Use of affect to identify pupil active goals formation during a Key Stage 2 mathematics lesson.

Motivation in the form of goals is often considered a long-term trait. However, there is growing awareness of the presence of in-the-moment, or active goals during mathematics lessons. The affective domain permits identification of changing emotions during mathematics lessons, which I conjecture enables insight into active goal formation. This paper forms part of a PhD study where video stimulated recall interviews occurred with eight 9–10-year-old pupils, across two classes. This paper presents findings for one pupil, David, indicating a change in affective behaviour, resulting in identification of two active goal pathways: The teacher’s pathway for David to adopt cognitive active goals and David’s actual active goal pathway. The pathways indicate David’s active goals at times varied from those of the teacher and include the addition of social cognitive goals. By the end of the mathematics lesson, David had aligned himself with the teacher’s active goals for the lesson.