Learning styles, motivation and performance: differences between two school levels in Dutch secondary education

In the Netherlands, the difference between senior general secondary and pre-university education is a major issue in political debates. Educationalists claim that most curriculum programmes, pedagogy and educational materials for secondary education use pre-university as a norm; senior general secondary education is understood as simply a lower level of pre-university education. In this study, differences in learning styles of students from both school levels were examined as well as the moderating role of learning styles in school motivation and performance. Subjects were a convenient sample of 204 students from a secondary school in medium-sized city in the western part the Netherlands. Students’ learning style was measured by the Learning Style Inventory; school motivation and performance were both also measured by self-report items. Students of senior general secondary education differ from student of pre-university education in school motivation and performance, showing less motivation and lower performances for the former group of students. No differences in learning style were found. However, differences between students from senior general secondary education and pre-university education) in both school motivation and school performance were explained in different way by learning style. Interpretations of a different learning environment in both school levels are discussed.