Motivation for Academics: Middle and High School Students From Rural Reservation Communities

• In Event: 49.032 - Indigenous Issues in Education and Research

Abstract

This study explores academic motivational factors for American Indian middle and high school students attending rural schools on selected Indian reservations. We wanted to know what motivational constructs are most salient for Native middle and high school students, and if there are any differences between students according to gender and educational level. What motivational goals are important for Native students whose sociocultural knowledge and experiences are often quite different from those of urban, majority culture students? The perspectives and goals of reservation teens are often influenced to a great degree by culture, home, and community. Traditional motivational research has focused on populations of urban, middle class, Anglo American students. The limited amount of research conducted with Indigenous populations has focused on high school students located in towns and urban areas. Few studies have investigated the influence of rurality, language, culture, ethnicity, educational level, and gender on students’ perceptions of motivation and learning with Indigenous populations.

Students completed a 66-item motivation questionnaire adapted from McInerney and Sinclair’s Inventory of School Motivation (ISM, McInerney & Sinclair, 1991, 1992). The ISM includes statements about types of motivators to which participants indicate level of agreement using a 5-point Likert scale. This instrument has been used extensively with Indigenous populations in Australia and the US (McInerney & Swisher, 1995; McInerney, 2003). In addition to the ISM, students were asked open-ended questions about their preferences for school content areas and activities, social engagement, and issues in popular and traditional culture.

Results indicate that the top motivating factor for academics among both middle and high school students is future value (relevance) for education. Other important academic motivators include having a mastery goal orientation toward learning, self-efficacy, and interest. It is also interesting that Native students cite Leadership as having the least impact on academic motivation for school. Students consistently cited math as their favorite school subject which is contrary to existing research findings on rural student motivation (Hardré, Sullivan, and Crowson, 2009).
This research provides information on motivation among American Indian adolescent students attending very rural middle and high schools on Native reservations. Findings from this study add to school administrators’, educators’, parents’, and community members’ understanding of their students’ academic motivation. Teachers serving students from these communities may use these findings to inform their teaching practices and pedagogy. Contrary to the underlying assumption associated with cultural deficit models that Native culture is maladaptive for success in the western classroom (Jester, 2002), our findings provide evidence in support of Native community schools because community schools encourage motivational goals conducive to academic achievement (mastery goal orientation and relevance).

Authors

• Terri L. Flowerday, University of New Mexico

• Veronica Lane Lee, University of New Mexico