Learning Environments, Goal Orientations, and Interest in Music, Article Critique Example

This 2004 article by K. Majoribanks and M. Mboya is a study conducted in response to the South African Human Rights Commission’s call for research in the correlation between students’ social backgrounds and educational outcomes, in the hopes that it might aid in racial integration processes in schools. Obviously, students’ success at any given subject ranges wildly. Majoribanks and Mboya assert that while many studies have been conducted to establish relationships between academic success and family backgrounds, learning environments, and goal-orientations, there is no model which attempts to consider them all together. A neglected factor in particular is that of simple student interest in a subject (Majoribanks, Mboya, 155).

In order to motivate students in a class, teachers need to have knowledge of a student’s interest. More importantly, it has been established that student motivation is frequently a proactive, self-generated incentive (Brophy, 2010, p. 14). The authors look at how the intervening variables of learning environments and goal orientations are influenced by family background and how, in turn, these variable combinations effect student interest in a subject. The goal of this study was to construct a useful model, based on the combination of past separate models that could be applied in a broad educational context to help improve student learning.

Their literature review includes a variety of past studies on the separate areas of family backgrounds, learning environments, and interest. The first is the bioecological model of Bronfenbrenner and Ceci (1994) and Ceci, Rosenblum, de Bruyn, and Lee (1997). This model simply states the importance of understanding goal orientations, with an emphasis on the student as an active participant in the process (Bronfenbrenner, 1977, p. 527). The authors choose to use this model in their study to suggest that ‘measures of learning environments and goal orientations account for the relations between family background and students’ interest in music’ (156). The next part of their literature review related to the definition of ‘family background.’ In general, this refers to a family’s social position or socioeconomic status. The authors, however, wanted a more nuanced definition for their study and settled on a combination of the models of Cohen, Darling, and Steinberg, which suggest family background be defined by human and social capital as well as parents’ aspirations for their children. They also referenced a study by the author, Majoribanks, which reveals parents’ aspirations differing greatly by economic status. For example, low-income families generally have higher aspirations and middle-class families have more modest aspirations. The literature review of this article was concise, and effectively supported the authors’ decisions in forming their study. The result of the authors’ research was to create their own model, dubbed the ‘moderation-mediation model.’ The model suggests that family background operates indirectly through students’ learning environments and goal orientations to influence their interest in music, indicating that the intervening variables mediate, or account for, the effect of family background on interest in music (157). The foundation is broader, as research consistently points to family environment as directly influencing student interest levels, and consequently achievement (Fuchs, Woessmann, 2004, p. 460). Marjoribanks and Mboya also include, prompted by a study, the variable of gender in their model.

In their cross-sectional South African study, the authors sample from a group of secondary students. All were black South Africans from low and lower-middle-class areas. Their method of survey is through student questionnaire on different subject areas. These are family background, learning environments, goal orientations, and personal interests. Each area has phrases which the students ranked from 1-5 in terms of accuracy. For family background, they answer questions about their perceived family social status, their parents’ aspirations for them, and their parents’ educational background. For learning environment. they rank their family based on qualities such as warmth and support. Goal orientations include statements on their personal motivations at schoolwork, academic competitiveness, and self-betterment. For the interest section, they rank statements specifically about interest in music.

For analysis, the authors split their results into four categories based on the students family income over their parents’ aspirations. They then analyze their results in several stages. In the first two stages, is it seen that children from lower income families are less interested in music, and that women are more interested than men. Secondly, students’ perceptions of their school environments and goal-orientation are closely correlated with an interest in music. Another fruitful discovery is the relationship between school learning environments and interest in music, which remained strongly positive despite differences in family background and goal orientation. All in all, the conclusions match the authors’ hypotheses, and they find the moderation-mediation model to be a successful method for analyzing students’ interest in music. Majoribanks and Mboya also offer commentaries of their own, expressing that a longitudinal study, which could evaluate the changes in opinion over time, would be more helpful. They also point out the need to expand the sample group, if this model is to be applied on a broader scale. This would include longitudinal studies in the West and amongst a variety of races and classes.

In terms of readability, the article is extremely dense, with few examples to illustrate points. The complicated relationships between family background, the external variables, and interest and outcomes are hard to decipher from the descriptions. Another weakness of the data of this study is the reliance on self-reporting from the students. If given more time and resources, the authors stress that they would conduct parent interviews in order to more accurately assess family background and parent aspirations for their children. Additionally, it might be beneficial to hold teacher interviews to ascertain the educational environment. It is also possible that the background of the teacher, and his or her common connection to the student, plays a role in student interest/success in a subject. In this study the teachers were black South Africans like the students, but the outcomes may have varied if the teacher had been a white South African. Majoribanks and Mboya have tackled an enormous task with this study as it is undeniable that this is a subject that is extremely changeable and the result of almost too many variables to calculate.

In conclusion, this is a good first step in the development of a useful model for assessing difference in student outcomes. Majoribanks and Mboya draw on a wide base of past studies to formulate their moderation-mediation model, including a careful consideration of the definition of family background and incorporation of the bioecological model. Their intention was to develop a model that could be extended widely, not only to other educational areas, but also to greater social contexts; music is simply the jumping-off point, to prove the necessity of understanding the interrelationships between outcome, family background, goal orientation, and a host of other contributing factors.

References

Bronfenbrenner, U. (1977). “Toward an Experimental Ecology of Human Development,” American Psychologist, 32(7), pp. 513-531.

Brophy, J. E. (2010). Motivating Students to Learn. New York: Taylor & Francis.

Fuchs, T., & Woessmann, L. “What Accounts for International Differences in Student Performance? A Re-examination Using PISA Data,” Empirical Economics, 32(2-3), pp. 433-464.

Majoribanks, K. and Mboya, M. (2004). “Learning Environments, Goal Orientations, and Interest in Music”, MENC, 52(2), pp.155-166.