The relationship between the perceived class climate, motivation for achievement and school success among elementary and high school students

Abstract

The aim of this research is to determine the correlation between perceived class climate, motivation for achievement and school success among elementary and high school students. The research was conducted on a sample of 400 subjects. The instrument used for class climate survey is an Attitude scale, created as the combination of two instruments for measuring class climate. The MOP/D scale was used to survey motivation for achievement. The obtained results show that the quality of the overall class climate is not high, while the scores on the three dimensions of the class climate indicate that the students perceive Class Cohesion as the most favourable one, then the Teachers? Support and finally the Order and the Organisation. Significant differences in perceptions of class climate were found concerning age. Significant differences in perceptions of climate (both in the overall and in the Teachers? Support dimension) were also found with respect to the gender of the students. The findings indicate low positive correlations between perceived class climate and the motivation for achievement, and also between school success and the motivation for achievement. No correlation was found between the perceived class climate and school success. More detailed research shows that the climate dimensions Teachers? Support and Order and Organisation are significant predictors of the overall motivation for achievement and the Learning dimension, and that they are positively correlated. Learning and Persistence, the dimensions of the motivation for achievement, were found to be significant predictors of school success. A perceived class climate did not prove to be a significant predictor of school success, except for the Class Cohesion dimension, only on the subsample of high school students.