Parental expectations and future time perspective in relation to school : investment and intention to quit current study among VET Ssudents

Master thesis Educational Sciences

Max Kusters

11405635

Parental Expectations and Future Time Perspective in Relation to School

Investment and Intention to Quit Current Study among VET Students

February 28

_{, 2019}

Words: 7115

Under the supervision of Prof. dr. Thea Peetsma & dr. Joost Jansen in de Wal

Masterscriptie Onderwijswetenschappen Universiteit van Amsterdam

M.C.J. Kusters 11405635

Begeleiders: Prof. dr. T.T. Peetsma & dr. J. Jansen in de Wal Tweede beoordelaar: dr. J.A. Schuitema Amsterdam (februari, 2019)

Contents

1. Introduction

1.1 School investment

1.2 Intention to quit the current study 1.3 Future Time Perspective

1.4 Perceived Parental Expectations 2. Method

2.1 Participants

2.2 Procedure and research design 2.3 Instruments

2.3.1 Motivated learning behaviour: School investment & Intention to quit current study

2.3.2 Future Time Perspective

2.3.3 Perceived Parental Expectations 2.4 Analyses

3. Results

3.1 FTP as a mediator between perceived parental expectations and school investment

3.2 School investment as a mediator between FTP and the intention to quit the current study

4. Discussion

4.1 FTP as a mediator between perceived parental expectations and school investment

4.2 School investment as a mediator between FTP and the intention to quit the current study

4.3 Limitations and future research 4.4 General conclusion References 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 8 8 9 9 10 12 12 14 15 16 17 18 19 19

Parental Expectations and Future Time Perspective in Relation to School Investment and Intention to Quit Current Study among VET Students

Abstract

Because of poor motivation among Dutch students, this thesis examines how the motivators perceived parental expectations and future time perspective (FTP), are related to motivated learning behaviour. The sample consisted of 336 Dutch final year VET students, with an approximately equal number of males and females. The aim of this study is to investigate how the motivators of perceived parental expectations and FTP are related to school investment and, additionally, whether FTP and school investment are negative predictors of quitting the current study. FTP proves to be a mediator of the relationship between perceived parental expectations and school investment. A partial mediation effect on school investment results from the relationship between FTP and the intention to quit the current study. These findings highlight the potential role of parents in students’ school investment; developing student’s FTP seems to be a better strategy then expressing their expectations.

1. Introduction

Pupils in the Netherlands have lower levels of motivation for learning at school than students in other comparable OECD countries (OECD, 2016). The decrease in motivation is noticeable in secondary education (Van der Veen & Peetsma, 2009), and even in the second half of primary school (Hornstra, 2013). It is also an acknowledged problem at the senior secondary vocational education and training (VET) (Dutch Inspectorate of Education, 2017). Motivation decreases immediately after starting at VET (Vugteveen, Timmermans, Korpershoek, Van Rooijen, & Opdenakker, 2016).

A lack of motivation is undesirable because of negative consequences like an increased chance of low achieving (Wigfield & Cambria, 2010). In addition, truancy can result from low motivation (Van der Veen, Peetsma, Triesscheijn, & Karssen, 2013). Truancy is a predictor of dropping out of school (Elffers, 2011; Van der Woude, Van der Stouwe, & Stams, 2017). Conversely, motivated students feel the urge to put effort into school-related work, such as doing their homework and attending classes, and want to continue with what they are motivated to do: learn (Roede, 1989). Furthermore, unmotivated students are more likely to choose their study program poorly during the transition from preparatory secondary vocational education to VET. These wrong choices are the result of students not knowing

what they want in terms of their future schooling or professional career (Vugteveen et al., 2016).

Because of negative consequences like low achieving, truancy and dropping out, it is important to investigate which factors influence motivation for the purpose of increasing students’ motivation to learn. A predominant explanation for the motivation problem among students is a lack of connection between the curriculum of the school and the students’ personal needs and interests; students do not see the link between what they are taught and their future career (Crumpton & Gregory, 2011; Meijers, Kuijpers, & Gundy, 2013; Schuit, De Vrieze, & Sleegers, 2011). The theory of future time perspective (FTP) can be useful to clarify the link between the curriculum and personal interests. FTP suggests that students with positive future time perspectives on their school and professional career put more effort into schoolwork than students with negative future time perspectives (Peetsma, 2000). A future time perspective can be in the near future (e.g., the student wants to get a high grade in a subject they are studying that schoolyear) or in the distant future (e.g., the student can be highly motivated for biology, because biology is supposed to be very useful for his or her intended career as a doctor) (Peetsma, 2000). Thus, positive future time perspectives on school and professional career have a positive effect on school motivation (Peetsma, 2000). Although FTP has been shown to be a reliable motivator in a large number of studies (Andre, Van Vianen, Peetsma, & Oort, 2018), it remains unclear which factors influence these future perspectives. To prevent a decrease in students’ motivation and improve motivated learning behaviour, it is therefore necessary to conduct further research into factors that may affect FTP.

