Examining Important Theories Relating to Work, Careers and Learning - Coursework Example

EXAMINING IMPORTANT THEORIES RELATING TO WORK, CAREERS AND LEARNING Name Institution Instructor Date Table of Contents Introduction 4 Part 1: Motivation 5 Definition and Explanation of Motivation 5 The Differences between Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation 5 Intrinsic Motivation 5 Extrinsic Motivation 6 Three Different Theories of Motivation 6 Explanation of the theories and comparison and contrast 7 The Three Needs Theory 7 Need for Power 7 Need for Affiliation 7 Need for Achievement 7 The Equity Theory 8 The Expectancy or Goal Setting Theory 8 Part 2: Communication 9 Definition and Explanation of Communication 9 Investigating the Difference between Non-verbal and Verbal Communication 10 Advantages and Disadvantages of Verbal Communication 11 Advantages 11 Disadvantages 11 Advantages and Disadvantages of Written Communication 12 Advantages 12 Disadvantages 12 Explanation of Three Theories of Communication 12 Lasswell’s Communication Model 12 13 Shannon and Weaver’s Models 13 Dance’s Helical Spiral Model 14 Definition and Explanation of Reflective Practice 14 Purpose of Reflection 15 Features of Reflective Writing 15 Definition and Explanation of Kolb’s Theory of Learning 16 Kolb’s Experimental Learning Cycle 16 Discussion of How Reflective Writing Fits Kolb’s Theory 17 Conclusion 17 References 18 Introduction The main aim of this report is to examine different important theories that relate to work, careers, and learning. This creates a platform for the evaluation of the learning objectives and discusses the relation between career, learning and development. The theories covered cut across motivation, communication, and reflective practice. The terminology of the words motivation, communication and reflection practice are explained herein. Further, is helpful to a reader in gaining more understanding into the difference between different types of motivation, the theories of motivation, and the comparison between the theories. On the subject of communication, the difference between non-verbal and verbal communication are explained, alongside advantages and the disadvantages. The contributions of Lasswell and Weaver and even Dance Helical are of great contribution in the explanation of the communication theories. Finally, the article emphasizes on reflective practice, its purpose and the features of reflective writing. Kolb’s major contribution towards reflective writing has expanded the topic in terms of theory. Part 1: Motivation Definition and Explanation of Motivation Motivation can be defined as a psychological process that induces, guides and maintains goal-directed behaviors. In most cases, it is considered as a force compelling the desired action towards some goal. For instance, hunger can be the motivation to elicit the desire to eat. Generally, motivation involves a number of forces cutting across biological, cognitive, social and emotional forces that induce some behavior. In most circumstances, people use the word motivation to explain why they did something. For example, a student may be motivated by some reasons to take a cause in Medicine or Engineering. Some of the different theories behind motivation are explained in this article. The main components behind motivation include persistence, activation and intensity. Activation refers to what initiates the behavior to act towards a goal whereas the continued effort towards a given goal regardless of the obstacles is what is called persistence. Further, the energy or effort that goes into chasing the goal is what is called intensity. Enrolling to take some classes is activation, and taking more and more courses to earn a degree by harnessing time, investment and other resources is persistence. Further, intensity can involve regular study and participation in discussion and doing more research opportunities outside class in order to attain the desired goal. The Differences between Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation There are different forms of motivation and can broadly be described as either intrinsic or extrinsic. Intrinsic Motivation Motivations that arise from within an individual are intrinsic motivations. They do not rely on external pressures and are driven by the enjoyment or interest within the task itself. Therefore, they are natural motivational tendencies and critical when it comes to social, cognitive and physical developments. A person who is intrinsically motivated will willingly engage in a task and work to improve; and this will increase their capabilities. For example students who are intrinsically motivated appear to be interested in mastering some topics rather than just achieving grades, and they, therefore, believe that they have sufficient skills to achieve the desired goals (Robert, 2004). They attribute their success to factors that are under their control. Extrinsic Motivation When motivations arise from outside an individual, then those are extrinsic motivations. For example rewards are forms of extrinsic motivations. Some individuals will work hard when motivated by money or grades or threat of punishment for failing to meet some target. When individuals are competing, they are extrinsically motivated because that encourages them to win or beat others. Some of the extrinsic incentives can include a cheering crowd. For instance, the spirit of a sportsman will increase following the cheers from the outside (Cottrell, 2003). Three Different Theories of Motivation Motivation is influenced by a number of factors and that is why several theories have made an attempt to explain