Indonesia's new literacy initiative, Gerakan Literasi Sekolah (GLS), focuses on developing literacy-rich school environments through a sequence of book engagements. As the locus of control in daily literacy activities (Lehman, 2007), teachers in Indonesia assume much of the responsibility for student literacy learning. Despite this expectation,…

Provides a teaching technique for improving instruction through awareness of the personality of the learner. (MD)

Many children who live in information-rich and eventful situations seem to know and to care relatively little about what is going on around them. Stimulating prosocial behavior and getting children involved in actual caring activities in their own environments may enhance children's interest in others, make them more open to relevant information,…

Studies of learning disabled students' self concept and attributions suggest that the passive learning style may reflect their beliefs that they are not in control of their destinies. The paper reviews strategies to help LD children acquire more adaptive notions about the causes of their successes and failures. (Author/CL)

This article demonstrates how to improve students' learning motivation by means of an attributional dialogue between teachers and students. Students are asked to describe events and to explain to what they attributed success or failure. Dialogue pages of a typically achieving learner and a student with learning disabilities are provided. (Contains…

Difficulties have arisen in implementing the principles of modern rhetoric in the classrooms of teachers who are interested in and committed to the principles of modern rhetoric as well as in the classrooms of teachers who use writing primarily for drill and evaluation. Although problems such as time limits, pressure from parents, lack of…

A program of intervention called therapeutic tutoring to help underachievers is described. Intervention centers around students' loci of control, through a process of identifying areas in which students feel empowered and relating academic experiences to these areas. Academic exercises based on Monopoly, cricket, rugby, soap operas, field hockey,…

There is more and more external control of classroom content and processes. This external control is being vested in legislative and administrative bodies, which are more apt to turn the school over to managerial and industrial needs. Teachers should take organized action to defend their right to control the classroom. (RM)

This study investigated the effects of role playing and open instruction on the self-awareness and attitudes of teachers with internal vs. external locus of control. No significant differences were found between treatment groups with regard to attitudes toward inservice education; however, significant differences were found with respect to locus…

Students with learning disabilities tend to hold an external locus of control for success but an internal locus of control for failure. Attribution feedback, combined with particular task strategies, can lead children to persist longer, acquire adaptive attributions, and make greater academic achievement gains. Attribution instruction can be…

According to the Coleman Report of 1966, the poor child considers his success a matter of fate or luck--something completely out of his control. If a child with this outlook is going to succeed, the child must receive immediate gratification for his educational achievements, and he must be shown that success is the result of a cause-and-effect…

Feelings of helplessness can impact on learning to read. This research review illustrates problems in assessing learned helplessness, including instrumentation inadequacies, lack of comprehensive causal schemes, context specificity, etc. Observations of and discussions with the child are recommended in the assessment process. Guidelines for…

This research review adopts a developmental perspective to the problem of gifted underachievement. It covers affective development characteristics, focusing on self-concept, locus of control, and personality and temperament; environmental influences such as family and school; and strategies for holistic development through a combination of direct…

The paper considers pressures on bright children and the relationship of such pressures to underachievement. It gives specific suggestions on the prevention of underachievement to both parents and teachers. Pressures often felt by gifted children include pressures to be brilliant, to be creative, to do something spectacular, to find oneself, to be…