Measuring children’s perceived cost of school science: Instrument development and psychometric evaluation

This investigation addresses the need for valid and reliable instruments that contribute to understanding the factors that lead to the rejection of science-related studies. We discuss the theoretical and methodological limitations of published attitudes toward science questionnaires and describe the development and validation of a short instrument rooted in the cost construct of the expectancy-value model of achievement motivation. We collected data from a sample of six hundred thirty-two 5^th and 6^th (M_age = 10.87; SD = .76) elementary students in Spain. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis revealed a parsimonious structure measuring loss of valued alternatives and task effort ​cost. Further psychometric evaluation displayed evidence for convergent, discriminant, and concurrent validity. Likewise, the reliability was acceptable for both three-item scales. These findings support the proposed instrument to measure barriers experienced by Spanish children when studying school science.     

Promoting children’s participation: the role of teachers in preschool and primary school learning sessions

The aim of this study is to provide insights into the social construction of participation in joint activities in Finnish preschool and primary school classrooms. The article deals with two issues: How do teachers promote participation in a preschool classroom as compared with a primary school classroom? What similarities and differences are found? It also considers the question of how the similarities contribute to the continuity from preschool to primary school in terms of participation. Based on observation data insights are provided into the interactions between teachers and children by using extracts from teacher‐led learning sessions. The teachers used a diversity of strategies to promote participation in both contexts. In the preschool the focus was on participation and interaction as such, whereas in the primary school the emphasis was more clearly on academic learning. The findings suggest that teacher support of active participation and friendly relationships, together with creative and playful activities in the preschool, enrich children’s curiosity, and nourish children’s motivation for and interests in academic learning.     

Chinese children’s perceptions of aggression among peers at school

Recent research suggests that children may encounter aggressive behaviour during the transition from preschool to school. Yet, relatively few longitudinal studies have been conducted on children’s perceptions of aggressive behaviour in the transition from preschool to school. This study aims to fill a major gap in the literature by exploring Chinese children’s perceptions and experiences of aggressive behaviour, and their ways of coping with aggression, at three points in time: during the last month at preschool (Time 1), the first three months of Year 1 at school (Time 2) and the last month of Year 1 (Time 3). The present study also examines the role gender plays in 79 Chinese children’s perceptions of aggressive behaviour, as depicted in their drawings and accompanying narratives. The children mainly reported physical and verbal aggression rather than relational aggression. The findings provide robust data for understanding how children cope with aggression at school.     

Relationships among Singaporean secondary teachers’ conceptions of assessment and school and policy contextual factors

This study examines teachers’ conceptions of assessment and related contextual factors at the classroom, school and national levels. A representative survey of Singaporean secondary school teachers resulted in a final sample consisting of 229 teachers from 9 secondary schools. Findings on that, teachers endorse views of assessment for school accountability, student accountability and student improvement, but little endorsement of assessment as irrelevance. Teachers report feeling capable and qualified to use assessments, but concerned about how much they are trusted as assessors at school and national levels. Follow-up latent class analysis identified groups of teachers based on their responses to the irrelevance of assessment; teachers who found assessment irrelevant were present across all schools and subjects, but showed lower sense of preparation for assessment, school-level support and importance of academic success in society.     

Parental satisfaction with disabled children’s school inclusion in Italy

The principal aim of the present study is to examine the level of parental satisfaction with inclusive education for their children with disability attending Italian schools of any grade level. The survey involved 285 parents of pupils randomly selected from the population of students with disability certificates. On average, parents expressed a high level of satisfaction. Four principal components of parental satisfaction were extracted from the item scores of the questionnaire: inclusive educational practices; environment and special equipment; classmates’ and families’ acceptance; integration between education and rehabilitation activities. Various correlations were found between these aspects and both child-related and context-related variables. In particular, children’s emotional regulation abilities evaluated by teachers are involved in various dimensions of the parents’ satisfaction. On the other hand, satisfaction with the integration between the educational and rehabilitation activities showed a significant negative correlation with the fathers’ and mothers’ educational level. Lastly, parental satisfaction towards classmates’ and families’ acceptance appears to be the most critical aspect and tends to decrease in relation to school level, while it is positively linked with the number of hours the support teacher spends in class. Taken together, these results stimulate useful considerations to promote better practices in inclusive education.     