FTP may be influenced by the role of parental expectations concerning students’ school or professional career. Boonk, Geijselaers, Ritzen, and Brand-Gruwel (2018) found that parents’ expectations of their child are a predictor of school achievement, even when the expectations concern the distant future. Additionally, Andre, Van Vianen, and Peetsma (2017) found that adolescents whose parents stimulate them to take on challenges are more focussed on advancement and accomplishment. Both findings imply that parental expectations

influence students’ learning behaviour and future time perspectives. However, research concerning this relationship is scarce, especially among VET students. Accordingly, the aim of the present study is to examine how motivators (i.e., parental expectations and FTP) can explain motivated learning behaviour in VET college difficulty level 4.

1.1 School investment

Motivation is the collective name for a number of factors that lead an individual to behave in a certain way with a certain intensity and perseverance (Roede, 1989). The

literature distinguishes between motivators and indicators of motivated behaviour (Peetsma & Van der Veen, 2008; Roede, 1989). Roede (1989) describes a model for the explanation of motivated behaviour in which direction, intensity, perseverance and continuity of behaviour are regarded as the four indicators of motivated behaviour. Following Roede (1989), this study conceptualises motivated behaviour as comprising school investment (the willingness to put effort in school related activities).

A critical aspect of students’ motivated behaviour is investment, which can vary in terms of the four indicators, i.e., direction/onset (a student concentrates on a specific situation), intensity (how hard a student works on an activity), perseverance (the extent to which a student sticks to a task until it is sufficiently finished) and continuity of behaviour (to maintain an activity) (Hornstra, Van der Veen, Peetsma, & Volman, 2015; Roede, 1989). In line with this reasoning, a student who spends several hours a day on math homework shows motivated behaviour. Following Maehr and Braskamp (1986), ‘investment’ is a concept referring to the active role of students to ‘invest in yourself’.

In order to conceptualise school investment, Roede (1989) conducted an exploratory research into students’ ideas of school investment. The results of his study indicate that students unmistakably link school investment to a particular school subject, instead of school investment in general. To distinguish between investment in a certain subject and school investment in general, Roede (1989) conceptualised school investment according to three kinds of behaviour, i.e., working in a certain subject, doing one’s homework and going to school. Both going to school and doing one’s homework are relevant for this present study, because these two scales measure school investment in general and do not refer to a particular subject.

Investment and continuity are indicators of motivated behaviour (Roede, 1989). Conversely, intending to quit learning activities (i.e., the intention to quit the activity ‘studying’) is seen as unmotivated behaviour in this study.

1.2 Intention to quit the current study

Motivation is a process that encourages a person to adopt a certain behaviour, gives direction to that behaviour and ensures that the behaviour is maintained. Motivation refers to the will of students to learn, influenced by external (e.g., rewards) and internal (e.g., wishes) factors (Roede, 1989). The motivational process consists of different variables that are centred around the meaning (e.g., perceived goals) students attach to their personal learning situation (Roede, 1989). Therefore, the external and internal factors should be in line with the students’ meaning when (s)he shows motivated behaviour in terms of the four indicators (i.e., direction, intensity, perseverance and continuity). For example, a student who consistently does enough

homework (perseverance) and puts effort into attending classes (intensity) for mathematics (direction) because (s)he wants good grades in order to start a study of mathematics at the university (continuity) is defined as a motivated student for mathematics.

To conclude, it is most likely that when a student is motivated to learn, (s)he wants to make an effort to continue with the learning behaviour. Quitting an activity suggests a lack of motivation according to the terms of motivated learning behaviour. In the present study, students’ intention to quit their current study is conceptualised as a negative indicator of motivation. In other words, the intention to quit is an indicator of unmotivated learning behaviour. As mentioned, motivation not only involves indicators of (un)motivated

behaviour; it also consists of motivators. The next section describes the two motivators FTP and parental expectations.

1.3 Future Time Perspective

FTP is a mental representation of the future that delineates the value that an individual attaches to activities in the present in relation to the future and the value of the future

perspectives themselves (Schuitema, Peetsma, & Van der Veen, 2014). The value feature is essential for FTP as a motivator; it indicates the importance that someone assigns to a specific event in the future (Peetsma, 2000; Peetsma & Van der Veen, 2008). The relationship

between FTP and school investment has been investigated; FTP proved to be a good predictor of school investment (Andre et al., 2018; Peetsma, 2000; Peetsma & Van der Veen, 2008). Research shows that, compared to negative future time perspectives, positive future time perspectives on school and a professional career contribute to working harder at school. For example, “I do not see the importance of this school subject for my future” cannot be classified as a motivator as it does not assign positive value to the school subject (Peetsma, 2000). Peetsma (2000) describes three components within FTP that embody value: cognitive, affective and behavioural, which are defined below.

