High School is Over … Now What? Examining Students Plans for After High School
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.11575/ajer.v68i3.72602Abstract
A new group of Grade12 students graduates from high school each year. This is an important time for young adults because they must make decisions for what life after high school will look like. The purpose of this study was twofold: (a) to investigate what decisions students in Alberta are making for after high school, and (b) to examine how such decisions are linked to students’ motivation in the form of underlying causality orientations as articulated by self-determination theory (SDT). A total of 237 Grade 12 students responded to a survey with closed and open-ended questions about their plans for after high school. The results showed that all participants had some type of plan for after high school, with 79% planning to pursue post-secondary education. Their reasons could be categorized by causality orientation theory (COT) and revealed differences in reasons between students bound for post-secondary and those not. The paper concludes with suggestions for future research and avenues to aid students in their decision-making process during high school.
Keywords: High School; Motivation; Transitions; Students; Causality Orientation Theory
Chaque année, un nouveau groupe d'élèves de 12e année obtient son diplôme d'études secondaires. Il s'agit d'une période importante pour les jeunes adultes, car ils doivent prendre des décisions sur ce à quoi ressemblera leur vie après le secondaire. L'objectif de cette étude était double : (a) enquêter sur les décisions que les élèves de l'Alberta prennent relatives à leur vie après le secondaire, et (b) examiner le lien entre ces décisions et la motivation des élèves sous la forme d'orientations de causalité sous-jacentes telles qu'articulées par la théorie de l'autodétermination (TAD). Au total, 237 élèves de 12e année ont répondu à une enquête comportant des questions fermées et ouvertes portant sur leurs projets après leurs études secondaires. Les résultats ont montré que tous les participants avaient un certain type de plan après leurs études secondaires, 79 % d'entre eux prévoyant de poursuivre des études postsecondaires. Leurs raisons ont pu être catégorisées par la théorie de l'orientation de la causalité (COT) et ont révélé des différences de raisons entre les étudiants destinés à des études postsecondaires et ceux qui ne le sont pas. L'article se termine par des suggestions de recherches futures et des pistes pour aider les élèves dans leur processus de prise de décision au cours de leurs études secondaires.
Mots clés : école secondaire ; motivation ; transitions ; élèves; théorie de l'orientation de la causalité
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