Personal and Social Barriers to Learning
Personal and social barriers to learning are interrelated and can be addressed together in the classroom. Many of these barriers are found in students of all ages, including adults. The first step in overcoming a learning barrier is to identify it. It may not be immediately obvious to the teacher that a student has a barrier; the student may appear irrational or stubborn, when in fact there is an underlying cause for this behavior. When the obstacle is identified, it often has to be tackled by adapting and talking one-on-one with the students.
Summary of this practical sheet
1 Intrinsic motivation
2 Self-esteem
3 Social skills
4 Culture
Intrinsic motivation
Intrinsic motivation refers to the student's personal desire to learn the material, regardless of external stimuli or rewards. Lack of intrinsic motivation is a major personal barrier to learning. Without the desire to learn, students will often perform the minimum required tasks, without processing or understanding the information, and they may not even try at all. It is very difficult to establish intrinsic motivation, but research suggests several strategies. First, make the material relevant to the student in an immediate and personal way. Even college-aged students find it difficult to be motivated by events in the distant future. Telling these students that what they learn now will be used 15 years later is unlikely to be intrinsic motivation. Second, try to make the material as attractive as possible in order to grab the student's attention. Remember that intrinsic motivation must come from the student, and while you, the teacher, can encourage it, you cannot force the students to care.
Self esteem
Self-esteem is a person's perceived ability to achieve a certain goal. Low self-esteem often causes students to give up before they even try. However, students who have too much self-esteem may become overconfident and not give their full attention to the task and perform less well than students who have low self-esteem. A student's self-esteem is established in several ways, the strongest being past experience. If a student has achieved similar goals in the past, their self-esteem for reaching the new goal will be high. This creates a sort of self-fulfilling prophecy where students who succeed in a subject will be confident and motivated to continue to succeed, which in turn boosts their positive self-esteem. Conversely, students who fail to achieve a goal will be less confident and motivated to achieve similar goals in the future, which will encourage their continued failure. One way to counteract this cycle is through verbal persuasion. Encouraging students and giving them positive reinforcement along the way can outweigh the influence of past failures. Another way to encourage positive self-esteem is to see someone else achieve the goal, especially if that person is someone they admire and identify with (like a friend). Encouraging students and giving them positive reinforcement along the way can outweigh the influence of past failures. Another way to encourage positive self-esteem is to see someone else achieve the goal, especially if that person is someone they admire and identify with (like a friend). Encouraging students and giving them positive reinforcement along the way can outweigh the influence of past failures. Another way to encourage positive self-esteem is to see someone else achieve the goal, especially if that person is someone they admire and identify with (like a friend).
Social abilities
Social skills are important for learning, because learning itself is largely a social activity. It is by discussing and comparing our ideas with others that we begin to understand what we know. As a result, students with poor social skills may fall behind in their learning. Skills such as the ability to listen effectively to others, speak clearly, and demonstrate empathy affect a student's ability to learn from social situations. This can be overtly prevalent in team-oriented situations, but even one-on-one interactions with the teacher can be negatively influenced.
Culture
Culture plays a critical role in determining world view. If a student's culture (including subcultures) does not place a high priority on learning or learning a particular subject, the student may not have the intrinsic motivation to learn. . It is very difficult to change someone's worldview when it is culturally based. Therefore, one strategy may be to show students how the material to be learned fits into and supports their culture.