Parenting and children’s adjustment problems: the mediating role of self-esteem and peer relations

The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of parental and personal characteristics on children’s internalizing/externalizing problems. Further, this study aimed to examine personal characteristics (self-esteem, peer relations) as mediators in the relation between parenting and internalizing/externalizing problems. In order to address these questions, this study used a cross-sectional design. The sample included 588 pre-adolescents and adolescents (10–14 years old) and their mothers. Children completed the My Memories of Upbringing Questionnaire, the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (child report), the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, the Friendship Quality Questionnaire, and the Harter’s Self Perception Profile (Social acceptance subscale), while mothers completed The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (parent report). Results support a model for the influence of both direct and indirect effects on children’s internalizing/externalizing problems.     

Understanding Chinese children’s word reading by considering the factors from cognitive,psychological and ecological factors

Reading is a complex activity that is related to factors from the cognitive, ecological, and psychological domains. However, few studies have investigated the mechanisms underlying word learning by including the factors from the three domains in Chinese children. One hundred and ninety-four Chinese first graders completed tasks on cognitive abilities and word reading ability and a questionnaire relating to the psychological domain, their parents answered questionnaires relating to the psychological and ecological domains. The cognitive factors in the present study involved general (i.e., working memory) and reading-specific (i.e., vocabulary and morphological awareness) abilities. As ecological factors, the parent-reported family socioeconomic status (SES) and home literacy environment (HLE) were used to indicate parents’ resource characteristics of the literacy interactions at home. As psychological factors, an overall mental status was measured by the Conners’ Parent Rating Scale-Revised and reading self-efficacy were used to indicate children’s demand and force characteristics in the literacy interactions. The results of path analysis showed that, after controlling for age and nonverbal intelligence, the reading-specific cognitive abilities had a direct effect on word reading. Working memory, HLE, and reading self-efficacy contributed to word reading through the reading-specific cognitive abilities. Family SES facilitated HLE, which subsequently benefited the reading-specific cognitive abilities, and then assisted word reading.     

The spiritual component of children’s lives: the role of media

Drawn from a larger study of Canadian children’s sense of self and media habits, this study explores the role of religiosity and/or spirituality within 535 children’s (281 girls, 254 boys; 5–13 years of age) self‐reported media preferences and habits over a three‐year period. Results indicate that the theme of spirituality and/or religiosity emerged most frequently within the context of after‐school activities, music listening habits and the reading habits of participants’ mothers. Aside from children in Grade 1 (five–six years), girls were more likely than boys to mention issues of spirituality and religiosity, particularly during preadolescence (10–13 years). Younger children reported more issues of spirituality than older children. Results are discussed in terms of educational implications for critical media literacy.     

The role of compound awareness in Chinese children’s vocabulary acquisition and character reading

This study examined compound awareness in relation to Chinese children's vocabulary acquisition and character reading. Two aspects of compound awareness were investigated: the ability to identify the head of a compound noun and the ability to construct a new compound word from familiar morphemes. The compound awareness tasks, along with rapid automatized naming (RAN) and phonological awareness tasks, were administered to 29 first graders and 30 second graders in Mainland China. Results show that (1) compound awareness develops relatively early among Chinese children and improves with age, (2) compound awareness explains unique variance in vocabulary and character reading, after controlling for age, RAN, and phonological awareness, and (3) the contribution made by compound awareness to vocabulary is much larger than the contribution made by phonological awareness. These results demonstrate that compound awareness plays a central role in Chinese children's literacy development, particularly in vocabulary acquisition.