The cognitive component relates to thoughts about the future and knowledge of social reality; it influences current actions and behaviours (Peetsma, 2000). For example, making plans and setting goals for the near or distant future are cognitive motivators. The affective component corresponds to positive or negative emotions – such as hope and fear – related to the future (Peetsma, 2000). Positive feelings about a future goal encourage motivated

behaviour more than negative feelings. The behavioural component relates to the intention of an individual to participate in behaviour that will help to realise the future goal (Peetsma, 2000). That is, the willingness to put effort into achieving a goal serves as a motivator. This differs from the continuity of behaviour dimension defined by Roede (1989), in which behaviour is a motivational outcome (motivated behaviour). In FTP, positive thoughts about

an activity serve as a motivator. For example, when a student has the goal (cognitive component) of applying for a nature and health subject cluster during a biology course, the student puts effort into learning about biology (behavioural component). Both components (cognitive and behavioural) will be more successful if this student has positive feelings instead of negative feelings about learning about biology (affective component) (Peetsma, 2000).

As has been mentioned, the value that individuals attach to activities is an important characteristic of FTP. Additionally, the theory distinguishes between short- and long-term future time perspectives. Therefore, a second characteristic of FTP is ‘extension’. Extension is defined as the timeframe within which the event will occur in the future; it involves both short- and long-term goals. For the present target group – VET students – both ‘this school year’ (short-term) and ‘the time after finishing school’ (long-term) are relevant future time perspectives (Peetsma & Van der Veen, 2008). Both future time perspectives correlate positively with school investment (Peetsma, 2000).

It is expected that students with positive FTP are more likely to intend to start a follow-up study because there is a positive correlation between school investment and future goals concerning their schooling and professional career (Peetsma, 2000). FTP is also expected to be linked to parental expectations.

1.4 Perceived Parental Expectations

Parental expectations are a sub-concept of parental involvement (Boonk et al., 2018). The concept of parental involvement is conceptualised in multiple ways by different

researchers (Boonk et al., 2018). Boonk et al. (2018) distinguish between school-based involvement (e.g., volunteering at school, visiting the classroom) and home-based

involvement (e.g., helping with homework, reading with children). Parental expectations are considered home-based involvement (Boonk et al., 2018).

Parental expectations can be described as the degree to which parents expect that their child will perform well at school in the near and/or distant future (Boonk et al., 2018). It relates to the opinion that parents have of how education might help their children to achieve something in their school and professional career (Van der Veen, 2003). Expectations can exist on different levels and in a variety of contexts; the present study focusses on parental expectations in regard to school and professional career as experienced by the student.

As has been mentioned, parental expectations can influence student behaviour. For example, the extent to which parents have a promotion regulatory focus (i.e., focus on improvement and ability) is strongly related to children’s positive future time perspectives (Andre et al., 2019). Boonk et al. (2018) found in their review study that research mainly

reports a positive relationship between parental expectations and academic achievement (e.g., Gubbins & Otero, 2016). Additionally, parents who have realistic expectations of their child’s future are influential in their children’s future academic and occupational choices

(Harackiewicz, Rozek, Hulleman, & Hyde, 2012; Jodl, Michael, Malanchuk, Eccles, & Sameroff, 2001). Harackiewicz et al. (2012) found that children tend to choose particular subjects when their parents talk positively about that subject with their child. Jodl et al. (2012) found that educational expectations from the mother towards her child influence adolescents’ occupational expectations. Furthermore, there is evidence that parental expectations affect adolescents’ school investment (Van der Veen, 2003). This study hypothesises that i) a positive relationship exists between parental expectations and students’ future time perspectives because of parents influence on school and occupational choices, and ii) a positive relationship exists between parental expectations and school investment because of the positive effect on academic achievement.

In summary, we expect that both perceived parental expectations and FTP can influence students’ school investment. Continuing with education is motivated behaviour whereas quitting is unmotivated behaviour (based on the continuity of behaviour component). To understand the how and why of the discussed relationships (perceived parental

expectations and school investment, and FTP and the intention to quit the current study), the relationship between perceived parental expectations and school investment is first tested with FTP as the mediator. Secondly, the relationship between FTP and the intention to quit the current study is tested with school investment as the mediating variable. However, the questions remain: why are perceived parental expectations related to school investment, and why is FTP related to the intention to quit the current study? This may be explained by FTP and school investment respectively. The following two research questions have been

formulated to investigate whether or not the relationship of the mediating variable to the other variables can be explained:

Question 1: Is the relationship between perceived parental expectations and school investment among VET students mediated by FTP?

