Help-Seeking Methods

Types of Help Seeking

There are two types of help seeking: executive help seeking and instrumental help seeking. Executive (also referred to as passive dependency) help seeking is when students seek help for the sole purpose of completing a required assignment or task. They may also look for others to convey more help than is truly needed. This type of help seeking will not advance a student toward higher achievement in life but will actually diminish the student’s view of his or her self-efficacy.

Instrumental (also referred to as autonomous or adaptive) help seeking is when a student seeks out help [Page 371]or assistance in order to move forward, acquire new skills, and grasp new concepts for the benefit of learning. While engaged in instrumental help seeking, a student will be satisfied with just enough assistance to solve the problem at hand.

In order for students to employ instrumental help seeking, they must have some basic awareness and social abilities. They must be able to determine that they need help and they must be motivated to find a solution to their current problem. Next, they need to look for potential helpers and choose between peers or adults in the classroom according to who will be of greatest help to them. Students must then implement a strategy that will make their attempt to get help successful. A final step is for them to analyze if the attempt to seek help produced the result they were hoping for.

Some students may see the need to ask for assistance as a sign of weakness, or they may feel it is an admission of a lack of ability on the learner’s part. This can be very difficult to overcome, as previous experience and cultural differences may foster this feeling of help seeking as an admission of low skill or intelligence. For these students, there are a few methods that educators can employ to foster help seeking for the purpose of learning.

Methods to Support Help Seeking

How can a student learn how to seek help? Teachers explaining help-seeking strategies is one way in which students can learn how and when to seek help. As a situation presents itself in the course of a day, teachers can, in front of an entire class, explain the thought process required in seeking help. At the same time, teachers can make clear the steps to be taken, the details of each step, and the reasons for taking each step. In doing so, they can answer students’ questions about how to decide who would be the best choice of a person to ask, who has the knowledge needed, and who will respond favorably to a request for help. Teachers should explain a socially acceptable manner in which to ask the other person for assistance. They can show that not only is it okay to need help but also that it is a normal function of daily life. It is also important for teachers to ensure that the classroom remains a safe environment in which appropriate help seeking is valued by all and is a desired skill. Asking for help should be treated as a welcome and positive occurrence in the classroom, and collaboration between peers and adults should occur frequently. When successful and appropriate help-seeking/help-giving behavior is observed in the classroom, positive reinforcement should be given by the teacher to increase the likelihood that help giving will occur again in the future.

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