Hostname: page-component-77c89778f8-vpsfw Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-19T09:25:21.807Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Engagement with learning: Adolescent perceptions of self and school

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 October 2015

Mary D. Ainley*
Affiliation:
University Of Melbourne
*
School of Behavioural Science, Department of Psychology, University of Melbourne, PARKVILLE 3052, Email: mary-ainley@muwayf.unimelb.edu.au
Get access

Abstract

Student motivation as an organised system of relations between the self and learning involves a set of beliefs and intentions that function as motives for action. The present research programme proposes that students in formal leaming settings come equipped with particular views of what school learning is all about, the purpose of their learning, and of themselves as learners. Findings from a longitudinal study investigating student motivation as expressed in curiosity and approaches to school learning are described. The ways adolescents connect themselves (or fail to connect themselves) with their learning are examined in two cohorts of female students assessed in Years 7, 9, and 11.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Australian Psychological Society 1994

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ainley, J., Reed, R., & Miller, H. (1986). School organisation and the quality of schooling. Hawthorn, Vic: ACER.Google Scholar
Ainley, M. D. (1986). Explorations in curiosity: Breadth and depth of interest curiosity styles. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Melbourne, Victoria.Google Scholar
Ainley, M. D. (1987). The factor structure of curiosity measures: Breadth and depth of interest curiosity styles. Australian Journal of Psychology, 39, 5359.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ainley, M. D. (1992, November). The context for learning: A developmental perspective on student perceptions of their school life and learning goals. Paper presented at joint NZARE-AARE conference, Deakin, Vic.Google Scholar
Ainley, M. D. (1993). Styles of engagement with learning: A multidimensional assessment of the relationship between student goals and strategy use and school achievement Journal of Educational Psychology, 85, 395405.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Australian Council for Educational Research. (1983). Advanced Test B40. Hawthorn, Vic.:ACER.Google Scholar
Bandura, A. (1986). Social foundations of thought andaction: A social cognitive theory. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall.Google Scholar
Biggs, J. B. (1987). Student approaches to learning and studying. Hawthorn, Vic: AustralianCouncil for Educational Research.Google Scholar
Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (1990). A motivational approach to self: Integration in personality. In Dienstbier, R. (Ed.), Nebraska symposium on motivation (pp. 237288). Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.Google Scholar
Dweck, C.S., & Leggett, E.L. (1988). A social-cognitive approach to motivation & personality. Psychological Review, 95,256272.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Izard, C. E. (1977). Human emotions. New York: Plenum Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Keating, D. P. (1990). Adolescent thinking. In Feldman, S. S. & Elliott, G. R. (Eds.), Atthe threshold: The developing adolescent (pp. 5489). Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Locke, E. A., & Latham, G. P. (1990) A theory of goal setting and task performance. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall.Google Scholar
Marsh, H. W. (1989). Age and sex effects inmultiple dimensions of self concept: Preadolescence to early adulthood. Journal of Educational Psychology, 81,417430.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Meece, J.L., Blumenfeld, P.C., & Hoyle, R.H. (1988). Students’ goal orientations and cognitive engagement in classroom activities. Journal of Educational Psychology, 80,514523.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Paris, S. G., & Newman, R. S. (1990). Developmental aspects of self-regulated learning. Educational Psychologist, 25, 87102.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ramsden, P., Martin, E., & Bowden, J. (1989). School environment and sixth form pupils’ approaches to learning. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 59, 129142.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Valsiner, J. (1987). Culture and the development of children’s actions. New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
Valsiner, J. (1992). Interest: A metatheoretical perspective. In Renninger, K. A., Hidi, S., and Krapp, A. (Eds.), The role of interest in learning and development (pp. 2741). Hillsdale, N.J.: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Wentzel, K. (1989). Adolescent classroom goals, standards for performance, and academic achievement: An interactionist perspective. Journal of Educational Psychology, 81,131142.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Williams, T., & Batten, M. (1981). The quality of school life. Hawthorn, Vic: ACER.Google Scholar