Theories of education among academically able adolescents

Abstract

The associations among views about the purposes of school, motivational orientations, and beliefs about the causes of academic success were examined in a sample of students of very high academic ability and attainment. The abilities of these students would make them especially well placed to outperform their peers academically and to attain those occupations of high status and income that require high academic attainment. Nevertheless, the view that school should help one gain status and wealth was not (whereas views that school should make one a responsible citizen were) associated with an orientation to learning for its own sake, satisfaction with school learning, or beliefs that success comes from attempts to learn. Similarly, despite the manifest competence of the sample, a competitive ego orientation was not associated with satisfaction with school learning, whereas a task orientation was. These results strengthen previous conclusions that a competitive orientation to schoolwork and the view that school should promote one's chances of gaining wealth and occupational status might be relatively incompatible with interest in learning and satisfaction with school. They also add to our understanding of the highly able.