Academic Motivation of Elementary School Students Unearthing the Role of Teacher

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between teachers’ behaviour and students’ academic motivation. This research study employed a quantitative research design. The correlation research method was used to conduct the study. All the students studying in elementary classes of district Swabi (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan) were the population for this study. Multi-stage sampling technique was used for the selection of 656 students from the population of 10930 students. Self-regulation Questionnaire (SRQ-A) and Perceived Autonomy Support (PAS) were used to collect data about students' academic motivation and students’ perception of their teacher’s behaviour, respectively. The study found that teachers’ autonomy-supportive behaviour had a moderate, positive, and significant relationship with students’ autonomous, intrinsic and identified academic motivation and a very weak correlation with students’ controlled academic motivation. It is recommended that the teachers adopt autonomy-supportive behaviour (i.e. students-centred approach) but they may avoid a controlled teaching style (i.e. teacher-centred approach) as it is considered one of the main reasons behind the dropping out of children from schools in KPK.