School is one of the most important learning environment for children and adolescents. In order to optimise learning contexts schools should create a positive emotional bias of their students. However, educational research in different European countries found that positive emotions in school as well as learning motivation decrease during school years while negative emotions and negative attitudes towards school increase (e.g. Eder, 1995, 2007; Fend, 1997; Hascher, 2004). In particular young adolescents often regard school and learning as little meaningful for their life (e.g. Eder, 2007; Fend, 1997). One explanation for this development is that internalisation of school and of learning goals fails and consequently students withdraw emotionally from school. This is highly problematic from an educational point of view because an important developmental task in the stage of young adolescence is to integrate learning and achievement goals into the personality. ‘With regard to basic assumptions of “Self-Determination-Theory” (e.g. Deci & Ryan, 1985, 2002) and also of “Stage-Environment-Fit-Theory” (e.g. Eccles & Midgley, 1989; Eccles et al., 1984, 1993) lacking integration of achievement goals as well as alienation from school can be explained by a neglect of the needs of the young adolescents caused by a social environment that increasingly fails to fit to the young adolescents’ needs. The presented study investigates the relationship between the fulfilment of young adolescents’ needs and its correlation with school alienation. It is assumed that alienation from school grows as students’ needs (e.g. the need for autonomy, relatedness and competence) are neglected. On the other hand the study also tries to highlight the relationship between school alienation and learning behavior. The assumption is that increasing alienation decreases positive classroom behaviour while negative behaviour increases.

The presentation focuses on results of a longitudinal study (beginning of the study = March, 2007; conclusion of the study = April, 2008). The sample consists of 356 students of eight secondary schools in Salzburg and the surrounding areas who attended grade 6 at the start of the study (average age: 11.9 years) and grade 7 at the end of the study. On four occasions student had to fill in questionnaires assessing interpersonal and environmental variables. The central variables for the presentation (e.g. fulfilment of basic needs, school alienation) were assessed at measurement point 1 and 4. School alienation was defined as a multi-dimensional construct consisting of three factors: (1) leisure-time orientation (α = .84t1, .85t4), (2) lack of subjective relevance to school (α = .86t1, .90t4) and (3) lack of school engagement (α = .72t1, .79t4).

As expected, results point out that subjective relevance to school and school engagement decrease between grades 6 and 7, only leisure-time orientation remains stable. Furthermore, analyses illustrate that students evaluate their school environment more negatively in grade 7 compared to grade 6. This worsening evaluation of school environmental conditions indicates an increasingly neglect of students’ needs. Correlations between school environmental factors and school alienation are highly significant. Furthermore school alienation leads to less participation during instruction and to less positive emotions in school as well as to higher disruptive behaviour during instruction and higher negative attitudes towards learning. School alienation also correlates negatively with academic achievement. Taken together, the results confirm the assumed hypothesis and reinforce the important task of schools and teachers not only to support students to achieve cognitive goals but also to facilitate students’ need fulfilment in order to avoid school alienation during adolescence.