T2P Blog Post 1: The Need for Affiliation

Motivation is influenced by a variety of factors, but the one that grabbed my attention the most was the need for affiliation. Jean Ormrod describes this as "the degree to which a person wants and needs friendly relationships with others" (442). As a high school teacher, this is particularly relevant for me. Teenagers have such a high desire to connect with their peers that it often overrides everything else. The desire for social belonging can be so strong that I have seen students drop my class because it caused them to be in a lunch period without their friends. They would rather give up photography class than eat lunch without their core social group. Ormrod wrote that high school students whose need for affiliation is high will choose a class schedule that enables them to be with their friends rather than one which fits their interests and ambitions (443). This is absolutely true as I have been witness to it more than once.

So the question is how do I combat this? As the teacher I certainly don't have any social standing in a student's life, and I have no control over scheduling. I cannot make them become friends with their classmates because I am aware that there is a strong social hierarchy in high school. My first defense against dropping for social reasons is to make the first day of class as engaging as possible. In previous years, I have taken the first day to go over the syllabus to get the rules set for the semester. I then used to spend several days going over basic art and computer terminology before ever giving students a camera. This year, already inspired by my Educational Technology program, I decided it was time to shake things up. I had my photography students take photos in groups on the first day of class. In animation, we watched early cartoons and discussed them. On the second day, I could see students were eager to view and discuss their photos, and I had a new student join my animation class. I feel my new approach was successful in engaging the students, but will not be able to determine the full degree of success until a full week of school has gone by. I try to create a sense of community in my classroom to encourage social belonging and identity. I allow students to bring in music to share with the class, because we always have something playing while we work. I have students partner up on projects, and write critiques of each other's finished artworks. This year as part of my practicum I plan to institute a strong focus on peer feedback where students depend on each other to learn techniques and produce meaningful work. I am hopeful that this will not only create a feeling of student ownership in the classroom but also the sense of affiliation that students desire.  

References

Ormrod, J.E. (2012). Human Learning: Sixth Edition. Boston:  Pearson Education, Inc.