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Jill Bean's picture

Group thoughts on Learned Helplessness

Submitted by Jill Bean on Thu, 07/16/2009 - 11:26am.

Jill, Deb, Shoshona

Learned helplessness:  The children who approach a problem, assignment, situation and immediately shut down and say "I can't do it."  When a teacher sits with them, we discover that they actually has the skills they need and can do the work.  However they continue to react in the same manner. 

Our story for this behavior:  The story teller is activated by an emotion.  The story teller tells the story,  "I can't do it", but the story is not reflective of cognitive unconscious.  We can help them access their cognitive unconscious, but the next time, child responds the same way: the story hasn't changed.  If you tell them their story is wrong, they might simply shut down (percieved attack on their self).

What can we do?  Perhaps we can teach them to inhibit their story teller and access their cognitive unconscious.  But a more effective approach seems to be to help the child tell a new story.  The child needs new experiences in order to create a new story. 

Could trying to associate the situation with a new emotion help as well??

 

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