Study motivation - complexity in social interactions and didactics : Upper secondary school teachers' and students' views on students' motivation to study

In order to increase the number of student who successfully complete upper secondary school, Sweden has reformed its school system. The new system has not changed the throughput, mainly due to low study motivation. The multifaceted concept of study motivation includes various definitions and understandings of the motivation to study. Internal and external motivation factors are important for our study. Motivation originates from dynamic relationships between people; it is context-bound and changeable rather than generalizable and stable. To analyze the lack of motivation to study as the cause of low throughput in the upper secondary school, the perspective must account for the entire school and for the classroom situation. Students’ perceptions of their self-worth, competence, experience, and individual goals are also crucial for the motivation to study. This interacts with how students perceive their duties—if they are relevant, how much benefit they see in them, their difficulty level and working methods, feedback, group dynamics, and other factors relevant to classroom work to influence students’ motivation to study. The aim of this study is to describe and analyze what determines students’ study motivation. Interaction and transaction is used as theoretical tools. The study is based on a multimethod approach. The empirical data comes from 207 students’ responses to a web-survey containing 20 questions about motivation and from six semi-structured group interviews with 12 students and 20 teachers. The statistical data show significant differences between students in study programs regarding positive and negative attitudes toward schoolwork, absence from school, expectations for teachers and for results, competitiveness in realizing personal ambitions, personal feedback, and attitudes toward learning. Significant differences in self-esteem and in self-confidence that affect motivation also exist among the student groups. On the other hand, the results also indicate similarities among the students. They appreciate school as an institution, they feel safe at school, and they recognize teachers’ legitimacy. The interview results indicate that teachers and students both view the complex interplay between results and motivation as important for motivation. Study results affect motivation and vice versa in both positive and negative ways. Teachers and their leadership are also greatly important for students’ study motivation. Teachers focus their leadership on the importance of knowledge. Students relate to teacher leadership in relation to personal qualities, such as being understood and getting support. One difference between the two samples is that teachers emphasize “life skills” in learning, such as strategies for purposes, intermediate goals, and a sense of belonging, but students do not mention these strategies at all. A category where teacher and student perceptions coincide is the importance of well-being and safety in the learning environment and that the class, groups, and peers motivate them. This study highlight the importance to understand study motivation from different perspectives and different student groups