Achievement goals have been key concepts for describing what motivates individuals in educational contexts. While achievement goals have often merely been conceptualized in terms of aspired end-states (aims of goal striving), contemporary research has proposed a more holistic perspective synthesizing these aims alongside autonomous versus…

The issue of developing the professional competence of teachers is one of the priorities in the Kazakhstani education system. One of the most significant challenges in the context of improving abilities is increasing students' motivation. This study aims to examine the role of motivation in shaping future primary school teachers' professional…

This strengths-based paper draws on the qualitative and quantitative survey results from whanau (family members) of "tamariki" (children) attending 12 schools in an urban area in New Zealand with a high proportion of Maori people. The paper describes the positive impact of effective family engagement on tamariki, from the perspectives of…

When we are young, we are often asked, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" This question is challenging for many to answer. When we are young, our idea of what we can be is often based on what we know given our short life experiences or occupations held by those close to us or where we grow up, such as a teacher, nurse, farmer,…

In education, the child is often observed as a potential to be shaped and realised. In this article, we analyse the educational program, First Lego League. Surprisingly, its aim is not simply to realise a potential, but to potentialise the child to become unlimited potential. Children should become 'a force for change', and they are told that 'you…

Language-specific (i.e. the ideal L2 self) and plurilingual selves are now at the forefront of scholarly inquiry in L2 motivation research. Yet, there is a lack of empirical studies examining how language learners reframe their sense of self as speakers of an L2. This study draws on a questionnaire (N = 162) and on semi-structured interviews (N =…

This article reports a study that investigated Vietnamese doctoral students' motivations to pursue their doctoral study outside their home country. Analyses of in-depth interviews with 19 participants revealed what made a PhD abroad imaginable to them, thus revealing the motivational factors for Vietnamese doctoral students to sojourn for their…

This paper examines the spillover effects of maternal education in elementary classrooms in the context of Vietnam. Drawing from the sample of students who are randomly assigned to classrooms, we find that exposure to classmates whose mothers are well-educated positively influences student achievement. The heterogeneity analyses reveal that the…

This paper focuses on data from a study of middle- to upper-middle class Scottish S2 ([approximately]seventh grade) students who participated in Inspiring Purpose, a school-based character development program, during the 2016 to 2017 school year. Directed by their teachers, participating youth reflected on values and future aspirations and…

While study-abroad students generally prefer destinations where the local language relates to their personal, academic, or professional pursuits, the Czech Republic ranks as the 25th most popular destination for U.S. study abroad, signalling an interest in exploring beyond traditional language choices. This study addresses the gap in the…

In 2011, Sweden introduced tuition fees for students from countries outside the European Economic Area (EEA) and Switzerland when they enrolled at higher education institutions (HEIs). As a direct consequence, the number of students in Sweden from those countries decreased by 80% that year. Since then, the number of students has increased again…

Motivating students to graduate and enter into teaching is a challenge in teacher education. We address this challenge by exploring the concept of "student teacher interest" based on teacher research and teacher education curriculum. The goals of this study were: (1) explore a multidimensional concept of student teacher interest, (2)…

E-learning system success factors identification is of major interest in higher education. Understanding the role of students' aspirations factor affecting the success of the e-learning system is a challenge for most educational institutions. The present study aims to analyze the effects of students' aspirations factors in ensuring the success of…

The purpose of this study was to investigate to what extent student-perceived parental involvement predicted academic motivation in vocational education and training (VET) students. The sample comprised 2108 young adults participating in a VET institute. Thirty-three items were developed to measure student-perceived parental involvement in VET, as…

This study used the portraiture method to explore the reading lives of four college students by examining their reading lives in three eras: the present, the past, and the future. Using long-form, active interviews, this study asked participants to reflect on their daily reading habits, their experiences learning to read, and their aspirations for…