Motivating Secondary Schooling Children Assignment

Motivating Secondary Schooling Children - Assignment Example 195). Sockett's statement expresses a basic premise about the role of motivation: It leads to possibilities for fostering the development of students' potential or "life chances" (Mclnerney & Van Etten, 2001, p. x). In some rare cases the educator is lucky enough to have a group of students who all arrive with enthusiasm for the subject. They have well developed study skills and a strong aptitude towards learning. In these instances the task for the educator is to maintain this enthusiasm and to utilize it to ensure these already advanced students continue to achieve high levels of success. However, the circumstances for educators are often quite different. Their study skills may be underdeveloped and the academic learning may be less than impressive. It is for this reason that an educator should be armed with the knowledge and skill to develop or even create motivation. A central theme of this paper is that teachers have a primary responsibility in education to help students cultivate personal qualities of motivation that can give them resources for developing aspiration, independent learning, achieving goals, and fostering resiliency in the face of setbacks. Perhaps this responsibility is even more important in the context of the motivational problems and challenges faced in the home and in schools in the early 21st century. The research on the issue will include reviewing the literature on motivation and discussing of teaching approaches that stimulate students' motivation. The research paper will also focus on subject interest and draw upon the practical experiences of teachers faced with students whose level of interest in their subject matter is low. Student's discouragement to learn is not uncommon and arises widely throughout the educational system. During the years of compulsory education, the lack of motivation is a matter of constant conc ern. Students are faced with a wide ranging curriculum designed to provide a well rounded education. Amongst the myriad of research subjects there will be some favored topic/subjects, while other subjects may not be that interesting to an individual student. Successful teaching will almost inevitably require the adoption of a different approach to the teaching and learning activities undertaken. Definition and overview of motivation Motivation is a theoretical construct used to explain the initiation, direction, intensity, persistence, and quality of behavior, especially goal-directed behavior (Maehr & Meyer, 1997). Motives are hypothetical constructs used to explain why people are doing what they are doing. Motives are distinguished from related constructs such as goals (the immediate objectives of particular sequences of behavior) and strategies (the methods used to achieve goals and thus to satisfy motives). For example, a person responds to hunger (motive) by going to a restaurant (strategy) to get food (goal). Motives are usually construed as relatively general needs or desires that energize people to initiate purposeful action sequences. In contrast, goals (and related strategies) tend to be more specific and to be used to explain the direction and quality of action sequences in particular situations

Argument against Tax Bailouts Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Argument against Tax Bailouts - Essay Example Advantages to be discussed are: bailouts are needed to ensure that big corporations whose collapse will impact several industries can survive; bailouts are a necessary economic stimulant to jump-start the shaky economy; Bailouts are essentially government loans which the corporation receiving must pay back hence, the money will be returned; Disadvantages to be discussed are: bailouts use taxpayer money, which diverts much needed funding from other government programs and institutions; bailouts are band-aid solutions as they deal with the symptoms, not the main problems and do not always work; bailouts are against the free market principals and promote an environment where big corporations can take reckless risk knowing the government will pull them out. Despite the perceived advantages, tax bailouts are a major cost to tax payers and should not be used as a solution to prevent corporations who have placed themselves in difficult positions through mismanagement. As of July 24, 2011, t he United States government has handed out tax bailouts totaling well over $2.5 trillion with a commitment to provide further support of $12.2 trillion (The New York Times). These funds can be directed to improve the government’s social services and infrastructure. However, large corporations, who are at the brink bankruptcy due to mismanagement and high risk taking, will end up receiving these funds. However, some would argue that these bailouts are necessity in order to prevent limit the ripple effect from the collapse of big corporation. Bailouts are needed to ensure that big corporations whose collapse will impact several industries can survive. These too big to fail corporations, if they were to collapse the, system would not be able to hold up against such a significant jump in unemployment numbers. Given the cross-functional nature of corporations today, the impact would have been felt in other industries; job losses would mean a drop in consumer spending, which would impact the retail industry (as an example) and so on. In order to prevent such a ripple effect, bailouts are necessary. Bailouts are a necessary economic stimulant to jump-start the shaky economy. By implementing a bailout, government can prevent loss of jobs, which means that consumers will continue to have disposable income to spend. This will boost the industries that manufacture the goods and services thus stimulating the economy and keep it steady. Consumers without any source that provides them with disposable income, example jobs, will hold back the spending. This will cause lower retail expenditures thus resulting in slow economic growth, which can lead to a recession. Thus, to prevent such dangerous movements, the bailout is required. Bailouts are essentially government loans, which the corporation receiving must pay back hence, the money will be returned. The government has the upper hand in dictating the conditions upon which the bailout is issued. In the case of the auto makers, governments, in exchange for the bailout, received an ownership stake in the company, for example General Motors, thus will receive dividends and interest once GM starts generating revenue. Part of the deal with the big corporations is that the bailout money has to be returned once the crisis has been averted and