Besides the attitudes outlined in this chapter, what other attitudes can get in the way of student learning? Do you currently possess any of those attitudes?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Typically students don't tend to examine how their attitudes, expectancies, and thinking patterns can profoundly affect how they might handle a particular situation. Self-disclosure is an effective way to get students to see that we all possess particular attitudes that shape our behavior. If we continually self-reflect on this idea, we will see it in all aspects of our behavior. To model such reflection, instructors may share a story from their own experience, such as this:

"My family and I were getting ready to take a trip and I wanted to take my car in for servicing. I procrastinated scheduling the appointment, but had in my mind that, since we were leaving for the trip on Friday and I had other errands to accomplish before then, that the ideal time for the servicing would be on Tuesday. I waited until Monday morning to call and make the appointment. When the clerk couldn't accommodate my request, I found myself getting annoyed and irritable. My immediate thought was that this garage was inefficient and that they should be able to accommodate appointments the day before. Upon further reflection, I realized that I shouldn't be annoyed with the clerk; that I set up an unrealistic expectancy, which was what created my annoyance and negative attitude in the first place.".

Or another such story:

"I'm a ‘technophobe' and whenever new technology is introduced in the workplace, I automatically shut down and decide that the technology is either unnecessary or really won't make our jobs any easier, that it's much better to do things the way we always have. Whenever I am sent to computer training of any sort, I feel nervous and anxious. Instead of admitting my fears and anxieties around learning new technology, I convince myself that learning the information is really a waste of time and I can tend to become resistant. Now that I am aware of my fear of technology, I have been more able to tackle the computer training with a positive attitude.".