Uses and Consequences of the Self Fulfilling Prophecy

Uses and Consequences of the Self Fulfilling Prophecy

Abstract

The Self Fulfilling Prophecy is a concept that should be quite familiar in the classroom, yet is still a mystery to many teachers today. Learning to properly use this idea will ultimately result in higher student scores directly, and on a higher level, will cause students to model the expectations of the teacher and expect much of themselves. This will set students up for highly successful autonomous learning. However, ignorance or improper use of the SFP does not stimulate learning, but may inhibit accomplishment. Teachers must strive to achieve a better understanding of this “Pygmalion Effect” to create a powerful learning environment.

Uses and Consequences of the Self Fulfilling Prophecy

The concept of the self-fulfilling-prophecy, renowned as the Pygmalion Effect, is known throughout the education world, but its principles can often be confused, misused, or ignored altogether (Tauber, 1998). If handled wisely, the self-fulfilling-prophecy (SFP) can be a teacher’s most potent tool in constructing success in his/her students. To the same ends, though, it can be an overwhelming suppressor to potentially great talent. Therefore, teachers must strive to find a better understanding of the SFP, shed their inhibiting methods of stereotyping, and begin to use SFP to produce positive effects for all their students, setting them on the road to autonomous learning.

Before teachers can do anything to utilize the idea of SFP, they must truly understand it. Study of the topic combined with reflection on personal experience will hone their understanding. Standard research will give teachers a powerful theoretical base from which they can move. Backgro...

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...t is due. When it is properly used, it presides over all other areas of education, because the students will find within themselves the motivation to strive to achieve anything set before them.

Works Cited:

Tauber, Robert T. (1998). Good or Bad, What Teachers Expect from Students They Generally Get! Washington, D.C.: ERIC Clearinghouse on Teaching and Teacher Education. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 426 985)

The Pygmalion Effect. Retrieved April 4, 2002 from the World Wide Web: http://www.caritas-corkeryhouse.com/art18.htm

Rhem, James (1999). Pygmalion in the Classroom. Retrieved April 4, 2002 from the World Wide Web: http://www.ntlf.com/html/pi/9902/pygm_1.htm

Churchward, Budd (1986). 11 Techniques for Better Classroom Discipline. Retrieved April 2, 2002 from the World Wide Web: http://www.honorlevel.com/techniques.html