Award Winner
Looking at an Old Question in a New Way
Document Type
Research Paper
Abstract
Teachers' ability to identify learned helplessness in their fourth and fifth grade students was assessed. Teachers were briefed on learned helplessness then listed students which they would identify as possessing the deficit. Students were administered questionnaires assessing attributional style and depression. Of all the students, 26. 72% were incorrectly labeled by their teacher. The findings suggest that teachers are relatively inaccurate in identifying which students in their class have developed learned helplessness. Qualitative interviews with teachers indicated that misdiagnosed students were often described as quiet and/or as perfectionists who have problems with weight, a life crisis, and/or a poor home situation. It is recommended that inservices be held to inform teachers of the relevance of learned helplessness, its high rate of misdiagnosis, and the characteristics of those students who possess learned helplessness yet are not diagnosed by their teachers.
Publication Date
1998
Journal Title
Conference Proceedings: Undergraduate Social Science Research Conference
Volume
2
Issue
1
First Page
219
Last Page
222
Copyright
©1998 by the University of Northern Iowa
Language
en
File Format
application/pdf
Publisher
University of Northern Iowa
City
Cedar Falls, IA
Recommended Citation
Midthus, Melissa K. and Breitenstein, Joseph L.
(1998)
"Teacher's Ability to Identify Students with Learned Helplessness,"
Conference Proceedings: Undergraduate Social Science Research Conference: Vol. 2:
Iss.
1, Article 31.
Available at:
https://scholarworks.uni.edu/csbsproceedings/vol2/iss1/31
