffi culties aft er the transition to junior high school. Th is transition can be very demanding for students, due to many diff erences in the school environment that can lead to disengagement (Eccles et al., 1993). In elementary school, parents and teachers may constantly praise these children for how well they do, how smart they are, how quickly they learn. It might seem that these early successes would lay the foundation for a life of self-confi dence and high academic achievement. Yet, many of these students struggle when they reach junior high school, and their grades begin to show a downward trajectory (Blackwell, Trzesniewski, & Dweck, 2007). Suddenly classes are challenging, and hard work is necessary for success. How do students respond when the going gets tough? Do they remind themselves that they are intelligent and capable, roll up their sleeves, and get down to work? Unfortunately, many of them do not. Instead many choose to give up, to take the easy way out, and try to get by with the minimum amount of eff ort. Why does this happen and what can educators do?