Czech primary pupils' special-interest preferences in the context of learning aspirations

Abstract

The formation of the learning aspirations of primary school pupils is influenced by parents, the school environment, and also the pupils' goals and vision in what they want to achieve in learning and special interest activities. What are primary school pupils' interest preferences and what factors influence the pupils' learning aspirations? Our aim was to ascertain pupils' special interest preferences in the context of their approach to learning. Our purpose is to ascertain the links between the popularity of subjects and special interest activities that pupils choose from similar or related fields. A 5-point scale questionnaire with 27 items validated by factor analysis with a load of 6 factors with a total reliability of 0.8 was distributed amongst primary school pupils (N = 332). Cluster analysis showed that the pupils are divided into two groups: active pupils, who declared different interest preferences, mostly sports (61.3%), and passive (M = 19.5%), who were not interested in informal learning, preferring mobile, tablet and computer games (M = 34.1%) or who did not respond at all. Our analysis of the data thus obtained confirmed that pupils have personal motivation for learning and it is important for them to achieve the best results at school. Not only pupils' own attitude, but also the support through special interest activities contributes to pupils' activation and efforts to achieve good results in school and in leisure activities. (C) 2019 Published by Future Academy www.FutureAcademy.org.UK