How are teacher expectations related to student achievement?

I have been teaching adults for 30 years and for the past 10 years, primarily freshman and sophomores in the community college arena. It shocks me that many students coming into college feel as if they do not have the skills and do not believe they are intelligent enough to succeed to their highest expectations. This semester I have spent more time conferencing with fellow faculty as to their experiences with their students. I am horrified to hear of their poor perceptions regarding their classes. They tell me of lazy, self-centered students who do not wish to learn or engage and their frequent frustrations with merely getting through the day. This is not my experience and I am dissatisfied with their reactions. Knowing this, I have to think that the faculty I have spoken to, is projecting their poor expectations on their students.

            “The feelings, attitudes, and perceptions that students hold about their academic abilities, especially when compared with those of other students, is called academic self-concept. Academic self-concept has been found to affect motivation and performance in school settings (self-enhancement effect), and similarly, good performance in school leads to a more positive academic self-concept (skill development effect). Therefore, academic self-concept and academic achievement have a reciprocal relationship, with academic self-concept both the cause and the effect of academic achievement”(Gruman, n.d., p. 223).  Intrinsic motivation comes from the learner but can be stimulated with extrinsic rewards such as praise and inspiration. For the student to feel more confident about their abilities, they have to perceive that they can succeed with hard work and rewards. In Tennessee, we have a program that allows the student with certain academic and community obligations to receive the first two years of college for free. These types of motivations do motivate a certain drive for the student to stay in class; however, if the learning environment is stunted or non-engaging, they lose interest quickly and drop out. “The degree to which students feel self-determined, the messages that they receive from others about what is important, and how they end up defining successful performance will influence the academic goals that they adopt”(Gruman, n.d., p. 232).

Gruman, J. A. (n.d.). Applied social psychology (3rd ed.). []. Retrieved from https://bookshelf.vitalsource.com/#/books/9781506353968/cfi/6/2!/4/2@0:0