Question Discussion & Solution

Motivation is the encouragement that drives a person to work for a specific cause. It allows a person to put efforts in a focused manner to achieve a goal.

• For example, Athletes are motivated to win the competition to earn the gold medal and the glory that comes with it. Corporate companies are motivated to develop new products to earn more profits.
• Motivation is also linked with learning. A motivated person enables himself/herself to learn new skills to overcome the challenges faced to achieve the goal. 

Key Points

• Motivation controls and directs/channelizes the focus of a person towards the work. E.g. an athlete is always conscious about the diet and calorie intake and eats strictly according to the diet plan. It helps an athlete learn about the significance of nutrition. 
• Motivation is objective and can be defined. An objective idea is one that does not change with persons. Motivation to win a gold medal speaks for the objective and is indifferent to the person who sets the target. A definite objective also defines the learning requirements as it clearly enlightens the skills required to complete the objective. 
• Motivation is concerned with reinforcement and rewards as the objective of the motivation always encourages a person to work for the reward. Reinforcement occurs through motivation as on the path of achieving something, a person undergoes skill development which bolsters a person and boosts the morale to achieve the desired results.

Thus, it is concluded that all the above options are correct in the context of motivation and learning.

Mistakes and Errors:

• When a learner can’t master a topic, he/she is vulnerable to make errors. Errors are nothing but incorrectness made by a child during learning. 
• It also takes place due to the mismatch in previously assimilated and newly accommodated knowledge. 

Key Points

Children’s Errors and Mistakes:

• are a window into how they think and learn. 
• are a significant step in the teaching-learning process. 
• are necessary in the learning process to give insight into children's thinking.
• help the teacher to be aware of learners' learning styles, to cater to them according to their needs.
• are considered as a part of the teaching-learning process as it helps to understand the child.

Hence, we conclude that errors of learners often indicate how they learn.

Additional Information 

Teacher’s Approach on Learner’s Error:

• The teacher should assess the types of errors made by the learners.
• Teachers should emphasize more on correcting errors affecting a large percentage of their students.
• The teacher should look upon the errors as a feedback.
• Remedial teaching should be done to overcome the errors made by learners.

Jean Piaget, a swiss psychologist, is famous for his work on child development. He made a systematic study of cognitive development in his theory that is categorized in four stages.

Key Points

Piaget used 'Schemas' for 'Organised packets of information stored in long term memory' as according to Piaget:

• Schemas are mental representations of how information is organized and interpreted.
• schemas refer to a small packet of information that is used to organize and store information.
• Schemas are specific psychological structures, constructed in organized ways to make sense of experience.

Hence, it could be concluded that Piaget used 'Schemas' for 'Organised packets of information stored in long term memory'.

Additional Information 

Other key Concepts of Piaget Theory:

• Accommodation: It is the modification of an existing schema to suit the new experience.

• Assimilation: It is the addition of a new concept or experience into an already existing schema.
• Equilibration: It refers to the process to find a balance between existing schemas and new information.

Personality refers to the different aspects of a person's character such as his/her interest, behavior, cognition, etc. A detailed information about the individual’s ancestry is collected when the 'Case History' method is used to measure personality.

• Case history refers to a research approach to investigate and analyze an individual, group, community, or phenomenon to explore the causes of basic principles. t is a method of qualitative research.

Key Points

Case History Method:

• A case history is a deep, detailed, and intensive study of a social unit.
• It preserves wholeness of the units i.e. it is an approach that views any social unit as a whole. 
• It helps to collect detailed information about the unit of study and gives clues to new ideas and further research.
• As a tool of analysis, it helps to ascertain a number and variety of traits, qualities, and habits confined to a particular instance.
• The case history method shows the way to deepen our perception and sharpen insights to understand biographies.

• It is based on reality. Some of these studies have been conducted in the school environment, which has mostly centered on the behavioral problems of children.
• One thing we must remember about the case history is that it must provide valid and reliable results for the development of future research.

Hence, it could be concluded that detailed information about the individual’s ancestry is collected when the 'Case History' method is used to measure personality.

Additional Information

Socialization is the process through which communities transact or educate their members about the norms and values of society to be socially acceptable.

• It simply refers to acquire the socially approved ways of behavior and to take ideal expectations seriously.
• Socialization is the continuous process of negotiating identities and shaping one’s concept of self, identity, various attitudes, and behaviors. 
• Socialization has 4 major agents namely family, school, peers, and mass media. 

Key Points 

Types of Socialization:

• Primary Socialization: 
• It happens during infancy and childhood. It refers to the process where the child becomes socialized through the family in the early childhood years. 
  • This highlights that the key agent in the process of primary socialization is the family.
  • For example, a very young child in a family has little knowledge of his culture. It is through the family that the child gets to know what is accepted and what is not in a particular society.
• Secondary Socialization: 
• It occurs once the infant passes into the childhood phase and continues into maturity. It refers to the process that begins in the later years through agencies such as school and peer groups. 
  • During this phase more than the family, some other agents of socialization like the school and peers’ group begin to play a role in socializing the child.
  • For example, Schools help children in learning the importance of social cohesion and unity and inculcating the informal cues about social roles through interaction.

Hence, it could be concluded that the statement 'School is a secondary socialization agent and family is a primary socialization agent' is correct in the context of socialization of children.