Making the Grade by Martin V Covington

Making the Grade by Martin V Covington

Achievement behaviour in schools can best be understood in terms of attempts by students to maintain a positive self-image. For many students, trying hard is frightening because a combination of effort and failure implies low ability, which is often equated with worthlessness. Thus many students described as unmotivated are in actuality highly motivated - not to learn, but to avoid failure. Students have a variety of techniques for avoiding failure, ranging from cheating to setting low goals which are easily achieved. In Making the Grade, Martin Covington extracts powerful educational implications from self-worth theory and other contemporary views of motivation that will be useful for everyone concerned with the educational dilemmas we face. He provides a comprehensive, insightful review of research and theory, both contemporary and historical, on the topic of achievement motivation, and arranges this knowledge in ways that lead to imminently practical recommendations for restructuring schools.

'This is a worthy book which revivifies one of the most tired topics in educational psychologyOn its first page, Peter Drucker is quoted thus: 'We know nothing about motivation. All we do is write books about it.' On reaching its final page this has been totally contradicted: by reading this book you will know a good deal about motivation particularly as an antidote for learners in cynical modern educational contexts. With Covington motivation is always a fresh topic.' Tom Phillips, Vocational Aspect of Education
'The book is very readable, insightful, and sensible. It offers a framework for curriculum planning, raises questions concerning what should be the goals of education, and suggests some meaningful ways schools can prepare students for the future.' Educational Researcher
'An extensive and thoughtful conversation about achievement behaviour (motivation). It is a book that is hard to put down if one is seriously inquiring into the topic.' Choice

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780521348034
ISBN 10	052134803X
Title	Making the Grade
Author	Martin V Covington
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Cambridge University Press
Year published	1992-04-24
Number of pages	364
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
Note	Unavailable