Question 2: Is the relationship between FTP and the intention to quit the current study among VET students mediated by school investment?

2. Method 2.1 Participants

This study focusses on 336 students in their final year of VET difficulty level 4 (management training). VET students from four provinces in the Netherlands were recruited to participate in the study. Education managers in various vocations (e.g., sports, construction techniques,

chemistry, media, retail) received an email concerning the research study. If interested in participating, they selected the classes that matched the target group and the group of which they were interested in the results. Every participant was above the age of 16 (M= 19.79, SD = 1.61).

Of the participants, 190 (56,5%) were men and 146 (43,5%) women. The students came from four colleges, seven locations, and 20 different studies. Students’ SES was

assessed by their parents’ education level; migrant background was assessed by the country of birth of the student and their parents. Most of the mothers (90%) and fathers (90%) were born in the Netherlands. Fifteen percent of the mothers and 16% of the fathers finished primary school only, while the highest education was secondary school for 3% and 4% of mothers and fathers respectively. Forty-one percent of the mothers and 29% of the fathers attended VET College. Twenty-eight percent of the mothers attended higher-level education than VET, compared to 35% of the fathers. No relevant information on educational level was provided for 17% of the mothers and 19% of the fathers.

2.2 Procedure and research design

The questionnaires were completed during regular teaching classes in the presence of the researcher to clarify any ambiguities if necessary. The participants were informed that the questionnaires were filled in anonymously and that they were allowed to stop or refrain from participation at all times. Each participant signed an informed consent form for participation in this study, which has a cross-sectional, correlational design in order to investigate the relationships between the variables.

2.3 Instruments

The hard copy of the self-report questionnaire on school investment, intention to quit the current study, future time perspective on school and a potential professional career, and perceived parental expectations was administered in November 2018. The questionnaire consisted of 33 pre-coded items and nine questions about their background in Dutch, with a Likert-type response scale. It took the students 10-20 minutes to fill in the questionnaire. Although existing instruments were used for the present study, a reliability analysis was performed for each scale. Table 1 illustrates Cronbach’s alpha’s and example items of each scale. The intention to quit the current study was measured with one item. Of all scales, one item was removed from the perceived parental expectations scale.

2.3.1 Motivated learning behaviour: School investment & Intention to quit current study The original school investment scale (Roede, 1989) has 14 items and measures: (i) the effort students put into working at school in general (school investment in general), and (ii) the effort students put into doing homework in general (14 items). The present study used

seven items of the first scale, and six of the second. Shortening the questionnaires still resulted in an equal mix of questions concerning intensity, direction and perseverance of personal investment in school and had an acceptable-to-good level of reliability.

In order to investigate motivated learning behaviour in the continuity of behaviour dimension (Maehr & Braskamp, 1986; Roede, 1989), the questionnaire included one negative stated item: “I intend to quit my current study”, 1 (never) to 5 (always).

2.3.2 Future Time Perspective

Future time perspectives on school and professional careers were divided into short- and long-term perspectives, with the answer options running from 1 (never) to 5 (always) on both validated questionnaires. The short-term perspective consisted of six items, three of which were formulated negatively (Peetsma, 1992).

The long-term perspective consisted of seven items (Peetsma, 1992). In total, three negative items were recoded so that the higher the total score on the scale, the higher the degree of positive future time perspectives on school and a professional career. The reliability of the scales was classified as good.

2.3.3 Perceived Parental Expectations

Students’ perceptions of parental expectations were measured by Ledoux’s mobility orientation scale (Van der Veen, 2003), i.e., the extent to which students feel that their parents expect them to achieve something at school or in a job. The original questionnaire used in Van der Veen (2003) consisted of seven items with Cronbach’s alpha 0.81. The items had to be scored on a four-point Likert scale, varying from 1 (not at all) to 4 (completely true). An example item is: “My parents think I will achieve a lot” (Van der Veen, 2003).

Four items from the questionnaire were used for this study, the same as in Van der Veen (2001) in which the Cronbach’s alpha was 0.77. In the case of this study, the

Cronbach’s alpha was 0.46, which is unacceptably low. By deleting the fourth item, the Cronbach’s alpha became poor (a= 0.52).

