Page 151 - Ana Kozina and Nora Wiium, eds. ▪︎ Positive Youth Development in Contexts. Ljubljana: Educational Research Institute, 2021. Digital Library, Dissertationes (Scientific Monographs), 42.
P. 151
https://w w w.doi.org/10.32320/978-961-270-341-7.151-177
Components of positive youth development
among native students and students
with an immigrant background
in the Slovenian educational
environment
Ana Mlekuž
Educational Research Institute, Ljubljana, Slovenia
Abstract
Several studies (Fuligni, 2004; Lerner et al., 2015; Wiium & Dimitrova,
2019) show that a positive youth development model with the 5Cs (compe-
tence, confidence, character, connection, caring) effectively promotes pos-
itive aspects of adolescents’ development. Adolescence is a period of accel-
erated physical, intellectual and emotional development that can be very
stressful for the young, but even more so for young immigrants who con-
front several other obstacles connected to their background (e.g. discrim-
ination, finding new friends, the language barrier etc.). The present paper
examines the differences between native and immigrant students (first- and
second-generation) within Slovenia’s educational environment in self-as-
sessed competencies, characteristics and skills based on the 5Cs of the
PYD model to determine that environment’s success in providing the opti-
mal conditions for immigrant students’ adaptation. Students’ self-assessed
competencies between the groups were analysed on the Slovenian national
PISA 2018 sample using the IEA International Database Analyzer (IEA IDB
Analyzer). The results reveal the Slovenian environment does not provide
optimal conditions for immigrants’ adaptation and detected three areas in
which Slovenian students need greater support: (1) first- and second-gener-
ation immigrants’ self-efficacy; (2) second-generation immigrants’ connec-
tion to their family, peers and teachers; and (3) native students’ attitudes to-
ward diversity. While this paper’s findings are only preliminary, they may
151
Components of positive youth development
among native students and students
with an immigrant background
in the Slovenian educational
environment
Ana Mlekuž
Educational Research Institute, Ljubljana, Slovenia
Abstract
Several studies (Fuligni, 2004; Lerner et al., 2015; Wiium & Dimitrova,
2019) show that a positive youth development model with the 5Cs (compe-
tence, confidence, character, connection, caring) effectively promotes pos-
itive aspects of adolescents’ development. Adolescence is a period of accel-
erated physical, intellectual and emotional development that can be very
stressful for the young, but even more so for young immigrants who con-
front several other obstacles connected to their background (e.g. discrim-
ination, finding new friends, the language barrier etc.). The present paper
examines the differences between native and immigrant students (first- and
second-generation) within Slovenia’s educational environment in self-as-
sessed competencies, characteristics and skills based on the 5Cs of the
PYD model to determine that environment’s success in providing the opti-
mal conditions for immigrant students’ adaptation. Students’ self-assessed
competencies between the groups were analysed on the Slovenian national
PISA 2018 sample using the IEA International Database Analyzer (IEA IDB
Analyzer). The results reveal the Slovenian environment does not provide
optimal conditions for immigrants’ adaptation and detected three areas in
which Slovenian students need greater support: (1) first- and second-gener-
ation immigrants’ self-efficacy; (2) second-generation immigrants’ connec-
tion to their family, peers and teachers; and (3) native students’ attitudes to-
ward diversity. While this paper’s findings are only preliminary, they may
151
