University Communications
Emory University
Atlanta, GA 30322

Release date: Jan. 13, 2000
Contact: Camille Sparkman, Media Relations Coordinator, 404-727-7020, or cshearo@emory.edu

STUDENTS' BELIEFS ABOUT THEIR ABILITIES DOES AFFECT THEIR SCHOOL PERFORMANCE, SAYS EMORY'S PAJARES IN JAN. 27 GREAT TEACHERS LECTURE

Do girls really not do as well in math as boys? How much of the hype and backlash about self-esteem can parents and educators really believe? What traps can well-meaning parents and educators fall into? Find out at Emory's Jan. 27 Great Teachers Lecture "Schooling in America: Myths, Mixed Messages and Good Intentions." The lecture by Frank Pajares, associate professor of educational studies at Emory University, will take place at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 27 in Cannon Chapel on the campus quadrangle. The event is free and open to the public. A map of campus is available on-line at www.emory.edu/MAP/. For more information, call 404-727-6216.

Pajares will talk about the facts behind the conflicting messages about how to motivate students. He will explain the difference between self-esteem (what people think about themselves) and self-efficacy (what people think they're capable of) and how K-12 students' self-beliefs are critical forces in their academic achievement. He will talk about why this common-sense notion has been largely abandoned by psychologists until recently.

Part of Pajares' current research relates to teachers' and students' beliefs (particularly self-efficacy beliefs), including a National Academy of Education/Spencer Foundation project on gender differences in mathematics self-beliefs among middle school students in Gwinnett County.

He cites research indicating that human behavior often can be better predicted by the beliefs people hold about their own abilities rather than by what they are actually capable of accomplishing. "These self-perceptions help determine what individuals do with the knowledge and skills they have," he says.

Pajares will give advice about how to maximize academic success, and will explain:

o how students' difficulties in basic academic skills are often directly related to their beliefs that they cannot read, write, handle numbers, etc.-that they cannot learn-even when such things are not objectively true.

o that many students have difficulty in school not because they are incapable of performing successfully, but because they have learned to see themselves as incapable of handling academic work.

o that many, if not most, academic crises are crises of confidence.

Pajares, who has studied educational psychology and the philosophy of education, is co-authoring a

forthcoming book on self-efficacy and academic performance.

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