A study of learned helplessness in school children

Abstract

This study grew out of the researcher’s concern about the high rate of school failure and drop-out among students in Nigerian schools. It focussed on the phenomenon of Learned Helplessness, a factor that seemed likely to account for some school learning problems. In the course of the study, instruments and procedures that might be used to identify learned helpless school learners were developed and trialled and an in-depth investigation of their cognitive and emotional life was undertaken. The first phase of the study which focussed on identification issues, involved the trial of four identification procedures - a written description of Learned Helplessness. Learned Helplessness Traits Checklist, an Interview and an Attribution Questionnaire. In the second phase of the study, a case study strategy was adopted to explore the cognitive and emotional life of six Form Two children identified as learned helpless as an outcome of the phase one investigation. The data gathered during the first phase highlighted both strengths and limitations in each of the identification procedures and thus, the need to use several contrastive procedures to ensure accurate identification. The case study data confirmed that the six children exhibited cognitive, motivational and emotional deficits that have been identified in previous studies as facets of Learned Helplessness syndrome. The data also indicated that in a school setting, Learned Helplessness develops over an extended time frame and may wax and wane as classroom conditions change. Important individual differences in some aspects of the children’s helplessness were also revealed. These differences were apparent in the children’s perception of factors responsible for their learning difficulties, their coping strategies, and their emotional responses to some situations that prompted their helplessness. Educational implications that followed from the case study centre on the need for more studies aimed at identifying school factors that might encourage the incidence of Learned Helplessness. Most importantly, teachers, counsellors and others who wish to work effectively with children who appear to have given up on learning should endeavour to gain insights into their inner life and consider the children’s attributions seriously, in order to detect and correct attributions which are unrealistic. An understanding of the children’s views of themselves and factors which account for their learned helplessness may also correct any faulty attributions that others might have made for their learning difficulties. Second, there is also a need to create awareness among educators and classroom teachers about conditions that might precipitate a feeling of helplessness and to suggest diagnostic strategies to help curb the occurrence of the phenomenon. In the final stage of the study it was concluded that learned helpless learners characteristically exhibit behaviours certain overt and covert behaviours which understandably hamper their performance. To obtain a holistic view and understanding of these behaviours requires the use of several contrastive research strategies. Such, the researcher hopes might yield information that could assist in the planning of intervention programmes for learned helpless school learners.