Competencia socioemocional en el aula: Características del profesor que favorecen la motivación por el aprendizaje en alumnos de Enseñanza Secundaria Obligatoria

ABSTRACTIt can’t be denied that, in the last ten years, research and publications focusing on Social and Emotional Competencies is increasing. This study addresses one of the processes, which according to Goleman (1996), is part of the Emotional Intelligence construct: motivation. Numerous studies deal with its relationship with performance and school failure (Gonzalez, Mendiri and Arias, 2002; Brier, 2006). The increased rates of demotivation in the classroom, coupled with an increasingly lower academic performance in some groups of pupils, together with dysfunctional family situations, justify this study about one of the factors with more impact on students: the characteristics of teachers who are perceived as motivating by the students. Specifically, in this paper, the differences taking into account the courses, the sex and the motivational factors according to the Academic Motivation Scale (EMA, Manassero and Vazquez, 1997, 1998) will be analyze. For this propose, the first findings of a study, with an incidental sample of 350 students from two schools in different areas of Madrid, will be presented. The paper concludes with some recommended guidelines for intervention for teachers in the classroom.RESUMENNo se puede negar el incremento en los diez últimos años de investigaciones y publicaciones centradas en la Competencia Socioemocional. En concreto, este estudio aborda uno de los procesos que, según Goleman (1996), forma parte del constructo Inteligencia Emocional: la motivación. Numerosos estudios tratan su relación con el rendimiento y el fracaso escolar (González, Mendiri y Arias, 2002; Brier, 2006). El aumento de los índices de desmotivación en las aulas, unido a un rendimiento académico cada vez menor en algunos grupos de alumnos —a los que se unen aspectos y situaciones familiares disfuncionales—, justifica este estudio acerca de uno de los factores que más incidencia puede tener en los alumnos y sobre el que se puede intervenir: se trata de las características de los profesores que son percibidas como motivadoras por sus alumnos. En concreto, el estudio aborda el análisis de las diferencias en función de los diferentes cursos, el sexo y los factores de motivación según la Escala de Motivación Académica (EMA, Manassero y Vázquez, 1997, 1998). Para ello, se presentan los primeros hallazgos de un estudio, con una muestra incidental de 350 alumnos de ESO, pertenecientes a dos colegios concertados de diferentes áreas de Madrid. El trabajo concluye con algunas pautas de intervención para los profesores, que se consideran recomendables en la actuación en las aulas.ABSTRACTIt can’t be denied that, in the last ten years, research and publications focusing on Social and Emotional Competencies is increasing. This study addresses one of the processes, which according to Goleman (1996), is part of the Emotional Intelligence construct: motivation. Numerous studies deal with its relationship with performance and school failure (Gonzalez, Mendiri and Arias, 2002; Brier, 2006). The increased rates of demotivation in the classroom, coupled with an increasingly lower academic performance in some groups of pupils, together with dysfunctional family situations, justify this study about one of the factors with more impact on students: the characteristics of teachers who are perceived as motivating by the students. Specifically, in this paper, the differences taking into account the courses, the sex and the motivational factors according to the Academic Motivation Scale (EMA, Manassero and Vazquez, 1997, 1998) will be analyze. For this propose, the first findings of a study, with an incidental sample of 350 students from two schools in different areas of Madrid, will be presented. The paper concludes with some recommended guidelines for intervention for teachers in the classroom.