it. Broadly, the theories can be classified as content and process theories. Content theories are those that focus mainly on what initiates, maintains, and regulates a behavior that is goal oriented. In other words, it considers those specific things that make people to be motivated. Under content theory we have Maslow, McGregor and Herzberg theories. McClelland & Argyris theories highlight on the drives and forces behind motivation and these forces vary from one individual to another (Dunning, Johnson & Kruger, 2003) Further, we have process theories. This attempt to offer an explanation on how different people start and direct their behaviors to needs’ satisfaction so as to reduce their inner tensions. Therefore, the principle variables under process theories include the drive, incentive, reinforcement and expectancy. For instance, under this category we have Handy’s motivation calculus theory, Adam’s equity theory and Vroom’s expectancy theory. Explanation of the theories and comparison and contrast The Three Needs Theory McClelland identifies three needs that are behind motivation. These include the need for achievement, the need for power and the need for application. As one of the content theories, this theory aims to emphasize on how human behavior is induced by human needs and even incentives. Need for Power The need for power refers to that ability to influence or induce power. A person’s lifestyle can be observed in a way people are trying to compensate for their inferiority feelings that are in a combination with some innate power drives. People with more power are concerned on how to exercise more control and influence and that is the reason as to why these individuals are always seeking leadership positions. They want to be outspoken, forceful, demanding and hard headed. Need for Affiliation Under this category of need, we can deduce that people are social animals. Therefore, most people will want to be in proper interaction with others, especially in situations that make them feel a sense of belonging and acceptance. According to the theory of needs, the need for affiliation is the reason as to why some people will derive more pleasure from the love they get from others and will do what they can to avoid being rejected by others. They will be concerned with maintaining a good social relationships by helping others and consoling them when in trouble in order to enjoy a sense of understanding and intimacy (Robert, 2004). Need for Achievement This explains the reason as to why some individuals have a lot of desire to achieve. This need is very different from other needs in the sense that higher achievers are characterized by moderate risks, immediate feedback, accomplishments and preoccupation with tasks. A person who has a lot of need for achievement is only ready to take moderate risks, and desires to undertake activities that can provide precise and immediate progress information. The Equity Theory Equity theory holds that it is the perception that motivates rather than the actual reward, and motivation is based on both the relation between an individual’s efforts and the related rewards, and how this relates to other’s rewards and efforts. For instance, if A gets more reward than B, B may have the perception that he worked as hard as A and may, therefore, be displeased about that. Besides, if all of them get a similar reward, B may feel happy even if his effort was more than that applied by A. In summary, this theory illustrates that motivation depends on a number of ratios. For instance, a person will compare effort to reward or promotion, and may further extend to comparing to what others are also getting. If we go deeper to find out how people are likely to react to motivators, it will be pretty complicated because individuals may not have sufficient information on how different people are motivated, and what they know would be based on inferences or perceptions. In addition, some individuals are very sensitive than others when it comes to equity issues, while others expect things to work in the long-term. The Expectancy or Goal Setting Theory Expectancy theory has a number of themes behind it. The themes cover on the following areas: individual values that guide people to choose their desired outcomes Personal expectations concerning the required amount of effort in order to achieve specific outcomes People’s conscious decisions to behave is particular ways The expectations of the people with regard to the probability of being rewarded in relation to particular achievements The theory goes ahead to state that motivation is a function of factors such as the effort an individual expends and the perceived degree of performance, and the expectations that the desired outcome or rewards will be directly related to performance. What the theory also emphasizes is that rewards are available and are the ones that determine the strength related to people preferred outcomes, and the people’s belief that particular actions will help them achieve the desired goals. The diagram below can summarize the relationship between effort, performance and outcome. Part 2: Communication Definition and Explanation of Communication Communication is the process of transfer of information from one person or place to another person or place. In can also be regarded as an art of reading or listening the information, comprehending, processing and transferring it. A lot of effort is put in the communication process, right from the use of voice modulations, body languages, spoken languages, and gesticulations, among other aspects. If one of the parties does not understand the message, then the entire process