Understanding Choice Behaviours: Pathways from School to University with Changing Aspirations and Opportunities

A socio-ecological approach to explain choice behaviour highlights salient personal and social factors in the context of changing aspirations and opportunities. The population databases are five cohorts of all school leaver applicants for university places in a state of Australia and a survey for one cohort. Results highlight common behaviour patterns across cohorts, with diverse outcomes for specific social groups. Offers of university places relate course preferences and school achievement. In addition, decisions to apply, accept and enrol vary with social experience by socio-economic indicators, geographic location and school type. Student explanations for their decisions to defer or let the offer lapse entail particular social factors as well as personal factors of self concepts, interests and financial needs. Findings contribute to a better understanding of choice behaviour, with a general model of the personal and social factors that explain diverse pathways to higher education.     

Personal and social bases of children's self-concepts about physical movement

This project examined the personal and social bases of children's self-concepts about physical movement. Children completed the Movement Assessment Battery, ASK-KIDS self-concept inventory, personal and social self-categorizations. Participants were girls and boys from 5 to 12 years old. Study 1 (N=242) confirmed that the ASK-KIDS self-concept inventory could be extended to physical movement for younger and older girls and boys. In Study 2 (N=42), self-concepts about movement were not necessarily associated with actual performance and personal self-categorizations about oneself as a 'bookish' or 'sporty' person. In contrast, self-concepts about physical movement were associated with social self-categorizations regarding age and sex. Study 3 (N=70) confirmed the social basis of children's self-concepts about movement. Self-concepts about physical movement were associated with children's sense of belonging and not with a sense of individuality. The findings have implications for the design of programs that motivate children to participate in physical activities.     

Social Categories and Student Perceptions in High School Mathematics

The plans that adolescent boys and girls make about participating in senior mathematics courses and mathematics-related careers are often at odds with their actual mathematics achievements. In contrast to explanations relating plans to gender differences in mathematics performance, mathematics participation can be explained by expectancy-value models of academic choice, based on gendered self-perceptions, task perceptions, and value judgments. This study with Year 10 Australian students ( N = 199) added to an expectancy-value model the students' current course levels that act as salient social categories. The results suggest that intervention programs need to target perceptions by girls and boys about mathematical talent, as well as making mathematics more useful and interesting to young adults. The findings raise further questions about the stratification of students into separate mathematics courses during the early years of high school.     

Thoughts, Feelings and Intentions to Learn: Attitudes by Beginning Teachers Towards Aboriginal Peoples

Given that education plays a key role in the development of social attitudes, intentions to learn about other social groups is a strategic addition to cognitive and affective models of attitudes towards others. This project examined related yet discrete aspects of attitudes towards Australian Aboriginal peoples that are expressed by beginning teachers (N = 266). Cognitive aspects indicate positive and negative stereotyping of the social group. Affective aspects across situations relate positive feelings and negative feelings of guilt, worry and anger. Results suggest differential links from cognitive and affective aspects to intentions for positive and negative actions, and intentions to gain experience with others. The findings implicate broadly defined components of attitudes in situations where individuals have limited experience with people in other social groups.     

Teachers’ Experience, Attitudes, Feelings and Behavioural Intentions towards Children with Special Educational Needs

This project examined teachers’ attitudes to children with special educational needs. Understanding the implicit and explicit attitudes of teachers is an important precursor to improving teaching practices for children with special needs. Participants (N=77) were pre-service teachers and experienced teachers during in-service training courses. Results showed that behavioural intentions related to explicit rather than implicit attitudes, and that feelings of guilt and anxiety were associated with intentions for negative actions. Profiles of attitudes were substantially similar in terms of personal and teaching experiences. However, attitudes were less positive about children with low social skills and more positive about children with low cognitive skills. Findings have direct application to training teachers of children with special educational needs.     

