I really appreciated this piece. It is clear, well-supported, and especially helpful in distinguishing learned helplessness from ordinary learner dependence.
One thought I kept returning to is that learned helplessness is often not produced by instruction itself, but by institutional failure around the child. When students spend years in systems where expectations are vague, support is inconsistent, and effort does not reliably lead to success, they may learn the tragic lesson: “No matter what I do, I still fail.”
In that context, direct instruction may not create dependence at all. It may offer relief.
A student who gravitates toward the adult who explains clearly, models the process, checks for understanding, and helps them experience success may not be helpless. They may be recognizing safety, clarity, and a path back to agency.
Clarity is not the enemy of independence. For many students, it is the first doorway back to it.
Excellent and important article. I have seen so many students disengage, or begin to exhibit a sense of helplessness, after experiencing repeated failure again and again. This is why explicit instruction and carefully scaffolded support matter so much. When students experience success, even in small steps, it can rebuild confidence, motivation, and a willingness to engage with challenging learning. Thank you both for the important work you continue to do.
The learned helplessness that comes from repeated failure in spite of effort is certainly what I have observed in elementary, middle and secondary students, and what they have expressed to me, as a learning support teacher and school psychologist over the past 25+ years.
Yet another fantastic piece to share with my pre-service student teachers and practicing teachers in my masters classes. They are getting a very different message about explicit instruction than I got in my teacher education.
At a staff meeting we had this exact discussion: students are spoon fed and learnt to wait for every instruction rather than showing initiative. Interesting article, thank you!
The distinction between learned helplessness and teacher dependance is an important one that I often find blurred, so thank you for usefully delineating the two. I very much enjoyed reading about your argument in favour of direct instruction and how discovery learning often leads to thrashing for many novice learners. I wonder if you had any thoughts around how a teacher could go about actually ascertaining a child's level of knowledge? At what point should we begin to withdraw that explicit instruction and are there indicators that you would look out for?
I suppose this is a question on assessment, but overall I am curious as to how we can be sure that the children do indeed have the prerequisite knowledge before moving to more independent learning activities? Many thanks again and would be grateful to hear your perspective on this.
My experience with Direct Instruction using the Reading Mastery series was that it was highly explicit in teaching the entire scope and sequence. I found that moving to other texts as soon as the student had a good foundation in phonics was necessary. I think that all competent teachers use the elements of explicit instruction to introduce new concepts. Learning theory holds that teachers must build on what students know and that introducing complexity that is far beyond their current abilities will be problematic, even when taught explicitly. Explicit instruction may allow a 6th-grade student to solve simple differential equations in a cannon bombardment game, but it will not be integrated into the student's knowledge of math and physics. The use of explicit instruction must be carefully applied in accordance with the students' cognitive development, especially in Common's Model Hierarchy of Complexity and Spiral Dynamics. The interesting thing is that collaborative group work is common in jobs today. This means that explicit instruction is used only by managers for low-complexity repetitive tasks. We need to explicitly teach students to work collaboratively in group projects. Many have advocated for explicit instruction over group projects, which creates a tension between the agile vs close management they will encounter in their vocations. Working collaboratively is not mentioned in Rosenshine's 17 Principles of Effective Instruction. Can explicit instruction teach everything a student needs to be a competent and healthy individual in life?
Yes, Teaching means actually; factually, logically-teaching (how to make English, Math.. not how to remember it). And Yes, commonsense = commonsense! : )
My experience is that explicit instruction helps enormously but the learned helplessness for my students, almost universally, comes from assessments. They know the material but they are not fast enough. They put in enormous effort and continue to fail. They use so much effort that after 30min their brain is fried and the rest of the test is gibberish. It's like we put a huge amount of effort into making the conditions optoimal for instruction no more than 3 new ideas for WM, not too fast etc and then make assessment conditions as suboptimal as we can. Let's give them 20 things to deal with in WM as a test. As a result really smart kids start thinking their dumb.
This reminded me of a teacher who didn't over-explain, but who also didn't draw (very useful) correlations, a teacher who always answered us with “No, because...,” “No, it's...,” “No, so...” A defensive teacher who made us feel insecure when he said no to us, even though he knew we were right, having understood things differently.
Thank you for highlighting the importance of direct and explicit instruction with reference to learned helplessness (a behavior that is becoming more common amongst certain students and courses). I have also found that consciously focusing on metacognitive strategies within my instruction can help improve student self-efficacy.
Zig Engelmann and all of us who taught using Direct Instruction understood your message. This article is so important. Thank you.
Thank you so muc, Linda. 🙏🏾
I really appreciated this piece. It is clear, well-supported, and especially helpful in distinguishing learned helplessness from ordinary learner dependence.