Table 1

Summary of Internal Consistency, Number of Items, and Example Item for Scores on School Investment, Intention to Quit the Current Study, FTP and Perceived Parental Expectations

Cronbach’s alpha (number of items)

Example item School investment

School in general Doing one’s homework

(Roede, 1989)

a= 0.82 (13) a=0.74 (7) a=0.72 (6)

I arrive at school on time

I can keep my attention on my homework

Intention to quit the current study - (1) I intend to quit my current study

Future Time Perspective

Short-term FTP

a=0.86 (13)

a=0.87 (6) I think what I learn at school is very important now

Long-term FTP

(Peetsma, 1992)

a=0.74 (7) I expect to use knowledge from some school subjects in my professional career

Perceived parental expectations (Van der Veen, 2003)

a=0.52 (3) My parents think I will achieve a lot

Note. Final year VET difficulty level 4 students (n = 336). 2.4 Analyses

Before the analyses were carried out, the data was checked for errors, outliers and missing values. One outlier was found by computing z-scores; however, this outlier did not indicate an inaccurate presentation of the results. In accordance with the recommendation of Field (2009), the analyses were conducted with and without the outlier to prevent any distortion of the final results. This proved that the outlier did not affect the results in such a way that it had to be removed.

Inspection of the normal distributions of the responses showed a normal distribution on the four scales of parental expectations, school investment and short-term FTP and long-term FTP. To answer the first research question of whether or not the effect of perceived parental expectations on school investment is mediated by FTP, the analyses focussed on testing the model presented in Figure 1 with Linear Regression in SPSS. Although 336 students participated, several of these participants were missing some data. All analyses were computed on the mean of all 336 participants. To investigate the first research question, mediation analysis was used (Hayes, 2009). All relationships were corrected for age (the age at the time of completion), and a dummy variable was coded for gender: 0 (man), 1 (woman).

It was found that intention to quit the current study was not normally distributed. It appeared that most participants answered 1 (never) or 5 (always) on this question. For that reason, the intention to quit the current study was recoded into a dichotomous outcome

variable with 0 (no) or 1 (yes). Consequently, logistic regression analysis was used instead of the intended linear regression to investigate the second research question on the effect of FTP on the intention to quit the current study is mediated by school investment. See figure 2.

Figure 1. Generic mediation model being tested for FTP as mediator between perceived parental expectations

and school investment (on the basis of Hayes, 2009).

Figure 2. Generic mediation model being tested for school investment as mediator between FTP and intention

to quit current study (on the basis of Hayes, 2009).

In order to test the mediation model, a Sobel test was conducted in addition to the aforementioned regression analysis. The Sobel test measures whether or not the mediation effect is significant (Sobel, 1982). The purpose of mediation analysis is to investigate if a

given relationship (i.e., the effect of an independent variable on a dependent variable) is an indirect effect through a third variable (the mediator). In this case, when the mediator is included in a regression analysis, the effect of the independent variable disappears or is reduced, while the effect of the mediator stays significant. The Sobel test (genuinely, a specialised t-test) was used because of its special ability to measure the mediation effect. It measures whether or not the reduced effect is statistically significant when the mediator is included (Hayes, 2009). The Sobel test was conducted in SPSS via Process V2.16.3, Model B (Hayes, 2009).

3. Results

Pearson’s correlation coefficient r was used as an indication of the strength and direction of the relationships. Correlations between .10 and .30 are considered to be small effects, between .30 and .50 are medium, and above .50 is large (Field, 2009). Every hypothesised simple linear relation was statistically significant, as shown in Table 2. The relationship between perceived parental expectations and school investment was small, whereas the relationship between these perceived parental expectations and FTP (short- and long-term) was medium. Short-term FTP had a large effect on school investment, and long-term FTP had a medium effect on school investment.

Table 2

Summary of Pearson’s Correlation, Means, and Standard Deviations for Scores on the Perceived Parental Expectations, Short-term FTP, Long-term FTP, School Investment, Age and Gender

Variables M SD 1 2 3 4 5 6 1. Parental Expectations 3.31 0.51 - 2. Short-term FTP 3.64 0.84 .39*** - 3. Long-term FTP 4.01 0.63 .45*** .57*** - 4. School investment 3.39 0.59 .27*** .59*** .47*** - 5. Age .01 .02 -.00 -.04 - 6. Gender .04 .02 .02 .12* -.19 -

Note. Intercorrelations for final year VET difficulty level 4 students (n = 336). Gender= man (0) and female (1).

*** p < .001. * p < .05.

3.1 FTP as a mediator between perceived parental expectations and school investment To answer the first research question, a mediation analysis was conducted on the averages of the four scales (perceived parental expectations, school investment, short-term FTP and long-term FTP). Perceived parental expectations predicted short-term FTP (b = .65, p < .001) (see Table 3), as well as long-term FTP (b = .55, p < .001) (see Table 4). The results displayed the effect of perceived parental expectations on school investment (b = .30, p < .001). This result indicates that higher parental expectations means higher school investment.

