Page 183 - Štremfel, Urška, ed., 2016. Student (Under)achievement: Perspectives, Approaches, Challenges. Ljubljana: Pedagoški inštitut. Digital Library, Documenta 11.
P. 183
e attitudes to school, which in turn leads to a lower academic achievement 183
(Huesmann, 1994).
Connections between social and emotional learning and academic
achievement can also be mediated by a negative correlation between anxie-
ty and academic achievement, which has been empirically validated in sever-
al studies (Chansky, 1966; Craig and Dobson, 1995; Duchesne and Ratalle, 2010;
Gaudry and Spielberger, 1971; Hooloway, 1958; Lowe and Raad, 2008; Merry-
man, 1974; Normandeau and Guay, 1998; Peck and Mitchell, 1967). Students
with a higher level of anxiety have more difficulties learning new content,
which may be a consequence of memory functions being reduced on account
of anxiety, making the solving of cognitive tasks more difficult (Prevatt, Welles,
Li and Proctor, 2010). Based on diminished cognitive competencies or specif-
ic learning difficulties, some children develop a fear of knowledge testing,
which is correlated with lower academic achievement. The number of anxious
children is greater in schools with a larger number of unsatisfactory grades
and where messages of children’s underachievement are more common (Kos,
1990). However, the correlation between academic achievement and anxie-
ty is not necessarily based on cognitive skills. There is a negative correlation
between academic achievement and anxiety, even when cognitive skills are
controlled (Gaudry and Spielberger, 1971; Popp, 2003). Diminished academic
achievement also leads to greater anxiety on account of parents’ high expec-
tations. More than half of Slovenian Year 8 pupils report that their parents have
too high expectations of them and the majority fear failure in school (Nastran
Ule, 2000).1 Fear of failure also occurs in successful children, not only the un-
successful. The former are equally worried that they will not get a top grade as
are the low-performing pupils about not getting a positive grade (Kos, 1990).
Improving social and emotional skills also significantly reduces anxiety, which
may result in higher academic achievement.
Social and Emotional Learning and Academic
Achievement in Slovenia
The introduction of social and emotional learning programmes in schools is
a necessity and supported by data on the correlation between anxiety of stu-
dents in Slovenia and their outcomes in the Trends in International Mathemat-
ics and Science Study - TIMSS and TIMSS Advanced.2 On account of theoreti-
1 More information on the correlation between parenting styles and adolescents’ academic achieve-
ment is provided in the paper by Tina Rutar Leban in the chapter Attitudes, Relationships and Emo-
tions as Factors in Student Achievement.
2 In 2007, 4,099 Year 4 pupils (2,028 boys and 2,071 girls; average age 9.8 years) and 3,937 Year 8 pupils
(1,970 boys and 1,967 girls; average age: 13.8 years) participated; in 2011, 3,951 Year 4 pupils partici-
pated (2,049 boys in 1,886 girls; average age 9.9 years), as well as 4,296 Year 8 pupils (2,181 boys and
2,115 girls; average age:13.9 years) and students (3,343 students from the final year of General Matu-
fostering social and emotional learning as means of achieving better-quality knowledge
(Huesmann, 1994).
Connections between social and emotional learning and academic
achievement can also be mediated by a negative correlation between anxie-
ty and academic achievement, which has been empirically validated in sever-
al studies (Chansky, 1966; Craig and Dobson, 1995; Duchesne and Ratalle, 2010;
Gaudry and Spielberger, 1971; Hooloway, 1958; Lowe and Raad, 2008; Merry-
man, 1974; Normandeau and Guay, 1998; Peck and Mitchell, 1967). Students
with a higher level of anxiety have more difficulties learning new content,
which may be a consequence of memory functions being reduced on account
of anxiety, making the solving of cognitive tasks more difficult (Prevatt, Welles,
Li and Proctor, 2010). Based on diminished cognitive competencies or specif-
ic learning difficulties, some children develop a fear of knowledge testing,
which is correlated with lower academic achievement. The number of anxious
children is greater in schools with a larger number of unsatisfactory grades
and where messages of children’s underachievement are more common (Kos,
1990). However, the correlation between academic achievement and anxie-
ty is not necessarily based on cognitive skills. There is a negative correlation
between academic achievement and anxiety, even when cognitive skills are
controlled (Gaudry and Spielberger, 1971; Popp, 2003). Diminished academic
achievement also leads to greater anxiety on account of parents’ high expec-
tations. More than half of Slovenian Year 8 pupils report that their parents have
too high expectations of them and the majority fear failure in school (Nastran
Ule, 2000).1 Fear of failure also occurs in successful children, not only the un-
successful. The former are equally worried that they will not get a top grade as
are the low-performing pupils about not getting a positive grade (Kos, 1990).
Improving social and emotional skills also significantly reduces anxiety, which
may result in higher academic achievement.
Social and Emotional Learning and Academic
Achievement in Slovenia
The introduction of social and emotional learning programmes in schools is
a necessity and supported by data on the correlation between anxiety of stu-
dents in Slovenia and their outcomes in the Trends in International Mathemat-
ics and Science Study - TIMSS and TIMSS Advanced.2 On account of theoreti-
1 More information on the correlation between parenting styles and adolescents’ academic achieve-
ment is provided in the paper by Tina Rutar Leban in the chapter Attitudes, Relationships and Emo-
tions as Factors in Student Achievement.
2 In 2007, 4,099 Year 4 pupils (2,028 boys and 2,071 girls; average age 9.8 years) and 3,937 Year 8 pupils
(1,970 boys and 1,967 girls; average age: 13.8 years) participated; in 2011, 3,951 Year 4 pupils partici-
pated (2,049 boys in 1,886 girls; average age 9.9 years), as well as 4,296 Year 8 pupils (2,181 boys and
2,115 girls; average age:13.9 years) and students (3,343 students from the final year of General Matu-
fostering social and emotional learning as means of achieving better-quality knowledge
