The impact of two strategies on the motivation of high ability underachievers in an independent secondary school

The presentation aims to report on a school-based action research project studying the effect of using biographies as bibliotherapy and differentiation techniques to counter underachievement in a group of identified high ability underachievers at Inaburra School.There has been little or no research to date on the use of bibliotherapy with high ability students for the purpose of reversing underachievement. Bibliotherapy systematically matches reading materials to the needs of each learner to help with student achievement and development (Johnson, Wan, Templeton, Graham, & Sattler, 2000, cited in Cook, Earles-Vollrath, & Ganz, 2006), often used with students with disabilities. Cook et al. (2006) suggest that bibliotherapy provides information and insight into a specific experience, communicates new values and attitudes towards the problem, and more importantly, help students understand that they are not the only one who have experienced the problem. Further, Hebert, Long and Speirs Neumeister (2001) suggest that biographies of gifted individuals could help students gain insights into dealing with problems that they face.There has also only been one study into the use of the Achievement Orientation Model (Siegel & McCoach, 2005) with high ability underachievers in the US. A study by Ritchotte, Matthews and Flowers (2014) suggests that the model may have validity in its use to develop interventions to address the needs of high ability underachievers. According to the AOM, high achieving students find school useful (goal valuation), the environment supportive (environmental perceptions), and perceive themselves to have ability to perform academic tasks (self-efficacy), all of which leads to motivated students who self-regulate and are engaged in their learning. This project will be the first study in Australia into the use of the AOM and bibliotherapy with high ability underachievers. This presentation will report on the results of Year 7 and 9 students who were part of the project in 2016.