‘I am–we are’: personal and social pathways to further study, work and family life

This project explores the apparent layers in motivation for young people’s plans in order to extend Pathways Theory. We bring together personal, relational and group motivation to explain the planned pathways to study, work and family life. Location was an Australian town, close to the national socio-economic average, to control broad social factors. Participants (N = 78) were 12 to 18 year-old girls and boys (mean age 14.5 years). Results provide little support for popular explanations based on demographic factors (age, gender, family background) and broad personal indicators of self esteem and mood. Instead, the results support proposed differential explanations for pathways to study, work and family life. In particular, personal aspects of identity and self concepts, social expectations and group identity influence young people’s pathways to further study. Group uniqueness explains pathways to paid work, yet experience of higher education tends to limit plans for family life. Findings support inclusion of personal, relational and group motivations in developing innovative theories of pathways motivation. Ongoing work considers common and distinct explanations across socio-economic contexts.     

Attributions About Achievement and Intentions About Further Study in Social Context

This project examined sources and consequences of attributions for achievement for boys and girls at co-ed (N = 663) and single-sex schools (N = 697). Overall attributions emphasised long and short term effort, over other personal (ability, liking) and social reasons (parents, teachers) or feeling good or bad on the day. Attributions were substantially similar for girls and boys, with particular variations in attributions to effort and ability at co-ed and not single-sex schools. Results suggested an illusory glow for boys more than girls in attributions to ability and effort for doing well in Mathematics and English, and traditional gender stereotyping in attributions to poor ability for not doing well in Mathematics. Results showed weak associations between attributions about effort and ability with intentions for Mathematics and English courses in senior high school. Findings suggest further research about personal and social sources of attributions in co-ed schools, and question the practical significance of attributions for achievement motivation.     

Individuality, Belonging, and Children's Self Concepts: A Motivational Spiral Model of Self-Evaluation, Performance, and Participation in Physical Activities

Problématique. Ce projet avait pour objectif d’étudier les fondements sociaux et personnels des images de soi des enfants en rapport avec les activités physiques selon le modèle de la motivation de l’apprentissage en spirale. Ce modèle rapproche l’image de soi des enfants, leurs sentiments, leurs choix, leurs stratégies de résolution de problèmes et leurs performances, tout ce qui peut stimuler et contraindre les motivations des enfants à participer à des activités physiques dans les années à venir. Méthode. La première étude a porté sur de jeunes enfants (N= 40. Age: m = 6,3; σ= 1,1), mais aussi sur des moins jeunes (N= 36. Age : m = 10,2; σ= 1,2). La seconde concernait des enfants de 4 à 11 ans (N= 56. Age : m = 8; σ= 2,1). Résultats. Dans la première étude, les bases personnelles et sociales des images de soi variaient selon l’âge et les images des soi n’étaient pas nécessairement en rapport avec les performances observées. Dans la deuxième étude, les images de soi et les sentiments relatifs aux activités incitaient à une participation ultérieure fournissant aux enfants des occasions de développer leurs capacités et leur stratégies cognitives. Conclusion. Les résultats confirment les fondements hypothétiques personnels et sociaux des images de soi, ce qui est essentiel dans le modèle de l’apprentissage en spirale des motivations des enfants. Il en ressort qu’il existe des pistes communes et diversifiées qui conduisent les enfants à s’adonner à des activités physiques, ce qui a des retombées importantes sur les programmes cliniques et éducatifs concernant la santé et le bien‐être des enfants. This project examined the personal and social bases of children's self concepts about movement within the Motivational Spiral Model. The model relates children's self concepts, feelings, choices, task strategies, and performance that feed forward to support and constrain children's motivations to participate in physical movement in subsequent years. Study 1 was with younger (N= 40, age 6.3, SD 1.1 years) and older children (N= 36, age 10.2, SD 1.2 years). Study 2 was with 4‐ to 11‐year‐old children (N= 56, age 8.0, SD 2.1). In Study 1, personal and social bases of self concepts varied for younger and older children, and their self concepts were not necessarily associated with actual performance. In Study 2, children's self concepts and feelings about movement feed forward to subsequent participation providing children with opportunities to develop their task strategies and skills. Results support the proposed personal and social bases to self concepts that are central to the Motivational Spiral Model. The findings suggest common and diverse pathways to children's participation in physical activities, that have important applications in educational and clinical programmes for children's health and well‐being.