Why Students Work for School - And What Teachers Know About Their Students' Motivation

This study investigated to what extent teachers' statements of why their students engage in a school subject match the statements of the students themselves. Students (N = 329, grades 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, and 11) wrote down reasons (open format) why they worked for a school subject. Their teachers (N = 16) answered the analog question related to each of their students (If [student's name] is working for [subject], why is he/she doing this?). Each reason mentioned was ascribed to one of 11 motivational categories. The percentages of reasons in these categories were compared between students and teachers. Results showed that students described themselves as more autonomously motivated than their teachers described them. Based on their attributions, two-thirds of the teachers did not adequately differentiate between students.