Page 158 - Štremfel, Urška, ed., 2016. Student (Under)achievement: Perspectives, Approaches, Challenges. Ljubljana: Pedagoški inštitut. Digital Library, Documenta 11.
P. 158
ly also pose a challenge and not be set too low. In terms of the quantity stand-
ard, the authors emphasise a suitable number of demands that are in accord-
ance with children’s competencies and whose number is sufficient for children
to successfully develop their abilities. There must not be too many demands,
so that an excessive burden is not imposed on children, or too few, so children
are not limited, or the development of their competencies hindered.
In relation to the dimension of demandingness, the authors mainly stress
the aspect of goals being in line with children’s development and their com-
petencies, but fail to mention the aspect of taking into consideration children’s
temperamental and personality traits. Results of some studies (e.g. Kubicek,
Emde and Schmitz, 2001) indicate certain children’s temperamental qualities
are related to their general cognitive functioning and development of speech.
Some authors (e.g. Kagan, 2001; Rothbart, 1981; Thomas and Chess, 1984) in-
clude characteristics of children’s cognitive functioning - such as attentiveness,
persistence and distractibility, which play an important role in children’s ability
to achieve developmental goals - in the concept of temperament itself. Highly
active children are thus often not sufficiently focused on demanding difficult
158 thinking tasks to be able to learn how to complete them successfully.
Responsiveness to Children’s Socially Acceptable Behaviour
In the process of socialisation, child-rearers help children define socially ac-
ceptable or unacceptable behaviour by means of their feedback on behaviour,
as well as by means of their attitude and behaviour towards children. Positive
feedback on behaviour lets children know that they have mastered appropri-
ate behaviour and that this behaviour is acceptable in a wider social context,
and also encourages them to repeat this behaviour in the future.
Both in respect of the dimension of demandingness and that of paren-
tal responsiveness to children’s socially acceptable behaviour, authors of this
model (Milivojević et al., 2004) highlight the standard of quality and quantity
of child-rearer’s feedback or response, based on which suitability of a style of
upbringing regarding this dimension is assessed.
In relation to the quality of positive feedback, the authors mostly em-
phasise the truthfulness of the feedback message or response. Untrue posi-
tive feedback (for instance a message such as ‘Your picture is the most beautiful
one in the whole world.’) can thus result in children developing an unsuitable
self-image (Baumrind, 1997). In relation to the quality standard, the authors
(Milivojević et al., 2004) distinguish between feedback about children’s behav-
iour and feedback about children’s personality. For a style of upbringing to be
appropriate in terms of the standard of quality of positive feedback, child-rear-
ers must use positive feedback (responses) about both children’s behaviour
and about children’s personality (for instance a message like ‘You’ve recounted
student (under)achievement: perspectives, approaches, challenges
ard, the authors emphasise a suitable number of demands that are in accord-
ance with children’s competencies and whose number is sufficient for children
to successfully develop their abilities. There must not be too many demands,
so that an excessive burden is not imposed on children, or too few, so children
are not limited, or the development of their competencies hindered.
In relation to the dimension of demandingness, the authors mainly stress
the aspect of goals being in line with children’s development and their com-
petencies, but fail to mention the aspect of taking into consideration children’s
temperamental and personality traits. Results of some studies (e.g. Kubicek,
Emde and Schmitz, 2001) indicate certain children’s temperamental qualities
are related to their general cognitive functioning and development of speech.
Some authors (e.g. Kagan, 2001; Rothbart, 1981; Thomas and Chess, 1984) in-
clude characteristics of children’s cognitive functioning - such as attentiveness,
persistence and distractibility, which play an important role in children’s ability
to achieve developmental goals - in the concept of temperament itself. Highly
active children are thus often not sufficiently focused on demanding difficult
158 thinking tasks to be able to learn how to complete them successfully.
Responsiveness to Children’s Socially Acceptable Behaviour
In the process of socialisation, child-rearers help children define socially ac-
ceptable or unacceptable behaviour by means of their feedback on behaviour,
as well as by means of their attitude and behaviour towards children. Positive
feedback on behaviour lets children know that they have mastered appropri-
ate behaviour and that this behaviour is acceptable in a wider social context,
and also encourages them to repeat this behaviour in the future.
Both in respect of the dimension of demandingness and that of paren-
tal responsiveness to children’s socially acceptable behaviour, authors of this
model (Milivojević et al., 2004) highlight the standard of quality and quantity
of child-rearer’s feedback or response, based on which suitability of a style of
upbringing regarding this dimension is assessed.
In relation to the quality of positive feedback, the authors mostly em-
phasise the truthfulness of the feedback message or response. Untrue posi-
tive feedback (for instance a message such as ‘Your picture is the most beautiful
one in the whole world.’) can thus result in children developing an unsuitable
self-image (Baumrind, 1997). In relation to the quality standard, the authors
(Milivojević et al., 2004) distinguish between feedback about children’s behav-
iour and feedback about children’s personality. For a style of upbringing to be
appropriate in terms of the standard of quality of positive feedback, child-rear-
ers must use positive feedback (responses) about both children’s behaviour
and about children’s personality (for instance a message like ‘You’ve recounted
student (under)achievement: perspectives, approaches, challenges
