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External Locus Of Control In Education

Decent Essays

During research for my initial response, I stumbled upon a literary review that referenced how children’s individual locus of control (the belief they have the power to affect their universe (internal) or do they believe universe ultimately determines who they are) effect their learning or ability to achieve (Paschler , McDaniel, & York, 2008). Meaning, to me, that if a child has a fixed mindset and operates an external locus of control (if a teacher says I am C student than I must be a C student) could drastically impact their value of achievement and general attitude toward learning. This of course differs from the success one would have if they possessed an internal locus of control and a growth mindset.

In your question, you reference Dweck’s statement about positive attitudes (Dweck, 2014), what is further interesting about locus of control in regard to mindset, is that it associated with personality psychology. A study conducted on if locus of control effects innovativeness showed those with external locus of control had constricted abilities toward innovativeness (Turker & Mehmet, 2012) or that we tend to press the boundaries of what is into what can be, when we believe we maintain control rather than being at behest of the external world. Therefore one strategy could be reinforcing innovation in our children. Setting up experiences for our children to practice innovation and then emphasizing their success with praise is one example (Dweck, 2014) …show more content…

As such, we, as parents, can be self-aware if what we are teaching our child about the universe (what is our locus of control) and model/facilitate internal locus for our children so that when they approach learning, they will assimilate easier into the growth

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