of communication is rendered unsuccessful (Casmir, 2013). . Communication falls under different categories and any of this form or a combination can take place simultaneously. The entire process of communication involves sending of a message by one party, the sender, through channels of communication, to a different party, the receiver. Therefore, in this process, the sender has to encode the message (or the information to be conveyed), to an appropriate form for the communication channel. The work of the receiver in a communication process is to decode the message so as to comprehend its significance and meaning. However, in any communication process, misunderstanding is likely to occur at different stages. In order to make communication more and more effective, the probable misunderstanding in communication processes should be minimized and the communication barriers be minimized. The categories of communication include verbal communication and non-verbal communication. Process of Communication For communication to be effective, it must be complete by conveying facts that the audience requires (Casmir, 2013). The message sender has to consider the receiver’s mind so as to deliver the message accordingly. The information must also be concise, and that means conveying the message with the least possible number of words. Envisage the audience in terms of their emotions and requirements. The information should also be clear, and courtesy implies that the message expression exhibits some respect to the receiver. Investigating the Difference between Non-verbal and Verbal Communication Verbal communication can further be broken down into both oral and written communication. When communication is oral, is encompasses spoken words and can be a conversation over telephone, voice chats through the Internet, or face-to-face. Voice modulation, volume, pitch, speed and even clarity of the spoken words influences dialogs or spoken conversations. In business we should take verbal communication seriously because it involves dealing with people of different ages, cultures and different levels of understanding and experience. The form of verbal communication in the work place is form and does not involve the use of slang language and errors are rarely tolerated. However, in classroom, students will mostly use informal verbal communication. Here, language hopping and slang are allowed, and this helps students to bond and freely communicate. In the case of written form of communication, it involves the use of email whereas non-verbal communication involves the use of gestures, ways of dressing or act, body languages, or even our scent. Advantages and Disadvantages of Verbal Communication Advantages In verbal communication the level of transparency and understanding is very high because this means of communication is interpersonal. Further, the element of rigidity does not come in oral communication because its flexibility allows for changing of decisions that were previously made. The best place where we can use oral communication is in the transfer of both confidential and private matters. It is essential for group work activities because it adds up its discussion energy. What is more is that verbal communication saves us a lot of time, money and even effort. The feedback is spontaneous and this allows for quick decision making without causing a lot of delay. The element of rigidity is uncommon in oral communication and is very encouraging when used in the organization processes. Disadvantages Although oral communication has several advantages, it also has some limitations. It may not fully meet the communication relaying process in business situations where things are more organized and formal. It appears less authentic as compared to written communication which is more organized. Although it saves time in some cases, it may also consume a lot of time in protracted meetings, speeches, and unproductive activities. It is also not easy to maintain oral communication because it requires a lot of attentiveness, and receptivity on both the part of the audience and the receiver. Further, in most legal records, oral information cannot be kept. Advantages and Disadvantages of Written Communication Advantages Written communication is preferred for a number of reasons. It is a permanent form of communication and therefore, useful when it comes to maintaining the required records. With this mode of communication, responsibilities can be delegated unlike in the case of oral communication. The information relayed through writing is very explicit and more precise, and it not only enhances the image of the organization but also enhances it. Information in written records is easy to reference. Disadvantages In terms of cost, written communication may not save because of the costs associated with manpower, stationery, writing, typing and even delivering of some letters. The separation distance between the sender and the receiver may also lead to increased sending cost. In situations where the parties want to clear some doubts, the expected responses are not spontaneous. The writing of letters requires a lot of competencies and skills cutting across the use of language and vocabulary. Therefore, hiring a competent person comes with an additional cost. The other limitation of is much paper work and the burden of opening and sorting thousands of emails. Explanation of Three Theories of Communication Lasswell’s Communication Model Harold D. Lasswell has a political science background and states that the convenient way through which a communication act can be described is by answering specific question. The questions include: