Are You Inspired In Your Work?
You have probably seen these inspirational quotes floating around. They are popularly used to evoke an emotional response with their happy, sad, or inspirational tone from their audience. But do they actually work? There is much disagreement in the world of psychology about whether or not these quotes really work as intended. Some argue that there is no reason to be sure that they do as they only affect the person who reads them while others argue on behalf of just how effective motivating and inspiring words are when it comes to our everyday lives.
The truth behind these quotes lies in the fact that they are completely ambiguous and do not necessarily suggest anything specific. They are used to evoke an emotional response without implying whether it is good or bad. "Excuse me, could you tell me how to get to Silicon Valley?" will either make the person long for a better life or want to tell him to get lost. The lack of specific meaning makes it easy for the listener to interpret them in whatever way they see fit without having a preconceived notion of what they mean. There is no right or wrong way as we all have different interpretations of these statements, but this can be said about anything used as inspiration on its own. "You can do anything you put your mind to" is a statement that can be interpreted in more than one way and it depends on the person listening to it about how he will interpret it. For example, if an aspiring athlete hears this statement he might find some inspiration to try harder and keep practicing while another person might find motivation to believe in himself and pursue his dreams. There is no wrong or right way. This applies to all of these quotes as they are used for their vague meanings and ability to evoke an emotional response, which makes them come off as inspirational rather than motivating.
The University of Michigan psychologist, Richard Petty, conducted a study that tested motivational and inspirational quotes versus average ones. Petty used the same five phrases in two separate studies. One group of people was given the motivational quotes while another group was given the inspirational quotes. The participants were then asked to solve various puzzles that ranged from easy to difficult in order to test how well each quote affected them as they attempted to complete it. The results of this study concluded that there was very little significant difference between the phrases when it came to how much their performance increaser on a specific puzzle. Petty showed no significant evidence that inspirational quotes do anything for a person's performance as opposed to motivational ones.
Petty did a follow-up study that involved once again showing random participants the motivational and inspirational quotes, but he also introduced a third group. This group was given neutral quotes, which they thought and were told were inspirational but they had no specific meaning. He found that both the motivational and inspirational quotes resulted in an increase in participants' performance on their chosen puzzles. The neutral phrase did not affect them at all when it came to completing the puzzles.
The lack of specific meaning did not make a difference between motivational and inspirational quotes when it came to performance as they both had the same affect on people. As the goal of these quotes was to evoke an emotional response, there is no reason to think that they are anything more than that. The process of discovering what the quotes mean has become a form of intellectual flavor-of-the-month. It is impossible to find one meaning for all or even most words or phrases used as inspiration and none meaning for others. It depends on the person listening to it and how they interpret it.
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Service learning
Civic engagement
Collaboration with nonprofits
Faith-based community service
Mentoring programs, e.g. Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, Youth Villages
Service learning in the United States
Service learning in Canada
Community service through youth programs is extremely important to an individual's development. "The efficacy of community service as a developmental experience is closely tied to the conditions under which it is done and how it is carried out." (p. 58) If a school or institution neglects to provide the right resources and opportunities for the students, their community service will be ineffective. And one of those resources is preparation time, "the time available before and during a project for students’ reflection on their participation." (p. 58) Students must be given the time to gather and process information from their experience.
Historically, most community service was reactive. "The concept of 'service as a response' is related to the traditional roles of teachers as 'dispensers' of knowledge in society and community service as a way of meeting needs in the world. The latter is often passive, involving giving more than receiving, whereas service as a response directs one’s efforts toward solving problems." (p. 59) Often community service through youth programs were very passive in both tasks and feelings about their work.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the behaviorists' and humanistic's theory of community service is that it should be more personally meaningful to the individuals. "Community service should not require significant time commitments only to meet adult expectations or institutional demands." (p. 59) It should have a positive emotional effect on the student and provide a way for students to use their knowledge, skills and abilities in a positive way.
Public speaking
Today public speaking is used in many fields from education, business, government, and entertainment industries. But it can also be an important piece of the learning process for classroom teachers. "Successful public speaking is about an individual’s ability to communicate effectively with confidence" (p. 61).