A major part of developing my nonprofit organization is connecting with others and understanding their struggles in various subjects. I offer classes and events where people can learn and share experiences and grow as a result so my work life often spills into my personal life. One of my co-workers confided in me and asked my opinion on an issue she was having with her daughter. Our children attend different schools in the same network and I know the curriculum to be vigorous and very demanding. She kept getting calls from her daughter’s teacher with complaints. The daughter hadn’t been focusing on her schoolwork, paying attention in class, and had her grades had fallen behind recently. This would be alarming for any parent, but I especially
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First I asked if she felt she and the teacher understood her daughter’s motivation for getting her work done. She said that they had both tried everything they could think of, but were still falling short of keeping her on task from beginning to end. They tried negative reinforcement and rewards systems, but nothing worked. She would lose interest easily and get frustrated with her work when she couldn’t understand a homework problem. According to the situational theory, a follower can be assessed in the areas of (1) the amount of direction they need, (2) the amount of support they need, (3) their level of commitment to the task, and (4) their level of competency to complete the task. I explained to her that when I was a child, being bored in class and struggling with ADD made it difficult for me to stay on task as well. No teacher had engaged me enough because they hadn’t provided the type of leadership I needed to motivate me stay on task. My ability to do the work was high, but I had fleeting moments of commitment to completing things with my limited view of the importance and impact of school. Based on the situational approach, my teachers should have been more supportive and given less goals and deadlines. This is what later teachers were able to provide me to successfully engage me in their subjects which eventually motivated me to work my
First I asked if she felt she and the teacher understood her daughter’s motivation for getting her work done. She said that they had both tried everything they could think of, but were still falling short of keeping her on task from beginning to end. They tried negative reinforcement and rewards systems, but nothing worked. She would lose interest easily and get frustrated with her work when she couldn’t understand a homework problem. According to the situational theory, a follower can be assessed in the areas of (1) the amount of direction they need, (2) the amount of support they need, (3) their level of commitment to the task, and (4) their level of competency to complete the task. I explained to her that when I was a child, being bored in class and struggling with ADD made it difficult for me to stay on task as well. No teacher had engaged me enough because they hadn’t provided the type of leadership I needed to motivate me stay on task. My ability to do the work was high, but I had fleeting moments of commitment to completing things with my limited view of the importance and impact of school. Based on the situational approach, my teachers should have been more supportive and given less goals and deadlines. This is what later teachers were able to provide me to successfully engage me in their subjects which eventually motivated me to work my