I listen with keen interest to a student chanting through her textbook. It then dawns on me that exams are on and the student is “revising” for her exams. Whether she can comprehend whatever she is reading remains an unanswered question. I would only imagine that she cannot wait for all this to come to an end for her to have her life back. [break]
At some point in our daily lives, we have heard a very common phrase “positive mental attitude”. Doctors will tell you, if you have a positive mental attitude, it will speed up the healing process; counselors will advise that in life, with a positive mental attitude, no hurdle is too big to cross.
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It is during the early years that attitude is formed. Attitude formation is an intriguing process, but one thing we can agree on is the fact that attitude is a function of our past and present experiences; exposure through media, and socialization process as a whole. Wikipedia defines attitude as an “expression of favor or disfavor, like or dislike towards a person, place, thing or event”. A favorable predisposition towards someone/something or place prompts an individual to want to associate frequently. The scenario is the opposite in case of an unfavorable attitude. Individuals tend to automatically dissociate with events/places/people that arouse feelings of distress and anxiety.
Socialization is a combination of factors ranging from parents, peers, media, etc. The role of parents should not be overlooked. There is a positive correlation between family involvement in school activities and student attitudes. As Roberta Berns points out in her book ; parental and family involvement foster positive attitudes towards learning, better attendance, better grades and advancement in education. Such collaboration between parents and schools results in student confidence towards the school, the teachers, and themselves.
Besides parents, peers are a great influence in attitude formation. The peers a student associates with can promote or hinder development of favorable attitudes towards learning. Associating with peers who have a strong desire to excel motivates an individual to work harder to keep up with the peers, and most importantly, to maintain status quo.
When students find it pleasurable to go to school, it could be because of a favorite teacher, the joy of being with playmates, the satisfaction gained from success in learning and classroom activities, the sense of accomplishment stemming from leadership responsibilities assigned to them; learning becomes fun and school going becomes a joy to learners. When such pleasure and joy is sustained by the extensive use of concrete experiences and resources, learning becomes more relevant to students. Such meaningful learning blends into a mix of academic attainment, exploration and celebration of culture, as well as an avenue for personal realization and accomplishment in terms of talents and skills.
On the other hand, a negative attitude manifests itself when students associate schools with distress, failure, and punishment, to mention just a few negative aspects. Education has been presented as a highly competitive sphere, in which failure to excel in the mainstream translates into feelings of sympathy towards self for being labeled a “failure”. As such, the urge to excel fades away. The stigma that comes with it from peers, teachers and parents compounds the problem, and the will to excel is no more. Negative attitude formed at any stage in the life of an individual has far reaching effects and hampers future productivity, self esteem and self image, leaving one in a state of apathy. With regards to learning, apathy lowers the levels of intrinsic motivation.
With this realization, schools should be gardens of enriching experiences. They should promote self indulgence in day to day learning, while teachers act as mentors of excellence and facilitators of learning. They should model a love for school and education.
It is easier said than done, but always, it is a single daring step that sets a hero apart from a coward. Attitude can change everything, for the better, which in this case translates into improved learning; or for the worst, where individuals stagnate in a quagmire of self pity.
Quoting William James, “The greatest discovery of our generation is that human beings can alter their lives by altering their attitude of mind. As you think, so you shall be.”
The author is a Basic Education Volunteer, working for VSO Nepal and DEO Myagdi
Virginia.ngindiru@gmail.com
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