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School social climate and the academic self-concept of secondary three normal course students
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Type
Thesis
Author
Quek, Monica Swee Imm
Supervisor
Chang, Agnes Shook Cheong
Abstract
The primary objective of this study was to examine the relationship between school social climate and the academic self-concept of Secondary Three Normal Course students (academically weak students). At the same time, it also looked at the relationships between students' background characteristics (socio-economic status and home support) and their academic self-concept. The study also investigated whether students' perceptions of their school social climate and their academic self-concept differed between schools. Furthermore, it also looked at whether sex, socio-economic status, and home support had any impact on students' academic self-concept. Lastly, it examined the percentage of variance in students' academic self-concept accounted for by school social climate, socio-economic status, and home support.
The subjects were 473 Secondary Three Normal Course students from nine secondary schools, comprising 197 males and 276 females. The nine schools were selected non-randomly, based on two criteria :
(a) Type of school which was classified under two broad categories, namely, mission and government schools; and
(b) Type of student input which was based on the 1984 Primary School Leaving Examination mean aggregate score of each school.
Research data were collected through the use of a self-constructed questionnaire. The items in the School Social Climate Scale and Academic Self-Concept Scale were based on the operational definitions of the two variables. The School Social Climate Scale contained the following subscales :
(a) Students' Behaviour and Peer Relationships;
(b) Principal's Support;
(c) Teacher's Support; and
(d) Academic Expectation.
Besides the School Social Climate and its four subscales, the other independent variables were :
(a) Socio-Economic Status which was measured by the principal breadwinner's occupation;
(b) Home-support which was measured by the extent of help in school work, positive reinforcement, and encouragement given to the students by members of the family; and
(c) Sex.
The dependent variable was Academic Self-Concept which had the following subscales :
(a) Students' Confidence; and
(b) Students' Effort.
The data were analysed by means of (a) Pearson Product-Moment correlation, (b) analysis of variance and post-hoc comparison (Scheffe's method), and (c) multiple regression. The level of significance for accepting or rejecting the hypotheses was set at the .05 level.
Analysis of the data shows that :
(a) A positive and significant relationship existed between school social climate and the students' academic self-concept;
(b) Significant differences existed between some schools in the students' perceptions of their school social climate but not in their academic self-concept;
(c) No significant difference was found between male and female students in their academic self-concept and neither were there any significant differences between students of different socio-economic status in their academic self-concept;
(d) No significant relationship was found between students' socio-economic status and their academic self-concept in each of the nine schools although for the whole sample there was a very weak but positive relationship between the students' socio-economic status and their academic self-concept;
(e) A low, positive but significant relationship existed between home support and the students' academic self-concept; and
(f) School social climate, socio-economic status, and home support variables together accounted for 14.41 percent of the variance in the students' academic self-concept of the total sample, with school social climate emerging as the main predictor and accounting for 10.88 percent of the variance.
The students' perceptions of their school social climate could provide an important perspective about the quality of school life. This information could be useful to principals and teachers who want to improve their school climate as well as to enhance their students' self-concept.
The subjects were 473 Secondary Three Normal Course students from nine secondary schools, comprising 197 males and 276 females. The nine schools were selected non-randomly, based on two criteria :
(a) Type of school which was classified under two broad categories, namely, mission and government schools; and
(b) Type of student input which was based on the 1984 Primary School Leaving Examination mean aggregate score of each school.
Research data were collected through the use of a self-constructed questionnaire. The items in the School Social Climate Scale and Academic Self-Concept Scale were based on the operational definitions of the two variables. The School Social Climate Scale contained the following subscales :
(a) Students' Behaviour and Peer Relationships;
(b) Principal's Support;
(c) Teacher's Support; and
(d) Academic Expectation.
Besides the School Social Climate and its four subscales, the other independent variables were :
(a) Socio-Economic Status which was measured by the principal breadwinner's occupation;
(b) Home-support which was measured by the extent of help in school work, positive reinforcement, and encouragement given to the students by members of the family; and
(c) Sex.
The dependent variable was Academic Self-Concept which had the following subscales :
(a) Students' Confidence; and
(b) Students' Effort.
The data were analysed by means of (a) Pearson Product-Moment correlation, (b) analysis of variance and post-hoc comparison (Scheffe's method), and (c) multiple regression. The level of significance for accepting or rejecting the hypotheses was set at the .05 level.
Analysis of the data shows that :
(a) A positive and significant relationship existed between school social climate and the students' academic self-concept;
(b) Significant differences existed between some schools in the students' perceptions of their school social climate but not in their academic self-concept;
(c) No significant difference was found between male and female students in their academic self-concept and neither were there any significant differences between students of different socio-economic status in their academic self-concept;
(d) No significant relationship was found between students' socio-economic status and their academic self-concept in each of the nine schools although for the whole sample there was a very weak but positive relationship between the students' socio-economic status and their academic self-concept;
(e) A low, positive but significant relationship existed between home support and the students' academic self-concept; and
(f) School social climate, socio-economic status, and home support variables together accounted for 14.41 percent of the variance in the students' academic self-concept of the total sample, with school social climate emerging as the main predictor and accounting for 10.88 percent of the variance.
The students' perceptions of their school social climate could provide an important perspective about the quality of school life. This information could be useful to principals and teachers who want to improve their school climate as well as to enhance their students' self-concept.
Date Issued
1988
Call Number
LC210 Que
Date Submitted
1988