Master of Arts (Applied Psychology)

The main purpose of this study is to investigate the self-concept of the students of different abilities - the students in the Gifted Education Programme (GEP) and the students in the Express Course and see whether the self-concept of the GEP students was significantly different from the students in the Express Course. The study also compared parents' expectations of the students in the GEP with the parents' expectations of the students in the Express Course. In addition, comparisons were made between these two groups of students with regard to their self-concept to each of these variables, academic achievement and perceived expectations of parents.

The sample comprised eighty-eight secondary one boys from both the GEP and Express Courses who obtained aggregate scores in the range of 240 to 275 points in Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) in 1997. Forty-four students from each course were selected for the study.

Academic achievement was measured by students' results in the school's second semester assessment in 1998. The results comprised the marks for their continual assessment, project work and the second semester exmaination. Selfconcept was measured by the Self-Esteem Checklist (SEC) (Lui, 1987) comprising subscales measuring the four facets of self-concept: general self, peers-social, homeparents and academic-school self-concept. Parents' expectations as perceived by students were measured by the Parents' Expectations Questionnaire (PEX) developed by Yeoh (1990). PEX measured the dimensions of parental push, expected results, appraisal, surveillance, belief in the importance of education, and aspirations.

In analyzing the data, the mean scores and correlation coefficients were compared between the students in the GEP and the students in the Express Course. The study found that:

1. Students in the Express Course had a higher total self-concept mean score than those in the GEP. There was a significant difference between their total and academic-school self-concept mean scores.

2. Students in the Express Course and GEP did not differ significantly with regard to parents' expectations of students' achievement

3. Generally, academic achievement was positively related to both total and academic-school self-concepts for both groups but where parents' expectations were concerned, it was negatively related.

4. Students in the GEP and students in the Express Course did not differ significantly in the relationship of parents' expectations and their self-concept.

The findings have implications for parents and students in their choice of special programmes such as the Gifted Education Programme offered in some selected schools in Singapore. Once again, the importance of academic achievement to selfconcept is emphasized. Although the role of parents' expectations appear to be limited, this finding may have been influenced by the nature of the sample which is made up of all boys. Generally, the findings seem to suggest that self-concept could be enhanced by significant others such as parents and teachers and also by special programmes in schools such as the Enrichment Programme and Pastoral Care and Career Guidance.