The Chinese high school student’s stress in the school and academic achievement

In a sample of 466 Chinese high school students, we examined the relationships between Chinese high school students’ stress in the school and their academic achievements. Regression mixture modelling identified two different classes of the effects of Chinese high school students’ stress on their academic achievements. One class contained 87% of the students. In this class, the students’ stress negatively predicted their academic achievements. For the other 13% of the students, their stress did not predict their academic achievements. Furthermore, we found that gender did not moderate the relationships between Chinese high school students’ stress in the school and their academic achievements.     

A phenomenological exploration of children’s school life and well-being

Learning Environments Research - This phenomenological study explored children’s school life as it relates to their subjective well-being in the United States (N?=?22). It was...     

Exploring children’s perceptions of the perceived seriousness of disruptive classroom behaviours

Children’s reports of the perceived seriousness of disruptive classroom behaviours were examined from their own perspective and from their perceptions of their peers’ beliefs about the same behaviour. Two hundred and seventy-six (116 female and 161 male, M_age?=?11.00?years, SD_age?=?1.29) children recruited from a primary and a secondary school in the UK completed measures of the perceived seriousness of disruptive classroom behaviours from their own perspective and also their beliefs about their peers’ perceptions, social desirability and social behaviour. A three-factor structure of disruptive classroom behaviours emerged encompassing: Imprudent behaviours, negative behaviours and expressed emotions. Children judged the disruptive classroom behaviours as more serious compared to how they thought their peers would judge the same behaviour. Gender and age differences also emerged. The findings support the conclusion that children regard disruptive classroom behaviours as more serious than they believe their peers do.     

‘Absent fathers’, and children’s social and emotional learning: an exploration of the perceptions of ‘positive male role models’ in the primary school sector

This paper focuses on the testimonies of three male primary school staff members who utilised social and emotional learning (SEL) in their everyday practice within their respective schools. The data, collected through individual interviews, illustrate how these three men interpreted SEL, and their role in the development of children’s social, emotional and behavioural (SEB) skills, in response to their perceptions of pupils’ home-life. In particular, the sample identified the children’s fathers’ perceived ability/inability as a main cause of pupils’ SEB deficiencies. Consequently, the three male staff members maintained that in order to advocate and encourage alternative, appropriate behaviours, they should act as ‘replacement fathers’ and become ‘role models’. The findings contribute to existing debates relating to the notion of ‘positive male role models’ in primary schools and the propensity for staff to engage in parental blame. The implications of these findings are discussed, and suggestions that call for a more democratic and cooperative exchange of knowledge between parents and teachers are made.     

School bullying and students’ sense of safety in school: the moderating role of school climate

European Journal of Psychology of Education - One of the negative consequences of bullying in schools is its adverse effect on students’ sense of safety. Previous studies yielded mixed...     

The effects of feedback on achievement,interest and self-evaluation: the role of feedback’s perceived usefulness

The impact of two types of written feedback (process-oriented, grade-oriented) on changes in mathematics achievement, interest and self-evaluation was compared – with a particular focus on the mediating role of feedback’s perceived usefulness. Participants, 146 ninth graders (aged 14 to 17?years), were assigned to either a process-oriented or a grade-oriented experimental feedback condition. They worked on mathematics tests, received feedback on their test results and completed surveys measuring feedback’s perceived usefulness, interest and self-evaluation. Results of path analysis showed that process-oriented feedback was perceived as more useful than grade-oriented feedback and that feedback’s perceived usefulness had a positive effect on changes in achievement and interest. Consistent with this, process-oriented feedback had a greater positive indirect effect than grade-oriented feedback on changes in mathematics achievement and interest via its perceived usefulness. There were no such effects on changes in self-evaluation. Potential explanations for these findings, educational implications and possible directions for future research are discussed.     

