‘Waiting for a Better Time Is a Waste of Time’: Motivations of Learning Amid the Genocide in Gaza in Light of Sustainable Development Goal 4

Abstract

This study, set against the backdrop of the recent genocide in Gaza (October 2023–January 2025), investigates the motivations driving university students, graduates and academics to independently enrol in an initiative offering free access to onlinecourses through platforms such as Coursera, edX and DataCamp. This study adopted self-determination theory as the conceptual framework. A convergent mixed-methods design was employed, and all participants in the initiative were invited to complete a brief online questionnaire incorporating the situational motivation scale and open-ended questions. A total of 503 responses were collected: 138 participants completed one or more courses, 78 indicated ongoing enrolments, 92 did not complete any courses and 195 did not specify their status. The results of the quantitative analysis highlighted that the participants were mainly driven by autonomous internal motivation, and the thematic analysis of the qualitative data further highlighted this motivation, identifying six key categories: career-related, war-related, belief-related, personality-related, social and affectional motivations. War-related and belief-related motivations set this study apart from prior work in the field. The findings provide critical insights into how educational initiatives can support learners in extreme circumstances in alignment with Sustainable Development Goal 4. Implications for education policy and practice in conflict zones, along with avenues for future research, are discussed.