Analysing perceived parental expectations and short-term FTP in a multiple linear regression illustrated that the effect of perceived parental expectations on school investment was not significant (b = .05, p = .47). To test the mediation model, Sobel’s test was conducted and showed significance (z = .26, p < .001). These results imply a full mediation effect of short- term FTP in the relationship between perceived parental expectations and school investment. A similar test was performed on perceived parental expectations and school investment by adding long-term FTP, but no significant relationship emerged (b = .10, p = .16). Sobel’s test was conducted again to test the second mediation model. This model was also significant (z = .22, p < .001). Altogether, these results suggest that the relationship between parental

expectations and school investment is fully mediated by FTP (short-term and long-term).

Table 3

Effects of Age, Gender, Perceived Parental Expectations, and Short-term FTP on School Investment

PPE à PPE à SI FTPs à PPE à FTPs à FTPs SI SI B t B t B t B t Age .01 .51 -.01 -.28 -.01 -.68 -.01 -.67 Gender .07 .80 .14* 2.25 .11** 2.11 .12** 2.16 PPE .64*** 7.57 .31*** 5.05 .05 .97 FTPs .42*** 13.26 .40*** 11.84 F 19.26 .15 .14 10.08 10.08 45.88 R2 _{.09 .09 .36} Adjusted R2 _{.08 .08 .36}

Note. Gender= man (0), female (1); PPE= Perceived Parental Expectations; FTPs = Short- term FTP; SI =

School Investment. *** p < .001. ** p < .01. * p < .05. Table 4

Effects of Age, Gender, Perceived Parental Expectations, and Long-term FTP on School Investment

PPE à PPE à SI FTPl à PPE à FTPl à FTPl SI SI B t B t B t B t Age .00 .03 -.01 -.28 .01 .43 .01 .45 Gender .02 .32 .14* 2.25 .15** 2.32 .15** 2.38 PPE .56*** 8.61 .31*** 5.05 .10 1.51 FTPl .44*** 9.00 .40*** 7.36 F 24.72 .21 .20 10.08 28.74 22.22 R2 _{.09 .23 .24} Adjusted R2 _{.08 .22 .23}

Note. Gender= man (0), female (1); PPE= Perceived Parental Expectations; FTPl = Long- term FTP; SI = School

3.2 School investment as a mediator between FTP and the intention to quit the current study Intention to quit the current study (M = .21, SD = .41) had a small negative correlation with school investment and a medium negative correlation with both short- and long-term FTP. Age and gender did not have an effect on the intention to quit the current study. The results of these correlations need to be interpreted as mean differences indicating the strength and direction of the relationships. Because of the dichotomous outcome variable, there is no linear cohesion. Logistic regression analysis was conducted to test the hypothesised mediation effects. The Wald test was used to find out if the explanatory variables in the mediation model were significant (Field, 2009). The results of the relations concerning short-term FTP, and the results concerning long-term FTP are shown in Table 5 and Table 6 respectively. The results are also described below.

The relationship between short-term FTP and school investment was significant. Short-term FTP had a significant negative relationship with the intention to quit the current study (b = -.18, p < .001), as well as school investment with intention to quit the current study (b = -2.00, p < .001). By analysing the mediation effect, the short-term FTP became stronger (b = .89, p < .001) while the effect of school investment was reduced but still significant (b = .61, p < .05) (see Table 5). These results imply a partial mediation effect of school investment in the relationship between short-term FTP and the intention to quit the current study.

However, the results of performing Sobel’s test were not significant (z = -1.96, p = .05). Thus, the reduction of the effect of school investment on the intention to the quit current study was not significant.

Table 5

Effects of Age, Gender, Short-term FTP, and School Investment on Intention to Quit the Current Study

FTPs à SI FTPs à IQCS SI à IQCS FTPs à SI à ICQS

B T B T B t B Wald Age -.01 -.68 -.01 -.34 -.01 -.58 -.03 .06 Gender .11* 2.11 .01 .24 .03 .63 .15 .23 FTPs .42*** 13.26 -.18*** -6.93 -.89*** 17.46 SI -2.00*** 5.35 -.61* 3.94 F 60.87 16.11 9.62 R2 _{.36 .13 .08} Adj R2 _{.36 .12 .07}

Note. Gender= man (0), female (1); FTPs = Short-term FTP; SI= School Investment; IQCS= Intention to Quit

Current Study. *** p < .001. * p < .05.

The relationship between long-term FTP and school investment was significant. Long-term FTP had a significant negative relationship with the intention to quit the current study (b

= .25, p < .001). By analysing the mediation effect, the longterm FTP became stronger (b = 1.28, p < .001) while the effect of school investment was still significant but reduced (b = -.79, p < .01) (see Table 6). Sobel’s test was significant (z = -2.59, p < .01). These results indicate a partial mediation effect of school investment in the relationship between long-term FTP and the intention to quit the current study.

