Changing Attitudes - Strategy for Motivating Students to Learn

Description

A new and practical way to look at students' negative attitudes toward school and schoolwork ... and what you can do about it!" "Changing Attitudes is the first and only handbook to address the growing problem of negative attitudes. By using informal logic (critical thinking) you can now correct negative attitudes and thereby motivate your students to learn. The book lays out a three-step strategy: (1) Identify negative attitudes; (2) Show students how to express those attitudes as ideas; (3) Help students analyze the ideas and reach their own conclusions as to their validity. If some of your students hate school and lack respect for teachers, here's how to start correcting their negative attitudes!" "The book offers techniques for identifying and classifying the most harmful attitudes, to expose the fallacious thinking underlying them; contemporary examples to help you and your students understand and use informal logic to critically examine negative attitudes; tips on guiding students in analyzing their negative thoughts, so they can understand why they feel that way - and why their attitudes are wrong; and suggestions on modifying classroom methods, to: (1) reduce the number of negative attitudes and (2) transform negative attitudes into positive ones. I.FUNDAMENTAL CONCERNS. 1.Why Students Aren't Learning. 2.A Strategy for Dealing with Attitudes. II.UNHEALTHY ATTITUDES TOWARD SELF. 3."I Am Inherently Wise and Good." 4."Nothing Influences Me Because I Am an Individual." 5."I Already Know Everything Worth Knowing." 6."Being Myself Makes Self-Discipline Unnecessary." 7."I Can Accomplish Anything if I Believe in Myself." 8."My Ideas, Feelings, and Habits of Mind Are Unique." 9."No One Understands Me as Well as I Understand Myself." 10."All Criticism, Including Self-Criticism, Destroys My Confidence." 11."If I Have High Self-Esteem, I Will Be Successful." 12."Guilt and Shame Undermine My Mental Health." 13."The Words 'Should, Ought, and Must' Stifle Personal Growth." 14."If I Don't Assert Myself, I Will Be Diminished." 15."Perfectionism Is a Serious Threat to My Well-Being." III.UNHEALTHY ATTITUDES TOWARD THOUGHT AND FEELING. 16."I Create My Own Truth." 17."I Have a Right to My Opinion, So My Opinions Are Right." 18."Having Evidence For My Opinion Proves that It Is Right." 19."My Feelings Are More Trustworthy than Reasoning and Logic." 20."I Should Never Question My Own Ideas and Beliefs." 21."Whoever Disagrees with Me Commits an Offense Against Me." 22."Expressing My Negative Feelings Will Relieve Them." 23."Morality is Strictly a Religious Matter." 24."Morality is Purely Personal and Subjective." 25."Morality is Relative to Culture." 26."Being Creative Means Being Different from Other People." IV.UNHEALTHY ATTITUDES TOWARD LEARNING. 27."The Teacher's Job is to Entertain Me." 28."Whatever Doesn't Satisfy Immediately Isn't Worth Pursuing." 29."School Subjects Are Separate and Unrelated to One Another." 30."In Complex Matters There Are No Right Answers." 31."In Disagreements One Side Must Be Totally Right." 32."My Way of Thinking, Speaking, and Writing Should Be Respected." 33."Other People's Ideas Are of No Value to Me." 34."Experts' Views Are No Better than Mine." 35."Rules and Procedures Don't Apply to Me."