D.Ed. / The situation in education in Soweto in the 1980's was an important contributory factor to this study. Problems resulting from underachievement, early school drop-out and the consequent loss of manpower provision, are current and are often ascribed to inadequate achievement motivation. As part of the project "Learning motivation" which has been undertaken by the Education Faculty of the Rand Afrikaanse University, inter-disciplinary in approach and financially supported by HSRC, this study attempts to locate achievement motivation in the anthropological-pedagogic paradigm. Within the context of black education, it is particularly aimed at devising measuring instruments for the establishment of reliable and valid measures of achievement motivation for standards six, eight and ten pupils in Soweto. It also attempts to establish whether there is any tendency in the achievement motivation between these different standards and certain biographical information with the objective of setting up a possible guidance programme which would endeavour to strenghten the achievement motivation of these pupils. A number of theories on motivation, learning- and achievement motivation were studied. Direct and indirect measuring techniques to determine the level of achievement motivation were then considered. Eventually it was decided to include Viljoen's (1983) achievement motivation questionnaire (AMQ) and Hermans' (1972) "Prestatie Motivatie Test voor Kinderen" (PMT-K) in the questionnaire booklet. This booklet comprised the following tests: the Achievement Motivation Questionnaire (AMQ), the aspiration level test, the Prestatie Motivatie Test voor Kinderen (PMT-K), the Modernity Scale of Thompson (1977 & 1980) and questions to gather biographical data. The AMQ consists of eighty items of which eight indicate social desirability, while the rest indicate certain characteristics, as derived from the study of the literature, of the achievement motivated person. The PMT-K consists of four achievement motivation scales namely achievement motive, positive fear of failure, negative fear of failure and social desirability. These two questionnaires·are used in an attempt to determine the scholastic achievement motivation and fear of failure of standards six, eight and ten pupils in different secondary schools in Soweto (N = 778). A further in-depth study using the projective Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) of Baran (1971) was undertaken with a small group of standard six pupils, but the results of this investigation were not significant. Statistical calculations were applied to the data to determine the reliability and validity of the measures of the AMQ and PMT-K. Furthermore an attempt was made to determine whether there were any significant differences between the achievement motivation and fear of failure of standard six pupils and a number of biographical information. The results of the study led to the following conclusions: = the Achievement Motivation Questionnaire appears to be effective in determining the achievement motivation of standard six pupils in Soweto; = further research and refinement of the AMQ and PMT-K are necessary to develop possible reliable and valid measures of achievement motivation in standards eight and ten:= in-depth research is necessary with regard to the fear of failure as one of the components of the nomological network in which achievement motivation operates; it appears that significant differences exist in the achievement motivation of standard s.Lx pupils when some biographical aspects are considered. These differences should be taken into consideration in devising a guidance programme for these children.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:uj/uj:3972 |
| Date | 13 February 2014 |
| Creators | Van Niekerk, Jacob Petrus |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Rights | University of Johannesburg |
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