The CBeMo Questionnaire to assess motivation of young children

Abstract

Motivation is seen as the fuel that drives people to fulfil their goals, wants and needs. Little is known about how motivation works in young children, but it is widely accepted that motivation is an important factor in learning. To assess motivation in young children a questionnaire was developed for a Finnish study about the relation between motivation and emergent literacy. The questionnaire was used to investigate the relationship between quality of learning environment and motivation and pre-reading skills of children in nursery classes in the Netherlands. Quality of learning environment was assessed during a one-off observation by the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale (ECERS). Statistical test results demonstrated a relationship between the quality of the educational environment and two factors of motivation, specifically social dependence and self-regulation. Moreover, statistical comparison of the Dutch and a Finnish sample on the Child Behaviour Motivation Questionnaire showed that the results of four out of five factors of motivation were alike. The findings are discussed with regard to the national and international relevance for early childhood education.