Learning Module 8

A Case Study in Motivation

David Mastroianni
EDU 615

Case Study in Motivation

I.

Introduction
Johnny is a seventeen year old sophomore in my Global History II class. He is
an outgoing boy who, more often than not, has a smile on his face. He comes from a
single parent home where he lives with his mother. At this age, he, like most others
cant see beyond being 17. However, he does show signs that he is thinking about life
in the future. He does often say that he feels lost and he doesnt know why. Another
thing I do notice is that he shows signs of intense anger usually directed at himself, but,
he periodically quietly lashes out at others. I also here him proudly talk of his physical
exploits. He is currently struggling in my class.
Johnny smiles often in class. However, there are times where I can see that he
is brooding, usually stemming from something that has happened outside of the
classroom or through a perceived slight from another student where he becomes very
defensive. He does tend to work well with others when we work in groups usually
because he is amicable. The problem is that these interactions arent exactly academic
in nature all of the time. Instead, people want to talk with him because he is just good to
talk to. Written work in class and any homework outside of class are rarely completed.
The typical excuse is very honest, which I find respectable, that excuse, I just didnt do
it. And he doesnt say it with an attitude or defiantly, he says it in a very matter of fact
manner as if he knows and is willing to accept the consequences for his actions. Again,
I find this respectable because kids are very rarely willing to accept the consequences
for their actions without some form of excuse or an argument.
Johnny and I have had frequent post-class discussions in which he tells me that
he respects me yet he doesnt know why he doesnt do the work. His at-home life is

questionable at best and the results can clearly be seen in his work, or lack thereof. I
have emailed the mother a few times with the generic letter of concern:
Dear Ms. ------,
I am writing to touch base with you about Johnnys progress, or lack thereof, in
my class. A lot of this trimesters work (and grades) are based upon the students outof-class work and their commitment to take care of their part and responsibilities when it
comes to our class based projects. Up until this point, Johnny has rarely held up his
end of the bargain. He rarely completes the task assigned to him, which he willfully
acknowledges. I would like to set up a time with you to meet and talk about a possible
plan of action in which we could address this issue. Maybe we could also discuss the
root of some of these issues and any insight you could provide would be greatly
appreciated. I feel that if we can be on the same page and Johnny hears the same
message both at home and at school then maybe we will be able to afford him success.
Please contact me at your earliest convenience so that we may fix this large, and
growing, problem before it becomes overwhelming for Johnny and the hole he digs for
himself becomes too deep to escape from.
Respectfully,
David Mastroianni

Unfortunately, even after sending out four emails, CCing his counselor on each,
and leaving messages for the mother, I did not hear back once from her. I thought
about contacting the father, but, he lives in Atlanta and he does not even have his

contact information available for Johnnys teachers to contact him. I eventually did have
contact with the mother this trimester when I ran into her at our football practice (the
practice part will make sense when I get to my strategies later) and it was
uncomfortable. Her other teenage son had driven her to practice because she had
been drinking. Our conversation consisted of justifying herself as a mother and placing
all of the blame on Johnny. I politely intervened periodically to try to defend him as well
as point out to her (because she is a nurse) the various levels of depression that Johnny
was exhibiting, by getting her to list the numerous signs of depression that she had to
deal with in her patients.
I briefly spoke to other teachers about Johnny, one teacher in particular whose
opinion I respect very much and had Johnny as a freshman. He told me that he
observed a lot of the same characteristics I did including the deep-seeded anger. We
discussed what the teacher did in his particular classroom, but, he conceded that none
of it seemed to work, pointing out that Johnnys level of performance steadily decreased
throughout the school year. This other teacher and I discussed some possible
strategies, but, ultimately, he said that he couldnt offer much because he had such little
success with him.
II.

Observations
Johnny is a case-book example of the Attribution Theory because Johnny has
decided that he cant do work well in several of his classes because there are too many
other things going on in his life and he doesnt know how to prepare. Johnny attributes
his (failures) to these several possibilities, and has certain feelings as a result.
(Anderman & Anderman, 2014, p.5) His feeling is clearly that of hopelessness. And,

after my first, and only encounter with his mother, I do not feel as if he is getting much
support at home. Rather, he is made to feel incompetent, especially after his brother
(as his mother pointed out) is about to go to medical school. As his sense of self-worth
continues to spiral downward so does his academic performance. And, according to
Covington,, For children and adolescents in school settings, self-worth is tied directly to
academic performance. (Covington, 1984)
Forming a positive bond as a male influence in his life was the first, very basic,
step that I began to employ with Johnny. But, I feel that this is a duty of all teachers.
Shouldnt we be holistic in our approach to teaching? Teaching is not, and cannot, be
just about subject matter. It is amazing to see how a student can perk up by simply
asking, How is your day? Even the slightest level of interest from the teacher can
show a kid that you care. I am reminded of this when a student points out some
random thing I said or some action, such as a handshake or a hug, completely changed
their outlook on their situation or their day. Relationships are more important than the
education itself and we must address our profession in that manner. We must teach
relationship-building skills of being good people to promote a cohesiveness and create
a progress that we all can be proud of. To do so in class, I began creating more classbased projects in which the entire class worked towards one final product. These types
of projects offered leadership, inclusion, collaborative, and many other skills which
would encourage Johnny to not only count upon others for his success, but also, and
more importantly, be counted upon.
The other idea that I began to work on with Johnny was the breaking down of
tasks, even the simplest ones both in and out of school, into easy to follow and

