School engagement of students with different attitude towards learning in secondary school

Abstract

Background. The period of preparation for the main state exam is recognized by teachers as problematic due to a decrease in positive attitude towards learning and the emergence of various defi cits in cognitive activity. In this regard, it seems relevant to study the dynamics of indicators of attitude towards learning, school engagement and disengagement among 8th and 9th grade students on the materials of longitudinal study. 

Objective. The study had its purpose to investigate the attitude towards learning and school engagement of the 8th grade students, to trace the dynamics of these indicators in the 9th grade, and to identify regulatory and motivational predictors of cognitive activity in the 9th grade.

Hypothesis: students with diff erent levels of attitude towards learning in the 8th grade differ in their level of school engagement/disengagement and its dynamics in the 9th grade and also have diff erent regulatory and motivational predictors of cognitive activity in the and also have different regulatory and motivational predictors of cognitive activity in the 9th grade. Design. The study was conducted in two stages. The first stage involved 156 eighth graders aged 13–16 (M = 13.88; SD = 0.445). At the second stage, in the 9th grade, the participants (age: M = 14.66, SD = 0.525) were repeatedly examined by means of identical package of techniques. The volume of longitudinal data was made up of 93 people. Methods. Survey technique “Attitude towards learning in middle and high school grades” (I.N. Bondarenko, I.Y. Tsyganov, V.I. Morosanova) — modification of the “Survey technique for diagnosing learning motivation and emotional attitude towards learning in middle and high school grades” by A.D. Andreeva and A.M. Prikhozhan; “Multidimensional scale of school engagement” T.G. Fomina and V.I. Morosanova — a Russian-language adapted version of the Survey technique “A Multidimensional School Engagement Scale” by M.-T. Wang and colleagues.

Results. The study results demonstrate that students with an average attitude towards learning and reduced cognitive activity, as well as those with a negative attitude towards learning, predominate among eighth graders. The hypothesis of the study was fully confirmed. By means of regression analysis it is shown for the first time that a decrease in the indicators of school disengagement in the 8th grade can provide an increase in cognitive activity in the 9th grade. In schoolchildren with an average level of attitude towards learning, the main resources of cognitive activity in the 9th grade are the regulatory process of evaluating the result, independence in working with educational material and the introjected motivation (presence of guilt for their failure). In schoolchildren with a negative attitude to learning, the cognitive activity resources in the 9th grade are the regulatory intrapersonal features of responsibility and flexibility, as well as the ability to seek help from peers and teachers.

Conclusion. Th e study results emphasize the importance of further investigating the dynamics of attitudes towards learning and cognitive activity resources in high school

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