This commentary revisits compelling arguments put forth by the contributors to this special issue on the role of race and ethnicity in academic motivation research. First, an overview of how race and motivation have been positioned in prominent theories of motivation is provided and juxtaposed with those offered in culturally responsive…

Discusses a Korean learner's struggle to achieve English language proficiency over a 20-year period using an autobiographical approach. Concentrates on the issues of individual motivation and social learning environments and examines the interactions between this learner's motivation and affect, self-confidence, and environment. (Author/VWL)

Discusses the following barriers to adult learning: (1) motivation is dependent on usefulness of material; (2) ideas and values are fully formed and resistent to challenge; (3) students develop a negative self-image; and (4) students experience reentry shock and infantilization. Discusses an orientation course involving critical thinking designed…

Raising academic performance to optimal levels involves providing appropriate learning experiences, using relevant external resources, encouraging positive student-teacher relations, exhibiting high expectations for academic performance, developing positive student self-concepts, and demonstrating the future utility of schooling. This article…

Argues children's natural drive to discover is intrinsic and that adults cannot instill it from the outside. Dispels common myths about child motivation and describes the optimal conditions for self-motivated learning. Provides examples of how the Montessori-prepared environment makes the most of children's inborn curiosity, interest, and wonder.…

A theory concerning low achievement of student that applies to adult education is developed, based on an interconnection between cognitive and affective domains. A holistic picture of what happens to students may be gained from Piaget's theory of intellectual development, Bloom's hierarchy of cognitive abilities, theories proposing that what…

A summary is presented of the literature on motivation relating to achievement in the classroom. Special attention is given to how values, ideology, and various cultural patterns may serve to enhance motivation to achieve in the classroom. In considering what determines motivation and personal investment in educational pursuits, the following…

Factors influencing the social and educational environment of junior high schools are discussed, and recommendations for the improvement of the school environment through increased cooperation among students, teachers, and administrators are given. The needs of early adolescents are identified, and the degree to which the junior high school can…

This book maintains that much of what children and adolescents are taught in school is of limited use to them in succeeding in life. It notes that although most school curricula focus on factual knowledge and cultural enrichment, they fall short in providing students with an education that focuses on individual abilities and inclinations,…

Personal experience of deafness and related sociological, educational, and psychological views are used to explore the question: How does a deaf individual develop the concept of self through social interaction and in dealing with standard English at school? Ways for deaf children in school to learn standard English are also discussed. (24…