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Collective school-type identity: predicting students' motivation beyond academic self-concept
Michel Knigge1, Bettina Hannover
1Institute for Educational Progress (IQB), Humboldt Universität, Berlin, Germany. michel.knigge@iqb.hu-berlin.de
Summary
Students in different German school tracks develop distinct collective school-type identities, influencing their scholastic motivation. This identity plays a role beyond individual academic self-concept in predicting motivation levels.
Area of Science:
- Educational Psychology
- Sociology of Education
- Social Psychology
Background:
- German secondary education tracks students based on prior achievement, leading to divergent future opportunities.
- These tracks possess varying social statuses, potentially fostering distinct collective school-type identities among students.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if collective school-type identity varies by school track, independent of personal academic self-concept.
- To determine if collective school-type identity uniquely predicts scholastic motivation beyond academic self-concept and school track.
Main Methods:
- Two cross-sectional studies were conducted in Berlin.
- Study 1 (N=39) explored collective school-type identity content via open questionnaires.
- Study 2 (N=1278) developed and validated a semantic differential instrument to measure collective school-type identity (four subscales: Stereotype Achievement, Motivation, Social, and Compensation) using confirmatory factor analysis.
Main Results:
- Significant differences in collective school-type identity were found between students in different school tracks.
- Collective school-type identity differences explained motivational disparities observed between school tracks.
- Collective school-type identity demonstrated incremental predictive power for scholastic motivation.
Conclusions:
- School tracks in Germany cultivate distinct collective school-type identities.
- Collective school-type identity is a significant factor in scholastic motivation, offering unique predictive value.
- Understanding collective school-type identity is crucial for addressing motivational differences in secondary education.
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