Who? What is said? Which Channel is Used? To whom is communication made? And with what effect? Lasswell’s model focuses on the communication process and the function it plays in the society. As per Lasswell’s model, communication performs the following functions which include: environmental surveillance, correction of some aspects of the society, and cultural transmissions between different generations. Therefore, the model illustrates the flow of message in a society that is multicultural and has several audiences. However, what can be noted about this model is that it is too simple, it omits feedback, it assumes that every message has an effect, it distorts the impacts of mass communication, and was derived from an area of political propaganda. The advantages of this model are that is fits different types of communication, considers the concept of effect and is a simple model to use. Shannon and Weaver’s Models Claude Shannon has an engineering background and came up with one of the most essential communication models. His purpose was to illustrate a theory meant to guide engineers’ efforts for coming up with the most efficient ways of signal transmission from one place to another. Shannon and Weaver’s models takes into consideration different concepts such as the source of information, transmission, the noise associated with the communication, the channel involved, the message to be conveyed, the receiver of the message, the channel from receiver to information destination, the destination of the information, and finally the encoder and decoder. Shannon also introduced a receiver mechanism that corrects the differences between what is transmitted and what is received as far as signals are concerned. The correcting mechanism is what is currently referred to as the feedback mechanism. Shannon and Weaver clearly differentiate between source and transmitter, and also between receiver and destination. The functions performed at the transmission end are two, just like the two functions we have at the receiving end. Shannon and Weaver’s model have the following advantages, simplicity, quantibilty and generality, whereas the disadvantages of the model include the fact that it is linear and one way. Dance’s Helical Spiral Model Dance compares communication to a helix. The geometry of a helix gives an idea that communication is continually moving forward while at the same time moving back by itself, due to the effect of the past behavior. Therefore, the curve of the helix is determined from the curve it is emerging from, and although its motion is slow, it can still feel itself from the very beginning. Thus, just like a helix, the process of communication is continually progressing and depends so much on the past from which it is coming. This model emphasizes the complexity involved in the communication process. Dance was more interested in finding out how communication process has evolved. He argues out that if communication is complex, the scholars should compare it to the study of something that is in motion. This means that the thing is motion is continually moving from place to place over time. Part 3: Reflective practice Definition and Explanation of Reflective Practice Reflective practice is a way in which a person can study his or her own experiences with the aim of improving how he or she works. It means reflecting after an action has already occurred. This is a useful and health practice for both professionals and learners. In provides a greater way of reflecting in order to increase confidence, become more proactive, and even qualified as a professional. When you reflect, you easily close the gap between practice and theory. Gibb’s reflective cycle is used for explaining the six steps involved in reflective practice and they include description, feelings, evaluation, analysis, conclusion, and action plan. Description refers to what happened, feelings show what you thought and feel about something, evaluation looks at both the positive and negative aspects, whereas analysis looks at what sense can be made. The conclusion step looks at what would have been one whereas the action plan considers what can be done next. This is a cycle for reason that what you think of in the last stage will be feed back to the first stage, where the process begins. Purpose of Reflection Reflective practice helps a person to gain a deeper understanding into what has already been done, and ultimately lead to more effectiveness. It can also motivate a person and validate the ideas, recognize the idea and improve on it on the future by validating a past practice. Through reflective practice, we can improve on quality performance by having an objective look at our practices in order to build on them, and by recognizing a good did whose skills we can apply in future. Through the same process of reflective practice, you can improve on professional judgment, and apply the skills for personal development purpose, and even plan future situations. Features of Reflective Writing In reflective writing, a link can be drawn between the course and the learner (Moon, 2004). For instance, if the lecturer has planned the course and selected particular reading for expanding knowledge and establishing more tasks, a reflective writing will look into a personal position of raising some questions and even personal comments, theories and practices. Therefore, reflective writing is characterized by what to think of, what to write about, and the questions to ask on the text you want to write about. When reflecting on what to think about, you reflect on the past experiences that have shaped your views, and how that impacts on the validity the