Unlocking the Magic of Motivation: Exploring House Sorting and Its Impact on Student Engagement

The world of Harry Potter continues to grow in popularity around the world, and anincreasing number of schools are introducing house systems similar to those found in thebooks to increase students’ motivation. This research explores how the introduction of aHarry Potter-inspired house system affects students’ motivation. Our pilot study took placein a prestigious Hungarian high school among 11th-grade students during our teachingpractice. We used a variety of data collection instruments to assess the effectiveness of thesystem. First, we used classroom observation to learn how students interact with each otherand the teacher and to learn which tasks they find most engaging. Secondly, after the two-week-long practice, we asked the students to fill out a feedback questionnaire. Finally, inorder to triangulate the findings, we also interviewed the teacher of the group, so we caninterpret their professional input as well. Since the students were required to workindividually and in groups as well, we saw major changes in their engagement; we saw thatmost of the students were engaged in participating and felt motivated by the house systemto work harder and better in and out of class. Based on the findings, we can infer that thehouse system helped to motivate students and had a positive effect on their schoolexperience. Furthermore, conclusions can be drawn about concrete material developmentand further usage of the house system