Page 170 - Štremfel, Urška, ed., 2016. Student (Under)achievement: Perspectives, Approaches, Challenges. Ljubljana: Pedagoški inštitut. Digital Library, Documenta 11.
P. 170
foster the development of children’s competencies related to independent ar-
gumentation and evaluation of specific contents. By granting children a great-
er degree of autonomy and responsibility in thinking, parents probably en-
courage an analytical and critical approach to understanding situations and
contents. A similar picture is revealed in a school context; students’ low auton-
omy in schoolwork is associated with negative emotions about learning and
avoidant behaviour in their attitude to schoolwork, which is consequently re-
flected in students’ performance.
Another factor related to teaching and parenting styles, highlighted in the
aforementioned studies as being significant in relation to students’ academic
achievement, are the high expectations or demands put forward by adults in
their relationships with children and adolescents. The classes taught by teach-
ers who had high expectations about students’ knowledge and capabilities
produced better outcomes than the classes taught by teachers whose expec-
tations were low. In a similar fashion, parents’ higher expectations are likewise
associated with children’s better achievement.
In relation to conclusions and recommendations consideration should be
170 given to the correlations between individual teaching/parenting style char-
acteristics and adolescents’ performance in international comparative assess-
ment studies that were relatively low in the majority of studies. What is more,
conclusions cannot be made about the direct impact of teaching/parenting
style on students’performance in international assessments studies on the ba-
sis of the results. An in-depth analysis of correlations would probably come up
with a number of variables that interact both with children’s achievement and
also the teaching/parenting style.
However, in spite of this, two things can nevertheless be highlighted as the
two variables that are most significantly correlated with adolescents’ academ-
ic achievement: the level of adolescents’ autonomy in learning and teachers’
higher expectations about adolescents’ knowledge and competencies. Teach-
ers can control both of these two variables and change them as they deem
appropriate.
In light of the presented findings and conclusions, it would undoubted-
ly be advisable to present these findings to parents and teachers in the future,
and to develop various education and training courses where parents and
teachers could be familiarised with practical means of fostering autonomy in
children and adolescents. Another good idea would be to highlight the con-
tents related to autonomy in children as part of teachers’ undergraduate stud-
ies at faculties of education, thus contributing to dissemination of study find-
ings in the school sphere.
student (under)achievement: perspectives, approaches, challenges
gumentation and evaluation of specific contents. By granting children a great-
er degree of autonomy and responsibility in thinking, parents probably en-
courage an analytical and critical approach to understanding situations and
contents. A similar picture is revealed in a school context; students’ low auton-
omy in schoolwork is associated with negative emotions about learning and
avoidant behaviour in their attitude to schoolwork, which is consequently re-
flected in students’ performance.
Another factor related to teaching and parenting styles, highlighted in the
aforementioned studies as being significant in relation to students’ academic
achievement, are the high expectations or demands put forward by adults in
their relationships with children and adolescents. The classes taught by teach-
ers who had high expectations about students’ knowledge and capabilities
produced better outcomes than the classes taught by teachers whose expec-
tations were low. In a similar fashion, parents’ higher expectations are likewise
associated with children’s better achievement.
In relation to conclusions and recommendations consideration should be
170 given to the correlations between individual teaching/parenting style char-
acteristics and adolescents’ performance in international comparative assess-
ment studies that were relatively low in the majority of studies. What is more,
conclusions cannot be made about the direct impact of teaching/parenting
style on students’performance in international assessments studies on the ba-
sis of the results. An in-depth analysis of correlations would probably come up
with a number of variables that interact both with children’s achievement and
also the teaching/parenting style.
However, in spite of this, two things can nevertheless be highlighted as the
two variables that are most significantly correlated with adolescents’ academ-
ic achievement: the level of adolescents’ autonomy in learning and teachers’
higher expectations about adolescents’ knowledge and competencies. Teach-
ers can control both of these two variables and change them as they deem
appropriate.
In light of the presented findings and conclusions, it would undoubted-
ly be advisable to present these findings to parents and teachers in the future,
and to develop various education and training courses where parents and
teachers could be familiarised with practical means of fostering autonomy in
children and adolescents. Another good idea would be to highlight the con-
tents related to autonomy in children as part of teachers’ undergraduate stud-
ies at faculties of education, thus contributing to dissemination of study find-
ings in the school sphere.
student (under)achievement: perspectives, approaches, challenges