One thought I kept returning to is that learned helplessness is often not produced by instruction itself, but by institutional failure around the child. When students spend years in systems where expectations are vague, support is inconsistent, and effort does not reliably lead to success, they may learn the tragic lesson: “No matter what I do, I still fail.”
In that context, direct instruction may not create dependence at all. It may offer relief.
A student who gravitates toward the adult who explains clearly, models the process, checks for understanding, and helps them experience success may not be helpless. They may be recognizing safety, clarity, and a path back to agency.
Clarity is not the enemy of independence. For many students, it is the first doorway back to it.
Couldn't agree more, George.
Excellent and important article. I have seen so many students disengage, or begin to exhibit a sense of helplessness, after experiencing repeated failure again and again. This is why explicit instruction and carefully scaffolded support matter so much. When students experience success, even in small steps, it can rebuild confidence, motivation, and a willingness to engage with challenging learning. Thank you both for the important work you continue to do.
Thank you for your ongoing support, Elana.
The learned helplessness that comes from repeated failure in spite of effort is certainly what I have observed in elementary, middle and secondary students, and what they have expressed to me, as a learning support teacher and school psychologist over the past 25+ years.
Yet another fantastic piece to share with my pre-service student teachers and practicing teachers in my masters classes. They are getting a very different message about explicit instruction than I got in my teacher education.
Thank you for all that you do, Melanie.
Right back at you. ❤️
Always love your clear communication about the issues at hand. Thank you!
Thank you!
Very clearly explained, makes good sense. Thank you.
Thank you 🙏🏾
At a staff meeting we had this exact discussion: students are spoon fed and learnt to wait for every instruction rather than showing initiative. Interesting article, thank you!
The distinction between learned helplessness and teacher dependance is an important one that I often find blurred, so thank you for usefully delineating the two. I very much enjoyed reading about your argument in favour of direct instruction and how discovery learning often leads to thrashing for many novice learners. I wonder if you had any thoughts around how a teacher could go about actually ascertaining a child's level of knowledge? At what point should we begin to withdraw that explicit instruction and are there indicators that you would look out for?
I suppose this is a question on assessment, but overall I am curious as to how we can be sure that the children do indeed have the prerequisite knowledge before moving to more independent learning activities? Many thanks again and would be grateful to hear your perspective on this.
My experience with Direct Instruction using the Reading Mastery series was that it was highly explicit in teaching the entire scope and sequence. I found that moving to other texts as soon as the student had a good foundation in phonics was necessary. I think that all competent teachers use the elements of explicit instruction to introduce new concepts. Learning theory holds that teachers must build on what students know and that introducing complexity that is far beyond their current abilities will be problematic, even when taught explicitly. Explicit instruction may allow a 6th-grade student to solve simple differential equations in a cannon bombardment game, but it will not be integrated into the student's knowledge of math and physics. The use of explicit instruction must be carefully applied in accordance with the students' cognitive development, especially in Common's Model Hierarchy of Complexity and Spiral Dynamics. The interesting thing is that collaborative group work is common in jobs today. This means that explicit instruction is used only by managers for low-complexity repetitive tasks. We need to explicitly teach students to work collaboratively in group projects. Many have advocated for explicit instruction over group projects, which creates a tension between the agile vs close management they will encounter in their vocations. Working collaboratively is not mentioned in Rosenshine's 17 Principles of Effective Instruction. Can explicit instruction teach everything a student needs to be a competent and healthy individual in life?
Yes, Teaching means actually; factually, logically-teaching (how to make English, Math.. not how to remember it). And Yes, commonsense = commonsense! : )
My experience is that explicit instruction helps enormously but the learned helplessness for my students, almost universally, comes from assessments. They know the material but they are not fast enough. They put in enormous effort and continue to fail. They use so much effort that after 30min their brain is fried and the rest of the test is gibberish. It's like we put a huge amount of effort into making the conditions optoimal for instruction no more than 3 new ideas for WM, not too fast etc and then make assessment conditions as suboptimal as we can. Let's give them 20 things to deal with in WM as a test. As a result really smart kids start thinking their dumb.
This reminded me of a teacher who didn't over-explain, but who also didn't draw (very useful) correlations, a teacher who always answered us with “No, because...,” “No, it's...,” “No, so...” A defensive teacher who made us feel insecure when he said no to us, even though he knew we were right, having understood things differently.
Thank you for highlighting the importance of direct and explicit instruction with reference to learned helplessness (a behavior that is becoming more common amongst certain students and courses). I have also found that consciously focusing on metacognitive strategies within my instruction can help improve student self-efficacy.