attainable steps. Students often operate in the now and are a product of the instant
gratification generation. Therefore, students often set unrealistic goals for
themselves. (Anderman & Anderman, 2014) Unrealistic goals such as distal goals are
often discouraging to kids, and, lets be honest, adults as well. If one is constantly
laboring towards a long-term goal without any measure of success along the way it
becomes very difficult to continue to work towards that goal and often it ends in
frustration. With that in mind, Johnny and I created a study plan, not just for my class,
but for school in general. We broke down studying into 10 minute increments so as to
not overwhelm him with information or confuse him. We then came up with a follow-up
plan in which he would clarify any concerns he had the next day. I used the analogy of
building a house. I asked him what would happen if we added a level of a house to a
cracked foundation. He came to the conclusion that the house would eventually
collapse, maybe not right away, but as we piled more levels on. I then explained to him
that his education was no different, if he didnt understand the material from day one,
how could he possibly build upon it? Therefore, I put the responsibility of his education
and growth back on him by providing a simple plan for success.
III.

Effective Strategies
I have a unique advantage over a lot of other teachers in that I am a coach which
is all about motivation and getting kids to do things that they thought were out of the
realm of their capabilities. I have two venues from which I can draw my experience
from and use lessons I learn in one arena and be able to apply it to another. In
Johnnys case, I applied something I learned from coaching to my dealings with him.
First, I made it a point to let him know that we were going to work on character above all

else, because I have found that with good character comes success. And, I began work
on the other motto I have used when coaching kids which states, If I can make a kid
feel, whether he is the superstar or the last kid on the bench, that he can contribute, at
any point, to a victory; and I have prepared him to do so, then I have been a successful
coach.
To employ that in the classroom is a little bit more of a complicated endeavor.
What is victory in the classroom? Is it an A? Is it twenty-four students working together
to achieve a common goal? I would argue that it is more of the latter than the former.
Inclusion provides motivation in many different manners. The student who is struggling
to fit in now has a group to belong to. Research shows, that students who perceive a
sense of belonging, display adaptive patterns of motivation. (Anderman & Anderman, p.
227, 2014) The higher ability students now have to learn to not just operate on their
own, but, include all others and teach them how to have success. And, these projects
also give students who typically view themselves as being limited to a very particular set
of skills, to utilize those skills to create something that benefits all. With that in mind, I
guess I have to credit Johnny for changing the structure and assessments in the second
half of my class. Johnny, like other students needed a sense of belonging. Along with
this sense of belonging is the need to have success. There is a lot to the age-old adage
of nothing breeds success like success. Through periodic check points and
evaluations from his peers, Johnny was able to receive feedback on the importance of
his involvement in the completion and success of the project. The feedback was both
positive and negative as it spanned the length of three class projects and 60 days in
total. Johnny received his highest evaluation from his peers over the course of the last

class project. To see his smile and his look of relief at the end of the last project was
very nice to see.
The reason I brought up the unique advantage I have as a coach directly relates
to my next form of motivation that I used with Johnny. I made him join our football team.
I honestly told him, This is not optional. I printed out the forms and said I wanted them
back by the next day, I even offered to pay the participation fee. I then listed the
benefits for him (I did leave one key benefit out, which I will address in a moment). I
explained that there were numerous benefits, such as: being around boys who were as
aggressive as he was, being a part of something bigger than himself, contributing to
others success, and a litany of character building skills that we, as a football staff, work
on every day in order to build young men. In order to further convince him, I made
participation in football a personal experience. I told him that when I was in the hospital
with cancer a lot of the lessons I learned in football such as perseverance in the face of
adversity, among others, helped me make it through. And I appealed to the sense of
wanting to become a good man, knowing full well that he did not really have a male role
model in life to look up to. In fact, to reference an earlier part of my paper, this is how I
met his mother. She got out of the car to both confront and thank me for encouraging
him to participate in football and reaching out to him, even though she said he didnt
need it.
The last key benefit that I neglected to mention to Johnny, that he immediately
figured out on his own, was that it held him responsible for his actions. If he wanted to
continue to play football then he had to pass all of his classes, including mine.
Basically, it enforced goal-setting. And the goal was as simple as being part of a team,

something he had never done before. From observing him about an hour ago, I could
see he was exhausted, when I asked why he said, Because I need a 75 on my final to
pass English and stay eligible for football. I smiled and gave him a big hug he is
starting to understand.
IV.

Conclusion
Kids are fragile with their own unique sets of problems and concerns. Therefore, we
have to manage and motivate them on a case by case basis. And, as I experienced
with Johnny, the forms of motivation can change from moment to moment with the same
student. Progress has been made with Johnny.. I know it I can see it in his
demeanor. He is more confident, he cares about getting the job done, and, more
importantly, he cares about himself. Yesterday, before the top student in my class was
going to give her final presentation, she was nervous and pacing. I am not sure if
Johnny knows I heard his advice to her, but it went something like this,
Dont be nervous about your presentation, I am sure you prepared enough and
dont worry about other peoples opinions, as long as you know you worked hard and
you are happy with yourself and your effort, that is all that matters.
Johnny is beginning to understand, and like I have said to my class all year, growth
is success. He is growing and I couldnt be more proud of him.

References:

Anderman, E., & Anderman, L. (2014). What is Motivation. Classroom Motivation ().
Upper Saddle River: Pearson Education Inc..

Covington, M. V. (1984). The self-worth theory of achievement motivation: Implications

and findings. Elementary School Journal, 85, 720.