Table 6

Effects of Age, Gender, Long-term FTP, and School Investment on Intention to Quit the Current Study

FTPl à SI FTPl à IQCS SI à IQCS FTPl à SI à ICQS

B T B T B t B Wald Age .01 .43 -.01 .52 -.01 -.58 -.03 .08 Gender .15* 2.32 .01 .11 .03 .63 .20 .39 FTPl .44*** 9.00 -.25*** -6.99 -1.28*** 21.67 SI -2.00*** 5.35 -.79** 7.43 F 28.74 16.39 9.62 R2 _{.23 .15 .08} Adj R2 _{.22 .14 .07}

Note. Gender= man (0), female (1); FTPl = Long-term FTP; SI= School Investment; IQCS= Intention to Quit

Current Study. *** p < .001. ** p < .01. * p < .05.

4. Discussion

Dutch students are less motivated for learning at school then in comparable countries.

Motivational problems can result in low-achieving at school (Wigfield & Cambria, 2010), and a higher chance of dropping-out (Elffers, 2011). In order to prevent motivational decrease, this study aimed to investigate relations between two motivators (i.e., perceived parental expectations and FTP), and motivated learning behaviour. The literature has shown a reliable effect of parental expectations on school achievement (Boonk et al, 2018). However, research into how these two constructs are related was scarce, and therefore the present study intended to fill in this knowledge gap. The literature also showed a relationship between parental expectations and career choices, and between FTP and school investment (Peetsma, 2000).

In the present study, we investigated these relationships to gain a deeper understanding of how the motivators perceived parental expectations and FTP are related to (un)motivated learning behaviour (i.e., school investment and intention to quit the current study). The more we know in which ways it is possible to promote students’ motivation, the more parents and teachers can be helpful in preventing undesirable consequences like low-achieving, truancy and dropout. This study contributes to extant literature by showing how parental expectations and FTP are related to school investment and the intention to quit the current study. The first research question was formulated: is the relationship between perceived parental expectations

and school investment is mediated by FTP? This study investigated also how FTP and student’s intention to quit their current study are related. Based on findings in previous studies, school investment was included as a possible mediating variable, in order to test the aforementioned relation between FPT and the intention to quit the current study. Certain parts of the results have theoretical and practical implications, which will be discussed below. 4.1 FTP as a mediator between perceived parental expectations and school investment

We found that, in line with the hypotheses, perceived parental expectations are significantly related to school investment, and to short-term FTP and long-term FTP

concerning school and professional career. The found results indicate that FTP mediates the relationship between perceived parental expectations and school investment. This result is interesting because of the effect of parental expectations on school achievement (Boonk et al., 2018). The majority of previous studies examined the correspondence between different kinds of parental expectations and school achievement, finding that parents influence students’ academic and occupational choices (Harackiewicz et al., 2012; Jodl et al., 2001). Very few studies considered how students’ perceptions of their parents’ expectations are resulting in higher school investment (Boonk et al., 2018). Our findings suggest that students’ FTP explain how parental expectations and school investment are related. Our results imply that parents also influence students’ FTP, which serve as motivator of school investment. These findings extend the literature on the role of parental expectations as motivator of school investment.

Although the conclusion for short-term FTP and long-term FTP is the same, we found that short-term FTP has a stronger effect than long-term FTP. This confirms the results of previous research in which short-term FTP was found to be a stronger predictor for motivated behaviour than long-term FTP (Peetsma, 2000). A possible explanation might be that short-term goals are clearer and easier to accomplish, whereas long-short-term goals are more abstract (Wakslak, Nussbaum, Liberman, & Trope, 2008).

These results can be useful for students, parents and teachers. For students this result means that being able to link the importance of school to their future can result in higher school achievement, and a basic qualification for the labour market (Crumpton & Gregory, 2011; Meijers et al., 2013; Schuit et al., 2011). Parents can stimulate this since it has been found that parents influence students’ choices (Harackiewicz et al., 2012), and in our study perceived parental expectations also influence student’s FTP. Because of FTP as mediator, parents should stimulate or develop their child’s FTP. This will be more helpful in improving school investment than expressing their own expectations as a parent. Activities that stimulate or activate student’s FTP are, for example, conversations about the student’s perspective

about his or her future. For teachers, an intervention could be developed in which teachers are taught how to improve student’s FTP on school and professional career. This intervention should focus on how students acquire insights into what students want and can expect in their future school and professional career. The Time Perspective Intervention of Motivational Enhancement (TIME) has shown a positive effect of this intervention where future goals were emphasized in relation to behaviour in the present. The aim of TIME was to link present learning behaviour to future goals (Peetsma, Van der Veen, & Schuitema, 2017). Our results suggest that not only teachers should be involved in the intervention, parents as well because of the effect of perceived parental expectations on FTP. The TIME could be extended by involving parental expectations.

