Supporting Students’ Motivation: a Key Factor to Reduce Intentions to Drop Out of High School

In recent years, policymakers have increasingly acknowledged the issue of school dropouts as a critical issue. Among European policies, the goal is to reduce dropout rate below 9% by 2030 (Council Resolution 2021/C 66/01). However, in 2022, 11.5% of Italian students abandoned their studies without obtaining a diploma (ISTAT, 2023), indicating a substantial gap from the European target. The question of why some students choose to drop out has been examined from various perspectives. The complexity arises from the intricate interaction among various variables encompassing both contextual factors such as students’ socioeconomic status or school functioning, and individual characteristics such as students’ self-efficacy, self-esteem, engagement, and motivation (Alivernini & Lucidi, 2011; Batini, 2023; Bianchi et al., 2021). Acknowledging the necessity for practical and effective strategies to prevent dropout, it becomes crucial to focus on “malleable factors”. Among these, students’ motivation stands out as a pivotal aspect, representing a key area for potential intervention. Building upon this understanding, it is essential to examine the phenomenon of school dropout from a motivational perspective. Self-Determination Theory (SDT; Ryan & Deci, 2017) offers a valuable theoretical lens to delve into the motivational dynamics underlying students’ intention to drop out. According to SDT, students have different types of motivation, that can be placed along a self-determination continuum, starting from the absence of regulation, passing through different forms of external regulation, and ultimately reaching intrinsic motivation. The latter represents the highest form of autonomous motivation and is positively associated with students’ academic success, including a lower intention to drop out of school (Hardre, & Reeve, 2003; Howard et al., 2021). Therefore, it is crucial to understand how to facilitate the self-regulation process. According to SDT, this process is enhanced when students’ basic psychological needs (autonomy, competence, and relatedness) receive adequate support. The satisfaction of these needs helps students internalize their motivation for learning and engage autonomously in their studies (Ryan & Deci, 2020). In the school context, self-determination theory plays a pivotal role, shaping students’ autonomous motivation and guiding their self-regulation process. Grounded in SDT, the present cross sectional study aims to investigate the relationships between need-supportive and need thwarting teaching, students’ intrinsic motivation, and the intention to drop out. The sample consists of 1092 students from a high school in Rome. From a Path Analysis model, it emerges that when students perceive higher need-supportive teaching, their intrinsic motivation increases, whereas it decreases when they perceive need-thwarting teaching. Need-thwarting teaching also shows a direct effect on a higher intention to drop out. Regarding intrinsic motivation, results show that it is negatively associated with dropout. Furthermore, results demonstrate that intrinsic motivation plays a crucial role in mediating the impact of teaching style on students’ drop out intention. From a pedagogical perspective and in terms of practical implications, these findings suggest the importance of implementing specific interventions to improve teaching styles. This involves ensuring that teachers not only acquire the skills to be more supportive of students’ needs but also minimize behaviors that may thwart them.