The document discusses self-worth theory in the context of education, emphasizing that students seek self-acceptance through perceived competence and achievement. It highlights issues related to grades, such as grade grubbing and self-handicapping strategies, and suggests that the focus should be on learning goals rather than competitive achievement. Additionally, it proposes coping mechanisms for teachers to motivate students, focusing on interest-driven learning and clarity in performance standards.

1. DEVM 712—PHILOSOPHICAL &
PSYCHOLOGICAL THEORIES OF
TEACHING & LEARNING:
SELF-WORTH THEORY
Ateneo de Zamboanga University
Graduate School
School of Education

2. QUESTION
 How do you look at or evaluate the value of
your students?
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3. WHAT IS SELF-WORTH THEORY?
• The self-worth theory of achievement motivation
(Covington & Beery, 1976; Covington, 1984)—assumes
that the highest human priority is the search for self-
acceptance and that “one’s worth often comes to
depend on the ability to achieve competitively”
(Covington, 1998, p. 78).
• Self-worth theory—argues that fundamentally all
individuals are motivated to establish and maintain a
sense of personal growth, approval by others, and
acceptance of oneself, a goal that in turn depends of
being perceived as competent.
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4. QUESTION
 Is grade a measure of one’s intelligence and
totality?
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5. WHAT IS THE G=A=W FORMULA?
• G (Grades) = A (Ability) = W (Worth) (Covington, 1976).
• Top grades imply competence, while low grades imply
incompetence. These self-perceptions determine one’s feelings
of worthiness or worthlessness.
• Individuals strive for success not only to benefit from the social
and personal rewards of high accomplishment, but also to
aggrandize their reputation for high ability, hence worthiness.
• If success becomes unlikely, as is typically the case when rewards
(grades) are distributed on a competitive basis—with the
greatest number of rewards going to those who perform best or
fastest—then the first priority becomes the avoidance of failure,
or at least the implications of failure, that one is incompetent.
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6. QUESTION
 What excuses do you commonly observe
from your students if they have low
performance in your class?
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7. WHAT IS SELF-HANDICAPPING
STRATEGIES?
• Self-handicapping (Thompson, 1993, 1994)—in the
process of establishing excuses, individuals set up the
very failures that they are attempting to avoid, but at
least they are “failures with honor”—readily explained
failures if not always excused.
• Example is Procrastination (McGown & Johnson,
1991). By postponing study for a test until it is virtually
too late, or by starting work on a term paper at the last
minute, individuals can argue that any subsequent
failures are not reflective of what they could really
have achieved had they not run out of time.
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8. WHAT IS SELF-HANDICAPPING
STRATEGIES?
• Self-handicapping—ploy not only allows
students to score big points for being
energetic. Being busy also makes one feel
important despite the mediocre performances
that are certain to result, but mediocrity that
can be attributed to being too busy, not to
incompetence.
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9. WHAT IS DEFENSIVE PESSIMISM
STRATEGIES?
• Defensive pessimism (Cantor, 1980)—
basically involves the establishment of low
goals and low expectations towards the tasks
for which one’s ability will be evaluated.
• Establishing lower, thus safer, goals, which is
achieved by lowering the standard of
satisfactory performance, can help individuals
to feel more satisfied with the outcome.
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10. QUESTION
 Do you practice OBE (Outcomes Based
Education) curriculum in your class?
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11. GRADE GOAL vs. LEARNING GOAL
• Grades must always
follow learning.
• Grades must not eclipse
learning.
• Learning must be for the
sake of self-improvement.
• Learning must be for the
sake of helping others.
• Learning must be for the
sake of satisfaction of
curiosity.
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• Grades are indubitably important. But their
importance is sharply limited. Example: GPA is
worthless as a predictor of lifetime income
compared to predictions based on simply tallying the
number of years one spends in school.

12. QUESTION
 What are the difficulties that you have
encountered with the performance of your
students in the class?
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13. ISSUES AND CONCERNS ON
SELF-WORTH THEORY
• Grade grubbing—grades can take on a disproportional,
distorted meaning and become pursued with an unnatural
urgency. When combined with fear of failure (the fear one
may be judged incompetent, hence unworthy), then the
pursuit of grades becomes an ordeal and the virtually
assured result is defensiveness and excuse making.
• Passivity—can mask a highly motivated state. Example,
being motivated for the wrong reasons—as a means to
avoid a threatening implications of expending effort in a
potentially failing enterprise.
• Fear—drives many students desperately at times to
simplify and curtail the demands of learning, reducing the
task of learning to its simplest denominator and narrowest,
most manageable scope.
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14. ISSUES AND CONCERNS ON
SELF-WORTH THEORY
• Climate of Passivity—Teachers already expect students to
be active, self-monitoring, inquisitive learners, yet without
guidance as to the kinds of skills needed for independent
inquiry.
• Self-worth in Hard work (Weiner, 1974)—to try hard and
do poorly leads to feeling of shame driven by self-
perceptions of low ability; but not trying leads to feelings
of guilt and teacher punishment for not trying.
• Overstrivers—learners who are sensitive on the problem of
failing as they have doubts about their status of ability and
failure might result in confirmation of their lack of ability.
They are known to be bright, meticulous and hard-working.
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15. QUESTION
 What were the remedies/solutions/steps you
have taken to address those difficulties?
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16. COPING MECHANISIMS FOR TEACHERS IN MOTIVATING
STUDENTS IN SELF-WORTH THEORY
• POSITIVE GOALS & SAFETY—emphasize learning goals, not
competitive goals. Utilize merit-based system or absolute
grading system by providing students specific, clearly
defined requirements for students to satisfy quality
workmanship. In the event of falling short gradewise, the
presence of well-defined standards of performance tends
to motivate students to try harder the next time.
• INTEREST & INTRIGUE—organize learning around student
interests or issues that arouse an intrinsic curiosity. When
interest is high, the importance of grades as a goal to
perform is substantially diminished. They believe that the
presence of grades actually inspires them to do their best.
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18. • Covington, M.V. (2004). Self-worth theory goes to
college: Or do our motivation theories motivate? In D.
Mclnerney & S. Van Etten (Eds.). Big Theories Revisited,
Vol. 4 Research on Sociocultural Influences on
Motivation and Learning. USA: Information Age
Publishing.
• Weibell, C. J. (2011). Principles of learning: 7 principles
to guide personalized, student-centered learning in the
technology-enhanced, blended learning
environment. Retrieved August 11, 2019 from
[https://principlesoflearning.wordpress.com].