The possibilities of a critical pedagogy and
empowering effects on motivation
2008 Language and Educational Research Conference
Flinders University
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Students ‘perceptions and beliefs are social
enactments with unique ingredients
Tacit factors influence what students do and
what happens in lessons
Factors other than ability influence students’
learning
Factors other than what they know or what the
teacher knows influence students’ learning too
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For students to be able to be effective learners
they need to be able to take part effectively in
their learning, their lessons, their education
and their lives
For students to play an active role in their
learning, and in their world there needs to be a
shift in powers (Shor 2004) and space for
inclusivity
"[Student voice is] the active opportunity for
students to express their opinions and make
decisions regarding the planning,
implementation, and evaluation of their
learning experiences.“ (Rogers 2005)
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Deconstruction of language
Conscientizaçao (Freire 1979)
Teacher and student dialogue (Smyth 2001)
Reflection and action (Freire 1994)
Problem posing (Freire 1979; Shor 1992; Leonard in
McLaren & Leonard 2004)
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Individuals make dispositional and environmental responses
Behavior is influenced by perceptions of task/ability; self efficacy
and performance; outcome expectancy (Askell-Williams 2000)
Individuals are driven by the goals they pursue in their thoughts
and actions ( Winne 1990, p.297)
Intellectual processing is enhanced by affect and the ‘’energizing
role’’ that it plays (Piaget 1981 in Hidi 1990, p. 549)
More recent research (Hidi 1990) identifies that interest is an
‘energizing’ factor in learning
Interests can tell us about:
“ the direction of the agents own growth, and is therefore, imperiously
demanded, if the agent is to be’’(Dewey 1913, p.6)
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Interests (in topics, activities/processes
preferred)
Attributions (explanations)
Goals (students aims)
Efficacy (how confident they feel about their
abilities and output in Spanish)
Reflections on students’ learning and
performance in Spanish language/culture
learning
Principals
Teachers
Students
Parents
Local
community
Beliefs/
Backgrounds
Spanish
Students’ views
Individual
Situational
Interest
(Hidi 1991)
Learning
Community in
the school
Spanish and
Languages in
Australian
Schools/Community
Hidden
curriculum
Career
Stages
Teacher
Philosophy
Teacher
Morale
Context
Spanish
Teachers’ views
Banking System of
Education
Monolingual Mindset
Overt promotion of
Asian Languages
Economic rationale
Five Schools:
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Language is compulsory in year 8 and 9 (3 schools)
Language is optional (2 schools)
Sample:
 92 Students
 68% Females
 41% Males
 Group size range (from 6 to 33 students)
 Students can choose languages (8-2)
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Do you think learning Spanish is interesting?
What parts of learning Spanish are/are not interesting
to you?
What could Spanish teachers do to make learning
Spanish more interesting for you?
What could you do to?
Please list the topics that interest you most /least when
learning Spanish.
Do you believe you will continue learning Spanish till
year 12?
Please explain in as much detail as possible, the
reasons for why you may or may not continue your
study of Spanish
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Culture (101)
The Language (87)
Classroom Activities (26)
Learning (14)
Affective statements (11)
Travel (5)
Topics (3)
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‘’It intrigues me not only as a language but as a
culture’’
“Pronunciation . Because its challenging for not just me
but for most people’’
‘’Being challenged to learn new words, phrases and
alphabets’’
“Projects are good because you learn from them”
“The language is interesting and complex”
“Being able to understand a culture interests me.
Learning Spanish helps me understand not only one
culture but many”
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Language (47)
Book work (19)
Aspects of culture (12
Activities (10)
Teacher behaviour (8)
Repetitive work (8)
Tests (7)
Everything (7)
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Nothing, I find it
interesting (4)
Not sure (3)
Homework (3)
Worksheets (3)
Difficulty (2)
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“Learning verbs isn’t interesting but you need them”
“When lessons involve non-stop grammatical learning and you
can only learn so much”
“When I began Spanish I didn’t think it was important and now
I’m quite interested in continuing in the future?
