Page 170 - Ana Kozina and Nora Wiium, eds. ▪︎ Positive Youth Development in Contexts. Ljubljana: Educational Research Institute, 2021. Digital Library, Dissertationes (Scientific Monographs), 42.
P. 170
positive youth development in contexts
the country’s educational policies (Mlekuž & Vršnik Perše, 2019). At the
same time, these students express the lowest sense of belonging to school,
which might be a due to discrimination and prejudice within the school
e nvironment and in wider Slovenian society.
On the contrary, as concerns the character component, it is the native
students who come into the limelight by expressing the lowest levels of
openness to multiculturalism given that their attitudes to immigrants and
respect for people from other cultures are the least favourable among the
three student groups. These findings confirm the general attitudes toward
immigrants and diversity in Slovenia (Klemenčič et al., 2019; Kralj, 2008,
2014; Pedagoški inštitut, 2020). Several studies have corroborated the view
that negative attitudes toward immigrants and other cultures are gener-
ally considered to be the origin of discriminative behaviour, bullying and
h arassment targeting immigrant students, which then affect such students’
academic performance, motivation and well-being (Dessel, 2010; Glock,
2016), thereby making it important to shift students’ attitudes to immigrants
in the direction of being more open to diversity and multiculturalism.
We may conclude that the results regarding immigrant students’ suc-
cessful adaptation to the Slovenian environment are mixed and slightly in-
clined to migration morbidity, especially in the area of competence and
connection, where the second-generation immigrant students are at a loss.
These results also confirm that the Slovenian environment and policies do
not provide the optimal conditions (as described by Dimitrova et al., 2017)
for immigrant students’ successful adaptation and point to the high level of
discrimination, the lack of opportunities for immigrants to keep a strong
ethnic identity, and their weak relational support at school and home.
Limitations and Recommendations
All things considered, we must bear in mind that this study was intend-
ed to be a preliminary one and, as such, is limited to use of the PISA back-
ground questionnaire whose primary function is not to test the PYD 5Cs.
To gain data more in line with the components of the PYD 5Cs, the 5Cs
questionnaire should be used to ensure comparability with similar stud-
ies relying on this instrument. Further, the Slovenian version of the PISA
2018 questionnaire did not specifically ask in which country an immigrant
student’s parents were born, meaning no control for country of origin was
possible. This opens up new avenues for research on this topic based on
differences among immigrant youth as well. It would also be interesting
170
the country’s educational policies (Mlekuž & Vršnik Perše, 2019). At the
same time, these students express the lowest sense of belonging to school,
which might be a due to discrimination and prejudice within the school
e nvironment and in wider Slovenian society.
On the contrary, as concerns the character component, it is the native
students who come into the limelight by expressing the lowest levels of
openness to multiculturalism given that their attitudes to immigrants and
respect for people from other cultures are the least favourable among the
three student groups. These findings confirm the general attitudes toward
immigrants and diversity in Slovenia (Klemenčič et al., 2019; Kralj, 2008,
2014; Pedagoški inštitut, 2020). Several studies have corroborated the view
that negative attitudes toward immigrants and other cultures are gener-
ally considered to be the origin of discriminative behaviour, bullying and
h arassment targeting immigrant students, which then affect such students’
academic performance, motivation and well-being (Dessel, 2010; Glock,
2016), thereby making it important to shift students’ attitudes to immigrants
in the direction of being more open to diversity and multiculturalism.
We may conclude that the results regarding immigrant students’ suc-
cessful adaptation to the Slovenian environment are mixed and slightly in-
clined to migration morbidity, especially in the area of competence and
connection, where the second-generation immigrant students are at a loss.
These results also confirm that the Slovenian environment and policies do
not provide the optimal conditions (as described by Dimitrova et al., 2017)
for immigrant students’ successful adaptation and point to the high level of
discrimination, the lack of opportunities for immigrants to keep a strong
ethnic identity, and their weak relational support at school and home.
Limitations and Recommendations
All things considered, we must bear in mind that this study was intend-
ed to be a preliminary one and, as such, is limited to use of the PISA back-
ground questionnaire whose primary function is not to test the PYD 5Cs.
To gain data more in line with the components of the PYD 5Cs, the 5Cs
questionnaire should be used to ensure comparability with similar stud-
ies relying on this instrument. Further, the Slovenian version of the PISA
2018 questionnaire did not specifically ask in which country an immigrant
student’s parents were born, meaning no control for country of origin was
possible. This opens up new avenues for research on this topic based on
differences among immigrant youth as well. It would also be interesting
170
