Development of the educational motivation among high school students in English classes
The study is focused on the development of educational motivation among high school students in English classes. The research design is cross-sectional and formative. The study involves 30 schoolchildren of the 10th grade who study at School No. 510 with advanced learning of the English language in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Classes with higher (average score=4.2, n=15) and lower (average score=2.9, n=15) performance are used as comparison groups. The following methodologies were used to measure different aspects of motivation and attitudes towards learning: R. J. Vallerand's “Scale of Academic Motivation” (adapted by T. O. Gordeeva), the “Career Anchors” methodology for diagnosing value orientations in a career (E. Shein, translation and adaptation by V. A. Chiker, V. E. Vinokurova), B. I. Dodonov's “Methodology on the Study of the Person's Emotional Orientation”, J. Crocker's methodology “Basic Foundations of Self-Esteem”, and D. A. Leontiev's methodology “Life-Meaning Orientations”. We developed a program that included a set of psychological and developing techniques which were used in English classes to develop the students' self-analysis skills, demonstrate the connection between studying and future professional activities, and develop the understanding of one's potentials and ways to use them in educational activities. A comparative analysis (Wilcoxon's W) in the two classes before and after the implementation of the program showed a number of significant shifts. In the class with higher academic performance, there were eleven significant shifts. In the class with lower academic performance, there were nine significant shifts, among which the values of the scales of meaningfulness of life and the internality of the locus of life control are distinguished. The motivational profile of a class with lower academic performance has acquired a more pronounced contrast and certainty, which indicates an increase in the value of educational activities and a meaningful attitude to learning. The results of the presented research can be used by educational institutions in order to increase reduced educational motivation of high schoolers and provide career guidance to 11th grade students.