The Optional Curriculum for the Self-knowledge and Self-determination Course

The article presents a model for an optional curriculum for the Self-knowledge and Self-determination course, organized by modules, each of them aiming to achieve a psychological feature considered to be responsible for improving learning motivation. The project is based on the self-determination theory, emphasizing the three needs: autonomy, competence, and relation. Within the subject the need for autonomy was developed through activities that aimed for cognitive, behavioral, emotional, and value-related autonomy; competence was translated in terms of self-knowledge and development of the physical Self and the authentic Self, by expressing the emotions and feelings that aim at the emotional Self, and also a realistic perception of the academic potential expressed through the school Self and the prospective Self; the need for relation was centered on activities that allow metaphorical contacts through which the student becomes more authentic, courageous, and involved; self-determination has followed the development of the students’ attention both to the exterior, towards their lessons, and to the interior, towards their needs, thoughts, and emotions.