Aboriginal, angle, and immigrant Australian students' motivational beliefsabout personal academic success: Are there cultural differences?

Citation
Dm. Mcinerney et al., Aboriginal, angle, and immigrant Australian students' motivational beliefsabout personal academic success: Are there cultural differences?, J EDUC PSYC, 90(4), 1998, pp. 621-629
Citations number
45
Categorie Soggetti
Psycology
Journal title
JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY
ISSN journal
00220663 → ACNP
Volume
90
Issue
4
Year of publication
1998
Pages
621 - 629
Database
ISI
SICI code
0022-0663(199812)90:4<621:AAAIAS>2.0.ZU;2-G
Abstract
Does being successful at school mean the same thing for all children? In Au stralia, research posits that Aboriginal Australian, Angle Australian, and immigrant Australian children embrace different learning goals (i.e., maste ry, performance, or social) according to their culture. In this study, a 38 -item inventory was used to measure similarities and differences between Ab original (n = 496), Angle (n = 1,173), and immigrant (n = 487) Australian s tudents' learning goal orientations. In contrast to existing conceptions, t hese findings indicate that the profiles of Aboriginal, Angle, and immigran t students were remarkably similar, with students embracing a mastery orien tation of academic success. Nevertheless, there were significant (albeit sm all) differences among the groups, and these differences indicated that Abo riginal students are more influenced by social goals.