The discrepancy between pupils’ self-concept and academic attainment,its variance with age and the relationship between self-concept and motivation
Edward Gorman
(PGCE Early Years, (2012-2013)
email:edward83@hotmail.co.uk
Abstract
To what extent is pupils’ self-concept of their academic ability reflected in their relative academic attainment? Does the reflection of pupils’ self-concept in their relative academic attainment vary with age? What relationships are there between children’s self-concept of their academic ability and their engagement and motivation in school? Are there teaching strategies which can be adopted to raise children’s engagement and motivation in school?
This paper sets out how these questions were explored using a questionnaire and semi-structured interviews with Year 2 and Year 6 children. Overall, members of both year groups revealed a higher self-concept of their ability than their actual relative academic attainment levels. In general, Year 6 pupils’ self-concept exceeded their attainment level to a greater extent than that of Year 2 pupils. Although a relationship between pupils’ self-concept of their academic ability and their level of engagement and motivation in school was not established, a number of strategies for increasing children’s motivation were identified.
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The full paper is available for download as a pdf file 081-118-gormane
Citation: Gorman, E (2014) 'The discrepancy between pupils’ self-concept and academic attainment,its variance with age and the relationship between self-concept and motivation'. Journal of Trainee Teacher Educational Research, Volume 5 pp. 081-118 (Downloaded from http://jotter.educ.cam.ac.uk/, [date of access])