March 19, 2014
Helplessness in the Classroom
a classroom, much like the many classrooms across the country.
Students are in their seats, and the teacher is at the front
of the room delivering instruction.
the teacher instructs, she stops on occasion to check for understanding
and ask questions. Several students raise their hands, and the
teacher calls on a few students to share. She notices a pattern,
though the same students keep raising their hands when
she asks a question or asks for volunteers.
this, the teacher decides to call on some of the students who
haven't been raising their hands. When she does, another pattern
emerges; these students often respond with "I don't know"
or remain quiet. Other students, losing patience, jump in and
answer the question. The teacher, feeling the pressure of time
and material to cover, continues with the lesson.
in the lesson, the teacher provides the opportunity for students
to practice with the lesson content, either independently or
in small groups. During this practice time, she notices the
same students who were not participatory in the lesson are not
engaged in practice. They are talking with others or sitting
quietly. When prompted by the teacher to get to work, the students
appear to get started but quickly go back to talking and disengage
from the task.
scenarios occur in classrooms on a daily basis. The students
in this scenario may be demonstrating learned helplessness:
a disruption in motivation, effect and learning when students
feel they do not have any control of the outcome.
an educational setting, students may feel that any effort is
fruitless, as they do not understand the content, and so refuse
to make any effort whatsoever. Learned helplessness may also
result from low expectations of students, and students not being
held accountable in the classroom to engage in academic tasks
for example a fifth-grade classroom wherein the class was engaged
in a discussion of the three types of rocks and the rock cycle.
Students were discussing how rocks change form through a variety
of processes such as heat, pressure, melting and weathering.
the lesson, we used the cooperative learning structure "numbered
heads" to call on students to share their ideas and report
on the group's discussion. It just so happened that a shy, quiet
student was called on to share. Other students in the class
immediately reported that this student could not report out
due to her shyness and shared the answer for her.
example involved a first-grade student learning about insects.
This student was at the early intermediate level in terms of
English proficiency. Each time he was called on in class to
answer a question, repeat out loud or otherwise share, he would
point to another student to share.
this student was capable of sharing in English, he needed additional
support. But in several instances, the teacher moved on, without
providing the needed support or requiring the student to share
using the language the student did know and was learning.
practice allowed the student to begin to develop learned helplessness,
as the implied message was that he was not capable in sharing,
and someone else would be required to do it for him.
this particular case, rather than moving on when the student
was apprehensive, he could have been provided with the needed
support so that he could share with the class. The teacher may
have provided a number of tools, such as group support, sentence
starters or scaffolded questions to support the student in sharing.
for avoiding learned helplessness
considering how to avoid or help students overcome learned helplessness,
it is important to remember that success builds success and
failure builds failure. The more students have already failed,
the more successes they will need to have to overcome the failures.
we start with small, attainable successes to highlight each
day, the students are more likely to see themselves as successful
in our classes. Students sometimes find this success when they
are served in intervention classes, wherein the areas of needed
development are taught in an intensified format, building on
where students are and helping them to master skills needed
can also be built into classroom activities. Take the first
example of the fifth-grade class studying the rock cycle. When
classmates reported that the student could not respond due to
her being shy, rather than moving on to another student, the
teacher had the student who had been called on whisper in the
student was not comfortable sharing with the entire class, but
she did share quietly. This procedure demonstrated to the class
that although the student in question may not have been comfortable
reporting to the entire class, she was still appropriately accountable
to share ideas, and that her voice could not be taken away by
other students in the class.
she had not been held accountable to participate in a way that
was appropriate for her, she would have continued to develop
a sense that she was not capable, and that her contribution
was not as important or valued as others.
is important, of course, to begin with creating an environment
in our classrooms where risk is encouraged and students feel
comfortable with making an effort even if it results in making
errors. If students feel as though they will be laughed at for
a wrong answer, for example, they will be less likely to make
the effort and push themselves.
everyone is seen as a learner with diverse skills, strengths
and areas of need, students are more likely to thrive and attempt
is also critical to keep students motivated and engaged. Students
often feel successful when they are studying about topics they
have an interest in, so anytime we can connect to students own
interests, experiences and background knowledge, we have the
opportunity to help them be more successful.
course, not all topics are of personal interest to each student.
Instructional methodologies that keep students actively engaged
including choral calling and reading, when all students
say a vocabulary word or phrase or read together, for example
can provide a low-anxiety environment to participate
scaffolding techniques should also be used to avoid perpetuating,
or creating, learned helplessness. For example, provide students
with clear and explicit instructions or directions for academic
tasks. This includes having both written and oral instructions,
and demonstrating for students, step by step, what they are
the task is complicated, consider giving one step at a time,
demonstrating it and then having the students practice the step.
Additional steps can be added one or more at a time as students
can and should also clarify directions and instructions with
their peers. This is becoming increasingly important as we ask
students to read and access more complex text, and as students
are asked to complete more complex tasks, having a finished
product is helpful for students, as well as a rubric or clear
techniques such as numbered heads, as described in a previous
example, are also helpful. It is important that students have
the support of peers in their group, and that they are held
accountable to share.
example, if the teacher calls on a particular student, and he
does not have a response, the teacher might say "talk with
your partners. I'll be right back." It is critical that
the teacher return to the same student in this case, after he
has had a chance to discuss the concept or question, so that
the student responds.
is not uncommon, at first, to have to return to the student
multiple times. However, with the support of others in the class,
the student will learn that he is indeed accountable to share.
Other options that follow this concept include using a "lifeline"
or "phone a friend," as well as "no opt out."
support is critical in practicing concepts and skills as well.
Teachers have long applied the gradual release of responsibility,
or the "I do, we do, you do" model, by teaching, providing
guided practice and moving to independent practice.
mentioned by Doug Fisher and Nancy Frey and others, at times
teachers have missed the "you do it together" portion
of the gradual release before moving to independent work. In
this portion, students collaboratively practice the skill while
the teacher monitors and provides assistance on an as-needed
careful observation, planning, scaffolding and accountability,
we can help students who are experiencing learned helplessness
to be successful. It will take thoughtful, caring teachers who,
despite the challenges, are willing and able to build success
with students who thus far may not have had a successful and
motivating school experience.
Herrmann is an educational consultant specialized in teaching
English learners, and he runs Academic Language Learning Institute,
Inc.. Erick has worked with thousands of teachers across the
help them improve their instructional practice and increase
academic achievement for all students.