The differences between the cognitive and socio-cultural frameworks of studying motivation seem to go back to our discussions from the first writing assignment; i.e., if there was a conflict between individual vs. diversity bodies of research. Basically, the cognitive approaches seem to center mainly on the learning strategies of individuals, whereas the socio-cultural approach focuses on the contextual circumstances in which a student operates. For example, the cognitive approach of attribution theory proposes that individual internal forces direct whether a student is successful or fails in school. The socio-cultural framework proposes that a person operates in a social environment. This environment will have an effect on a student’s orientation toward school.
Is this difference important? I think that teachers do conduct their classrooms with awareness of the individual behaviors of students, as well as the cultural, learning, and familial atmospheres surrounding these students. For example, I know that Gabby’s mom is inconsistent and also decides to move out of the house periodically. I need to keep that in mind when attempting to motivate Gabby to work on our projects. Gabby may have a goal of learning the concepts of Girl Scouting, but is preoccupied with the loss of her mother. Knowing this information, I have to make sure to help positively reinforce Gabby’s work on the projects. That is difficult to do when she cries very easily and would rather zone out during our meeting sessions.
The socio-cultural framework definitely completes the picture of motivating students to learn. The students’ backgrounds and social contexts are important pieces of information for teachers to keep in mind while implementing school lessons. In a practical sense, this helps the teacher determine what methods to use to keep the students motivated to keep on task. I really do believe that teachers currently are doing this. An individual student does not operate in a vacuum. The contextual outside variables definitely influence the strategies for teaching students.