4.2 School investment as a mediator between FTP and the intention to quit the current study A partial mediation effect was found for school investment on the negative relation between short- and long-term FTP and the intention to quit the current study. Our results suggest that both school investment and FTP (short- and long-term) predict quitting the current study negatively. In line with the hypotheses, positive FTP serves as motivator: positive FTP helps to prevent students from quitting their current study. This result is in accordance with the results of the intervention of Van der Veen et al. (2013) based on FTP to prevent dropout at VET. Additionally, school investment is a negative predictor of the intention to quit the current study. This result sounds reasonable, assuming that investment is behaviour that logically results in persevere to finish the activity (Roede, 1989).

When schools are able to gain insight in to what extent students invest in school and are having FTP, schools can see which students are at risk for quitting their study. When schools have a documentation like this, they can start an intervention to enhance motivation early. While this study focused on final year VET difficulty level 4 students, our results are in accordance with the results of the intervention of Van der Veen et al. (2013) to prevent drop-out of first year VET students to focus on future goals and enhancing motivation. Therefore, our results may be used in other levels and college years as well, although this has to be investigated. When there is insight in how students invest, have FTP and think about quitting, it provides guidance counsellors, teachers and parents the opportunity to accompany students from the transition to VET till the final year and maybe the transition to higher vocational education. To support the advice that Vugteveen et al. (2016) have published, where they argued that motivation needs to be included in the screening for school advice and transition from preparatory secondary vocational education to VET, our results can be used as one of the indicators for school advise. For example, questions about FTP and school investment of a student can give insight in the motivation of the student to finish the study.

For that reason, we suggest that teachers document the effort that students put into attending classes and doing their homework. When teachers or a guidance counsellor document school investment, they can gain insights into students’ negative or positive

learning behaviour. For example, if a student in his or her final year indicates that (s)he wants to quit studying, a guidance counsellor could stage an intervention to promote motivation (such as developing FTP to promote school investment). Teachers can use the documentation to notice which students do not show motivated behaviour. Teachers can ask those students if what they are teaching the student, is in line with the student’s FTP in order to fulfil the need to link education in the present, to the occupational aspirations (Meijers et al., 2013).

4.3 Limitations and future research

When interpreting this study, certain limitations have to be considered. Firstly, this study has a cross-sectional design, resulting in only theoretical interpretations instead of empirical ones concerning the direction and causality of the illustrated relationships between perceived parental expectations, FTP and school investment, and FTP, school investment and intention to quit current study. Future research should use a longitudinal design in which the constructs are measured over two or more timespans. This would be especially useful for the developments of the constructs over time. For example, instead of measuring the intention to quit the current study, it would be useful to measure whether or not students actually quitted their study. In addition, it would be relevant to see if and how these relations change over time from students start their final year of VET college to when they finish their study.

Secondly, this study shortened some of the scales for the purpose of not asking the participating VET colleges for too much of their time. The reliability of the perceived parental expectations scale turned out to be acceptable but low (a = .52), where a > .60 is expedient (Field, 2009). All results concerning this construct should be interpreted with extra caution, because of the poor reliability of this scale. The scale has shown good reliability in previous research (Van der Veen, 2001). The poor reliability in the present study might be due to a difference in target groups. Our target group of VET students might have interpreted the questions differently.

Thirdly, students were asked about their parents’ expectations as one unit (e.g., “My parents think I will achieve a lot”). It is possible that the students experience different expectations from each parent individually, which could have influenced the answer. Jodl et al. (2001), for example, found different outcomes for mothers’ expectations and that of the fathers. So, negative perceptions from one parent, can influence the total perception. Future research could explore the parents’ expectations separately in order to prevent this pitfall.

Finally, the questionnaires were administered during regular teaching classes, when all students of the class were in the same classroom. Therefore, it is possible that students gave dishonest answers because of reactions from their classmates. Because we examined full classes, there is the additional possibility of class effects: a class that is known as a bad class or a good class will answer accordingly. That is, students might answer more negatively or positively because of their placement in a particular class (Peetsma, 2000).

4.4 General conclusion

The purpose of this study was to investigate how the motivators perceived parental expectations and FTP are related to (un)motivated learning behaviour; school investment and intention to quit current study respectively. The present study has shown some promising results in order to promote student’s motivation for learning at school. Promoting students FTP seems to be a good strategy for students, parents and teachers, in order to increase learning motivation. FTP and school investment both showed a negative effect on the

intention to quit the current study. This result can be seen as indication for the importance of promoting school investment and FTP, because these two constructs prevent students for dropping out. Our results imply that when students have positive FTP on schooling and professional career and are investing in school (doing their homework and attending classes) they are intending to finish the current study.

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