PARENTAL MOTIVATION, ACHIEVEMENT GOALS AND LEARNING STRATEGIES AS PREDICTORS OF ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF PRIMARY SCHOOL PUPILS IN MIGORI COUNTY, KENYA

Abstract

Academic performance of children is a concern in most countries. In Kenya underperformance is associated with a number of factors for example understaffing. In Migori County the average mean score between 2017 and 2019 in Kenya Certificate of Primary Education is 245.54 (49.11%). The Purpose of this study therefore was to examine parental motivation, achievement goals and learning strategies as predictors of academic performance of primary school pupils in Migori County, Kenya. Specific objectives of the study were to: determine the extent to which parental motivation predicts academic performance, establish the extent to which achievement goals predict academic performance, find out the extent to which learning strategies predict academic performance and determine gender differences in academic performance among girls and boys. The study was anchored on achievement motivation theory, social learning theory and a conceptual framework showing the interaction among the constructs. Explanatory sequential mixed methods design was adopted. Population of the study comprised; 570 teachers, 30,600 standard eight pupils and their parents, and one director of education. Sample size was; 60 teachers, 380 standard eight pupils, 40 parents and one county director of education. Purposive sampling was used to select pupils, parents and the director of education. Stratified random sampling and simple random sampling techniques were used to select 190 boys and 190 girls; 30 male and 30 female teachers. Cluster sampling was used to classify sub-counties. Questionnaire, interview schedules, focus group discussion and document analysis guide were employed to collect data. A pilot study was conducted among 10 teachers, 40 pupils and one director of education. Split-half method was used to determine the reliability and its index was 0.83 for teachers’ questionnaire and 0.76 for pupils’ questionnaire. Content and construct validity were ascertained by the supervisors. Quantitative data was analyzed using Pearson's Product Moment Correlation Coefficient, regression and independent sample t-test. The data was also presented using descriptive statistics such as; frequency counts, percentages and means. Qualitative data was reported as themes and subthemes. The findings revealed that parental motivation is linearly related to academic performance (r=.724) and the relationship was found to be statistically significant at p-value = .000, < .05. The findings also showed a positive association between pupils mean score performance and achievement goals, with a correlation coefficient of .720**, p = .000. The findings further revealed that learning strategies such as seeking help and rehearsal were statistically significant to academic performance (r=.849, p-value = .005, < .05). During FDGs, parents confirmed that provisions and encouragement motivates learners. Finally the findings indicated that pupils’ performance based on gender, was not statistically significant. The study concluded that parental motivation, achievement goals and learning strategies improves academic performance. It was recommended that the parents should visit schools to check on pupils’ progress. Besides, they should attend school annual meetings. In addition, teachers should put more emphasis on mastery goals when handling learners in class. Not only should they help learners pass exams but also help them handle challenging tasks. Further, cooperative and modelling learning strategies should be adopted and used just like other learning strategies, such as rehearsal and setting targets to improve academic performance. Finally the Ministry of education and other stakeholders should discourage boy child from engaging in small-scale businesses such as fishing, hawking and motorbike riding as they undermine their academic performance. It is hoped that the findings of the study may improve the academic performance of primary school pupils.