2/13/21; Week 6: Response to: “Attributional Tendencies”

Attributional tendencies across cultures is a topic that deserves more time and thought to better understand. This topic is rather complex and will likely play a big role in the ESL classroom. In my own little world, the things I attribute successes and failures to vary greatly. Sometimes, I even attribute the same success or failure to more than one thing. For example, my son left the church a little over a year and a half ago. I will go through this cycle of blaming myself, blaming him, and even blaming his youth leaders and friends. I probably blame myself the most but, in all honesty, it is my son’s choice and he is responsible for his choice. Internal and external attributes for successes and failures are around us all the time. Different cultures attribute successes and failures quite differently from one to the next. I can see that in a classroom situation there might be several situations in which attributional tendencies may cause frustration. As a teacher, I may need to take a step back and ask why a student is doing poorly in class. Why do they seem to be overly upset with themselves on an assignment they did poorly on? It may be that they take the blame the wrong way, such as thinking they are too stupid to do the work. Or maybe, a student might put the blame on someone else, not taking accountability for their actions. As a teacher, it will be my responsibility to help students take responsibility for their own work and yet recognize that they can improve. I will need to help them to not beat themselves up on an assignment they did poorly on but help them learn how to improve. I will also need to be careful that I don’t attribute successes and failures inaccurately in the classroom. I will need to make sure to encourage students and help them recognize their successes. Looking at other cultures helps me to see how often successes and failures are attributed unfairly in my own culture. Ever since my son left home, I have recognized that I frequently have put blame on other parents for their children’s actions when that is not a fair assumption. I have been working on adjusting my thoughts to be more thoughtful of others and less judgmental in general. I don’t think we can always know who to attribute successes and failures of others to and maybe that’s not necessary in our personal lives, anyways.