Can teachers' instruction increase low-SES students' motivation to learn mathematics?

Abstract

Students' motivation in mathematics has been shown to predict their achievement and whether they pursue a later career in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics). To sustain equity in education, it is important that students are motivated for the STEM fields, independent of their background characteristics (e.g., gender and SES). Previous research has revealed that students' motivation declines from primary to secondary school. The present study investigates whether this unwanted development may be related to students' SES, and more importantly, what aspects of teachers' instruction are related to student motivation for low, medium, and high-SES student groups in grade 5 and 9. We use data from students in grades 5 and 9 and their teachers who participated in TIMSS 2015 in Norway. Multilevel (students and classes), multi-group structural equation modelling is used to answer the research questions. In line with previous research from Germany and the USA, the results showed that SES is more important to student motivation in secondary than primary school, that low SES students' motivation depends more on their teachers' instructional quality than high SES students and that this dependency is stronger in secondary school than in primary school. The implications and contributions of the study are discussed.