Marie-Helene Leclerc's List: ETEC213

We focused on potential effects of directly controlling teacher behaviors (DCTB), such as giving frequent directives, interfering with children's preferred pace of learning, and not allowing critical and independent opinions. We hypothesized that children's perceptions of their teachers as directly controlling would arouse anger and anxiety in children, and these emotions would enhance a-motivation and extrinsic motivation, which, respectively, would undermine intensive academic engagement and promote restricted engagement. Three hundred and nineteen Israeli 4th-5th graders completed questionnaires assessing the variables of interest. The extent to which children showed intensive academic engagement was assessed by their primary teachers. Path analyses supported the expected relations. DCTB appear particularly harmful because they lead to a-motivation that is intertwined with anger and anxiety.

The evidence is clear: America's boys are being left behind by current practices in the classroom. Statistically, they are performing less well than they were 10 years ago. Boys are dropping out of high schools in significant numbers, failing to complete college degrees and behaving more violently. Thus, the author presents some possible solutions on what school administrators can do to continue supporting girls while beginning to help boys re-engage in learning.

Student motivation may have significant influences on essential academic outcomes. However, students’ motivation may decline as they grow older. This study examined six motivation constructs (self-efficacy, interest, mastery goal orientation, engagement, avoidance coping, and effort withdrawal) of students from 78 schools in Singapore (N = 4214) in learning English. Using a large and diverse sample of primary 5 (5th grade) and secondary 3 (9th grade) students, grade and gender differences in these constructs were examined. Applying a MIMIC approach to structural equation modeling, the paths from grade and gender as well as the grade × gender interaction variable were found to be significant. That is, (a) the scores for self-efficacy, interest, mastery goal orientation, and engagement tended to be lower whereas avoidance coping and effort withdrawal tended to be higher for the secondary students, (b) boys tended to have lower scores; and (c) the gap in motivation between primary and secondary tended to be greater for girls. Since motivation may have important influences on subsequent learning outcomes, we need to seriously consider the implications of these grade- and gender-related patterns and pay attention particularly to boys in primary schools and girls in secondary schools