Expectancy-Value Theory in the Classroom

Why do some kids sabotage the classroom? They would rather succeed at getting the negative attention of teachers and peers than fail at achieving the teacher-set goals. I guess involving the kids in the goal-setting should help with this? Other ideas?

I realise that if a child often gets negative feedback (at home, school, wherever) they may think they will always disappoint expectations - the whole place of expectations is touchy - we have learnt that as teachers we must have high learning expectations, because it affects how we interact with the kids (e.g. how much 'wait time' we give a certain kid to answer a question) - but if a kid is sure they will fail to meet any expectations we place on them, I see that somehow they have to be part of naming the expectation (a development of self-judging). Any thoughts?

Coping strategies that kids use when trying to avoid failure and keep their sense of self-worth intact. Three common types:

• self-worth protection
• self-handicapping strategies
• defensive pessimism

Competition makes this problem worse, or classrooms that emphasise relative ability or performance goals.