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Session 2. Can I Do It? Is It Worth It? Expectancy and Value
Objective. Use the expectancy-value idea to tell whether a pupil's low effort comes from doubt about success, low task value or high cost, and respond to each in a different way.
When a pupil does not try, teachers often reach for one of two speeches: 'you can do it!' or 'you will need this in life!'. Each speech fits only one of the pupil's two silent questions, and neither touches the cost. This lesson goes deeper into how pupils judge their chances and the worth of a task, why encouragement without success does little, and how to help pupils discover value themselves. It also looks at what teacher expectations say to pupils without a word.
Key ideas
Two questions, one product
- Before a pupil tries, they ask quietly: 'Can I do this?' (expectancy) and 'Is it worth doing?' (value). Eccles and Wigfield describe motivation as the two together.
- Think of a product: if either part is close to zero, effort is low. A pupil who is sure they can but sees no point will not try; neither will a pupil who values the task but expects to fail.
- So the same behaviour (an empty page) can have different causes, and the remedies are different.
Four kinds of value
- INTEREST: I enjoy it. ATTAINMENT: it matters to who I am or want to be. UTILITY: it is useful for something I want. COST: what I give up (time, effort, risk of looking foolish, harvest work at home).
- Teachers often say 'you will need this in life'. That is utility seen from the teacher's side. It works much better when pupils find the use themselves, for example by writing two ways the topic appears in their own family or mahalla.
- Cost is the forgotten part. A pupil who fears laughter at a wrong answer pays a high social cost for every attempt.
Raising expectancy honestly
- Expectancy is built by real success with effort, not by empty encouragement. Make the first step small, let pupils see their own progress (a list of what they could not do in September and can do now) and show worked examples.
- Be careful with tasks that are too easy: pupils notice, and success on them tells them nothing about their ability.
- Teacher expectations matter too. Pupils read from your questions, time and tone whether you believe they can.
Make value visible, and lower the cost
- Open a unit with 'why this matters' linked to something pupils know: cotton prices for percentages, the local bazaar for ratios, family letters for writing.
- Lower cost: let pupils try answers in pairs before speaking, agree that mistakes are information, and avoid public ranking of wrong answers.
- Diagnose with two quick questions at the end of a task: 'Did you think you could do it?' and 'Was it worth the effort?'. Compare the answers by pupil group.
Before a pupil tries
Where expectancy really comes from
Pupils build their sense of 'I can' mainly from four sources: what they have actually done before, what they see similar pupils do, what people say to them, and how they feel while working. Of these, real earlier success with effort is the strongest and the easiest for a teacher to arrange. A pupil who failed fractions in Grade 5 enters Grade 6 expecting to fail, whatever you say.
So plan visible, possible wins: a first question everyone can answer, a worked example before a new type of problem, a chart where pupils colour in what they can now do. Be careful with praise for easy work. It teaches pupils that you think they are weak, and they notice.
Helping pupils find value, and noticing cost
Pupils are more convinced by value they find than by value they are told. A short writing task works well: 'Give two ways this topic shows up in your family or mahalla.' Pupils who doubt they can succeed often gain most from this, as the topic stops feeling distant. If pupils truly cannot find a use, say so honestly and talk about understanding the world or keeping future options open.
Cost deserves its own look. Ask yourself what a pupil gives up to try: time after farm work, the risk of laughter, the effort of a long walk home. Often a small change reduces cost more than any speech about value: a shorter task, a pair rehearsal, a due date that avoids harvest weeks.
Examples from the classroom
Cotton prices for percentages
Scene. Nodira teaches Grade 7 mathematics in a Fergana village. Pupils say percentages are pointless. She asks them to find, with a parent or neighbour, the price of a kilogram of cotton or onions at two times of the year. Next day, in groups of four, they compute the change in percent. Several pupils bring real numbers from the bazaar, and the discussion starts from their own data.
Insight. Value the pupil finds is stronger than value the teacher announces.
A win before the hard part
Scene. Bobur, Grade 5, Samarkand, refuses long division after one failure. His teacher Jasur gives him a half-completed example to finish, then a full one with a model, then one without. After three days Bobur completes a division on his own and sees on a progress chart that he has solved 6 more than last week.
Insight. Expectancy recovers through real success on a step that is possible, not through reassurance.
A due date outside the harvest
Scene. Aziz, Grade 10 in a Bukhara cotton district, misses essay deadlines in October. His teacher asks what makes the essay costly. Aziz says he works until dark. They agree on a shorter outline due on Monday and the full essay two weeks later. Aziz hands in both. The learning goal is unchanged; only the cost is lower.
Insight. Lower the cost, not the standard, when the barrier is time or risk.
Common pitfalls
- Saying 'you can do it' to a pupil who has no recent success to rely on.
- Announcing usefulness ('you will need this') instead of letting pupils find it.
- Making tasks too easy and thereby signalling low expectations.
- Forgetting social cost: asking for answers in public from pupils who fear laughter.
Expectancy, Value or Cost?
- Open the Activity Kit: eight pupil statements (1 to 8) and the response table. All statements are SAMPLES written for this course.
- Pairs (12 min): decide for each statement whether the main cause is low EXPECTANCY (can't), low VALUE (no point) or high COST (too much to lose). Write the word in the table that made you decide.
- Pairs (12 min): for four statements, write one response for tomorrow's lesson (under 5 minutes) and one question you would ask the pupil in private. Aim to avoid advice that fits only one cause, such as 'work harder'.
- Groups (6 min): choose the statement where two causes work together. Say which one to address first and why.
- Alone (5 min): write your classroom action task from the Kit.
Your facilitator will guide you through this activity in the session.
Questions to discuss
- Which statements had two causes? How did you choose which to address first?
- What do you currently say to pupils to show a topic has value, and who is it really for?
- What costs do pupils in your school pay that you may not see (work at home, shame, long walk)?
Reflect
- Think of a pupil who gives up quickly. Is it expectancy, value or cost?
- Which topic in your subject do pupils find least useful, and what real use could they find?
- When did you last say 'this is easy'? What might a pupil who found it hard have heard?
Try it tomorrow
- Use the two-strip exit ticket (can I / worth it) after one main task and tally it.
- Add one 'two ways this shows up in your life' prompt at the start of a new topic.
- Offer one flexible deadline or a pair rehearsal to lower cost, and note who used it.
Further reading and links
Ask two questions: can they, and is it worth it? Then change the one that is low, not the one that is easy.