Measuring children and young people’s wellbeing in the school context

Although being rooted in the work of ancient Greek philosophers, contemporary research on wellbeing is a relatively new phenomenon. As a term in the literature, wellbeing is often used interchangeably with others, such as happiness, flourishing, enjoying a good life and life satisfaction. Furthermore, the wellbeing of school-aged children is only beginning to be explored with increasing recognition that research conducted on adults cannot be uncritically applied to children and young people. This paper aims to address some of the complexities in conceptualising, and hence assessing, children and young people’s wellbeing by drawing on a recently completed study examining the role of creative initiatives in fostering wellbeing. The new instrument that was developed to capture children and young people’s perceptions of their wellbeing in school is outlined. Data are presented from a survey of 5170 students from 20 primary and 20 secondary schools across England that identify four dimensions of wellbeing. Differences in self-reported wellbeing relating to age, gender and type of school attended (Creative Partnerships versus other schools) are explored. The implications of these findings, particularly differences related to type of school attended, given the focus of this special issue, are considered.     

Finnish children’s views on the ideal school and learning environment

This grounded-theory study involved how Finnish children describe their ideal school and learning environment and considers how their notions should be valued in the development of schools to better respond to the challenges of the future. The school children, aged 10–12 years, participated in the study by writing a story about a school in which they would be happy to study. Ninety-three children’s stories were coded and analysed, and a model of the ideal school and learning environment based on their ideas was developed. This model school, called a Broadening and Empowering Learning Environment, is designed to contribute to children’s physical, educational, cultural and socio-emotional well-being, offers opportunities for fantasy and innovation, and employs creative and sports-based learning methods, among others, in both formal and informal settings. The study showed that children, as educational stakeholders, are well aware of the potential of modern schools and of the different aspects that would enhance their ability to learn and their satisfaction with schooling.     

The ABC’s of Chinese: maternal mediation of Pinyin for Chinese children’s early literacy skills

In the present study, maternal Pinyin mediation and its relations with young Chinese children??s word reading and word writing development were explored. At time 1, 43 Mainland Chinese children and their mothers were videotaped on a task in which children were asked to write 12 words in Pinyin (a phonological coding system used in Mainland China as an aid to reading Chinese characters) with help from their mothers. The videotapes were later coded on a scale (adapted from Aram & Levin, 2001) of mothers?? writing facilitation techniques. Scores on this scale of maternal mediation of Pinyin uniquely explained children??s reading of Chinese words, but not writing of Chinese words, after statistically controlling for maternal education and age, and children??s non-verbal IQ, age, and phonological awareness. At time 2, 22 of the children from time 1 were further tested on Chinese word reading and word reading task 1?year later. After controlling for children??s age and non-verbal IQ, maternal Pinyin mediation uniquely explained 6% of the variance in children??s word writing and 7% of the variance in children??s word reading performance at time 2. Results underscore the potential importance of the maternal scaffolding role for reading acquisition both theoretically and practically in a domain not previously explored (i.e., use of a common coding system (Pinyin) for learning to read, rather than word reading itself).     

The relationship between school’s organizational climate and teacher’s job satisfaction: Malaysian experience

The purpose of this paper was to examine the relationship between school organizational climate and teachers’ job satisfaction. A quantitative survey method was applied, and three broadly hypothesized relationships were tested with a sample of 245 teachers from six government secondary schools in district of Penampang, Sabah, Malaysia. The instrument used in this study was the modified version for combination of two questionnaires: Organizational Climate Index and the Teachers’ Job Satisfaction Questionnaire. The findings indicated that there is a significant positive relationship between school organizational climate and teachers’ job satisfaction. The teachers in this study were found to be fairly satisfied with their job, with the responsibility factor as the biggest contributor to job satisfaction. This study found that there is no significant difference in levels of job satisfaction between the teachers’ gender (male and female). Based on the years of service in their current school, there was a statically significant difference in the level of job satisfaction among the teachers. These findings revealed that the secondary schools in Sabah have a positive and open climate, with the professional teachers’ behaviour factor as the biggest contributor. The results of this study indicate the necessity to provide positive organizational climate and up keeping teachers’ job satisfaction by policy makers and principals with hope in enhancing the quality of schools in Malaysia.