Academic performance and talent school: Importance of motivation in education

Abstract

The education aimed at more skilled students with traits of giftedness still poses challenges. Factors related to the cognitive development and counseling programs have been the object of growing interest among researchers in this field, such as Guimarães (2007). One of the challenges for them is the relation between motivation, intelligence and high abilities/giftedness. To provide adequate counseling to such special students means to offer them equal opportunities for the development of all their potentiality. The teaching excellence proposed in special programs for the gifted should also be considered as a democratic educational practice since they intend to meet individual needs. Fifty-two high school students from Rio de Janeiro, scholarship holders of the Social Institut, took part in this research, which investigates intrinsic and extrinsic motivational aspects that indicate the strategies used by them to favor the maintenance of the motivational features. The means used was the Scholastic Motivation Scale for Junior High School Students (Escala de Motivação Escolar para Alunos do Ensino Fundamental), developed by Manzini & Martinelli (2006), whose motivational guidance is arranged in 31 questions, 15 on intrinsic motivation and 16 on extrinsic ones. The results point out the intrinsic motivation as the main motivational feature present in these students and show how committed they are to the tasks they have pledged to perform throughout the Social Institut Maria Telles program. The average of the intrinsic motivation obtained from the use of the variable was superior (18.2) in relation to the extrinsic one (13.8), also verifying such result. More than achieving the objectives and attaining the goals in the program, these students have pleasure in studying as their main characteristic. Knowing the motivational aspects of these students helps the choice of strategies, which not only extends the different aspects of motivation but also allows it to be sustained during the performance of the tasks, favoring the achievement of positive and satisfactory results, creating a pleasant and healthy atmosphere during the fulfillment academic performance of each student.

Keywords

• altas habilidades
• talento acadêmico
• motivação