High Expectations – Motivation or Pressure

An article published by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) on this very topic started with a quote from Calvin Lloyd: ‘Nobody rises to low expectations’. Author of the article, Geoff Masters, argues that high expectations model the outcome of hard work for students and show a belief in the child’s abilities. ‘Success in most fields of endeavour depends on an ability to visualise success. It has long been known that elite athletes mentally rehearse each performance prior to its execution. Advances in neuroscience show why this may be so important: the neurological processes involved in visualising a performance are almost identical to those involved in the performance itself.’

He goes on to say that low expectations can be self-fulfilling prophecies because students feel that the key adults in their life do not believe they can stretch themselves, and their self-worth is harmed. This is supported by psychologists Weihua Fan and Christopher Wolters, who state: ‘Students who are confident in their learning abilities and are intrinsically interested in learning activities are more likely to have higher expectations for obtaining desired academic goals.’ Therefore, it is a case of students growing self-belief from the belief that others have in them.

However, it is not entirely about how students feel about their own abilities. An article in the Contemporary Educational Psychology journal claims that when teachers and parents have high expectations of students, they themselves act in a way that encourages them to be met. Teachers and parents can feel compelled in their role to help students fulfil their potential and work towards the high expectations alongside the students, rather than dictating the goals for the students and leaving them to achieve them on their own.