Native American Children's Motivation for School and Mathematics

• In Event: 41.023 - Exploring Links Between Interest and Learning

Abstract

Objectives and Framework
This presentation will describe findings from studies of Native elementary students’ motivation toward school and mathematics. The findings are particularly critical given that there have been indications that this is a population of students who are not mathematically inclined (Flowerday & Nez, 2006), and interest in school and mathematics is central to learning (Renninger & Hidi, 2016). Much of the research on the motivation and school achievement of Native American students is framed in relation to the motivations and achievement of students from White American or European ethnicity as though these groups are the exemplars of positive motivation and achievement. Our objectives are different. We wanted to examine Native American students’ motivation toward school on its own terms.

This study on which we will primarily focus is exploratory and explores key motivation theories, e.g. Personal Investment Theory (McInerney, 2008; McInerney et al., 1998), Attribution theory (Weiner, 2004). Children’s beliefs about interest, goal orientation, attribution, self-efficacy, community relatedness, and future goals are explored. Based on past research, interest in mathematics among Native children is high (Flowerday & Nez, 2006).

Data Sources and Methods
Participants were 262 Native American children (130 Male; 132 Female) in fourth and fifth grade at fifteen New Mexico schools. Seventy-six percent of the sample attended schools where Native students were the majority population. Students completed the Inventory of School Motivation (ISM, McInerney, Yeung, & McInerney, 2001) and a standardized math achievement test.

Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was then conducted for instruments at their first administration using the full sample from the larger grant population that included White and Hispanic students. All instruments were found to be invariant across grade and ethnicity, including the Native student sample in this study. Cronbach’s alphas for all measures ranged from the high .70s to low .80s for the total sample and all sub-populations.

Results and Significance
Native American children were strongly motivated by interest in math, future goals, and mastery goals. They were confident in their school competence and were highly positive in their school affect, suggesting generally strong school self-concept. They exhibited the pattern of causal attributions for success in school associated with high motivation and positive self-worth and endorsed a growth mindset more highly than a fixed mindset.

Correlations of school motivation variables with their math achievement test scores were modest. Even when statistically significant, most correlations were between .20 and .31. There were no significant differences across school motivation cluster in either 4th or 5th grade. Effect sizes suggest a meaningful difference between the high and low school motivation clusters.

It is important to extend our inquiry into school motivation beyond the white, middle class American student, and take into consideration the high interest that has been identified among Native students and its implications for supporting these students’ learning. Native students are often told that they are unable to think mathematically and should avoid math courses in school. As with many cultural myths, the evidence suggests otherwise.

Authors

• Terri L. Flowerday, University of New Mexico

• Veronica Lane Lee, University of New Mexico