presented ideas. You should think on how to link the ideas to personal experiences and have to be specific. Over what to write about, reflective writing will comment on ideas in relation to how those ideas remain meaningful and how they can be applied. The ideas are considered in terms of their logic, theoretical soundness, usefulness and pedagogical implications. Examples of the questions that characterize reflective writing include how the ideas presented are relevant, how personal prior and current circumstances shaped the views, and if the researcher tried any of what is written in the real class practice. In summary, the key features of reflecting writing include: The writing style is more subjective and involves the use of the first person The learner determines the subject Ideas are drawn from anywhere where the learns deems fit The subject may be varied There is no specific clear structure to this writing Definition and Explanation of Kolb’s Theory of Learning David Kolb developed his model over years and then published his experimental learning theory in 1984. This theory has two levels which involve a four stage learning cycle and a four separate cycle for learning. A lot of Kolb propositions on the theory are based on a learner’s inner cognitive process. What Kolb illustrates is that the process of learning is more about acquiring abstract concepts that are flexibly applied in different situations and the impetus behind the development of new ideas and concepts emanates from new experiences. Kolb’s Experimental Learning Cycle This cycle theory represents four stages in the learning process and the learner has to touch all this stages. The first one is about concrete experience, then reflective observation and finally abstract conceptualization and active experimentation in that order. In the first stage of concrete experience, a new skill or experience is encountered and reinterpreted to the existing experience. Reflective observation looks at the inconsistencies that exist between the new experience encountered and the learning understanding. Later, and through reflection, a new idea emanates or the original idea is modified out of the existing abstract concept. The last stage encompasses active experimentation of applying the results in relation to what happens or what the results are. Further, Kolb come up with learning styles corresponding to the four stages of learning. These styles exhibit the environment under which learners can learn better. The four styles include the assimilators, convergers, accommodators, and divergers. The assimilators are ones who learn better if given theories that are sound and logical to consider. For convergers, they learn better if given the practical application of the theories and concepts. For accommodators, they learn better when given “hands-on” skills and experiences, whereas the divergers will learn better if allowed make observations and put together different forms of information. Discussion of How Reflective Writing Fits Kolb’s Theory In reflective writing, we explore and explain events. This may be difficult and even challenging than other writing forms in the academic realm. It also involves writing about errors, successes and anxieties while you were doing the practical work. This forces the learner to stand away from the situation and try to be objective as possible. All this entails evaluation of a past experience; something that is best explained in Kolb’s learning model stages. Reflective writing is about experience, observations and reflections, the development of ideas, and the testing of these ideas in real practice. All these are purely the four elements of Kolb’s learning cycle. The learning experience need to be captured, analyzed and even related to the real environment and this is useful to learners so that they can develop proper understanding of the process and gain more knowledge about an issue or topic. On the other hand, Kolb’s learning styles offer a model and an experimental learning theory that is useful in comprehending the learning behaviors. Conclusion Through an examination of different theories that relate to work this article finds more relevance to professionals and learners. The key subjects covered include the theories of motivation, communication and even reflective practice. We understand what the terms mean, and the principle theories behind them such as content and process theories behind motivation, Shannan and Weaver, and Dance Helix theory behind communication and even the Kolb’s theory that built reflective writing. The article reveals the difference between different types of motivation, the theories of motivation, and the comparison between the theories. Besides the meaning of communication, the difference between non-verbal and verbal communication are explained, alongside advantages and the limitations. The contributions of Lasswell and Weaver and even Dance Helical are of great contribution. In the end, the reflective practice is emphasized, and even the role it plays and the features of reflective writing. Kolb’s major contribution towards reflective writing expands the topic in terms of theory. References Casmir, F.L. (2013). Building Communication Theories: A Socio/Cultural Approach. Routledge: London. Dunning, D., Johnson, K., Ehrlinger, J., & Kruger, J. (June, 2003). Why people fail to recognize their own incompetence. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 12(3), 83-87. Moon, J. (2004). A Handbook of Reflective and Experiential Learning Cottrell, S. (2003). Skills for Success Robert, C.B. (2004). Motivation: Theories and Principles. Pearson Prentice Hall: London. Read More