“not learning about the culture”
“I don’t believe that Spanish will be something I need later on in
life but the teacher that I’ve had over the past two years has made
it interesting”
“Learning things over and over. I guess it’s in case you forget”
“I hate it when you don’t get to do things with the language”
“I don’t think Spanish is not interesting but sometimes I get bored
in class”
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“Do more work that involves us”
“More cooking”
“I would definitely say that teachers need to do more
creative things with their students, Spanish isn’t all
about learning verbs and doing worksheets, you need
to learn more about the culture as well”
“Spanish exchanges should be organised each year”
‘’I think they should ask what we want to learn one
lesson”
“Teachers should want kids to ask questions”
“Spanish should be more important to schools so that
people can learn it too”
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Make learning Spanish practical (26)
Vary approach and strategies (14)
Include games that help make learning difficult
or boring things fun (13)
Use more collaborative work/tasks in the
language (4)
Consider student interest (2)
Speak to us in Spanish (4)
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Share ideas/ views with the teacher (9)
Be involved/participate more (9)
Pay attention/ concentrate more (8)
Try harder/apply myself (6)
Not sure (6)
Better attitude (6)
Engage in own research/external work (4)
Study more (3)
Speak more in Spanish (3)
Take more interest (3)
Think of long term goals (1)
Not miss lessons (1)
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‘’I don’t know what really appeals most about Spanish to me, I just
really enjoy learning it’’
‘’I don’t know I’m just a student’’
‘’learning about the culture, although, I don’t see it being
particularly useful in the future’’
‘’I don’t really see myself needing to learn Spanish in order to
secure a job that interests me however, I am very interested in
travelling’’…”22 countries speak Spanish”…”I’m interested in a
number of other senior subjects and because of the stresses
associated with learning a whole new language, I would prefer to
focus on my passions’’
“Having a language on your CV looks great …”it will give me the
cutting edge”
(will continue if) ‘’if my grades are good, if I enjoy it and it doesn’t
get boring’’
I will continue because I find it interesting and a challenge
STUDENTS
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Boring (12) Hate it (5)
Subject difficulty (9)
Demands in Yr 12 (2)
Losing interest (10)
Poor grades (2)
Other subject interests (13)
Lessons don’t motivate me (1)
Not needed for future(5)
Teaching (7)
Can’t speak it well (1)
Better at other language (1)
Not important to me (1)
Don’t like it (2)
Transfer of institution (1)
Won’t be travelling (1)
TEACHERS
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Poor parental support (4)
Subject choice (5)
Other teachers/ SSO’s (3)
Inequitable treatment of languages in
schools (3)
Lack of school support (2)
Families won’t travel (2)
School’s culture (1)
Perceptions of subject difficulty (2)
Students choice easy subjects (2)
Future professions (1)
University requirements (1)
Not valued in curriculum (1)
Lack of understanding of purpose of
learning (2)
Lack of resources (1) Class sizes (1)
The community (1)
Fear of SACE exam (1)
‘’Learning about a different culture and being
able to understand it interests me but through
learning Spanish I am not learning how to
understand one other culture but many others
which is really great’’
It is important to “ be able to speak in another
language, learn the differences between
English and Spanish and put sentences
together and feel confident to speak, write or
understand Spanish”
“When I began Spanish I didn’t
think it was important and
now I’m quite interested in
continuing in the future”
Ab
stract
Askell-Williams, H. (1999). What are the features of interesting class lessons?: middle
school students' views. B. Education. Spec. Ed.(Honours). Adelaide, Flinders University of
South Australia.
Conlon, S. (2005) .Eliciting Students’ Voices in the Thai Context: A Routine or a Quest?
ABAC Journal. 25(1) :33-52.
Freire, P. (1998). Teachers As Cultural Workers; letters to those who dare teach. Oxford.
Westview Press.
Freire ,P. (1970). Pedagogia del Oprimido. Montevideo. Siglo Veintiuno editores; Tierra
Nueva.
Gudjonsdottir, H. (2007). Tranformative Pathways: Journal of Research in Technology
Education.. 40(2): 165-182.
Hidi ,S. (1990). Interest and its Contribution as a Mental Resource. Review of
Educational Research 60(4): 549-571.
Murphy P. K., A., P. A. (2000). A Motivated Exploration of Motivation
Terminology. Contemporary Educational Psychology 25(3): 3-53.
Renninger, K. A., H. S., & Krapp ,A., (1992). The Role of Interest in Learning and
Development. USA, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Inc.
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Online. In Soundout. Retrieved March 1, 2008, from
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