Exploring children's beliefs about educational risk and resilience. (The scholarship of teaching and learning).

Abstract

In the struggle to develop effective methods for promoting students' academic success, adults have neglected to listen to children's perspectives. Without a clear grasp of what is relevant, helpful, and motivating for children, attempts to foster success may flounder. The two purposes of this study were to explore children's beliefs about what they want and need to achieve academic success and to pilot a methodology for studying children's beliefs. Findings indicate children believe academic success is supported by: Home Environment, Classroom Teacher, Fun in the Classroom, Good Grades, Personal Effort, Having Friends, and Help with Homework. Results also indicate that the interview methodology is an effective tool for studying children's beliefs. Recommendations are made for future studies.

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In the discussion about how to promote children's academic success, one voice has gone unheard. While many studies have collected the opinions of teachers and other experts, few have explored elementary children's beliefs about what contributes to academic success (McCallum, Hargreaves, & Gipps, 2000). This is a serious oversight because children have unique viewpoints and values about many things, including their education (Howard, Dryden, & Johnson, 1999). As the number of students at risk for school failure grows, so does the potential for illiteracy, poverty, drug dependency, teenage pregnancy, welfare dependency, and criminal activity (Barr & Parrett, 1995). Given the negative implications of these outcomes, there is an urgent need for insight into factors that foster students' academic success. Listening to children's perspectives is a pivotal part of this task.

Childhood Risk and Resilience. Studies of risk have identified many factors posing a significant threat to children's well-being and positive adaptation (Luthar, Cicchetti, & Becker, 2000). These risk factors tend to "co-occur, and when they do, they appear to carry additive and possibly exponential risk" (Masten, Best, & Garmezy, 1990, p.426). The identification of risk factors has helped shape effective intervention and treatment programs for vulnerable children. Risk research has also encountered at-risk children who exhibit healthy adjustment despite their difficult circumstances (Werner & Smith, 1992). This process of positive adaptation in the face of severe risk or adversity is referred to as resilience (Luthar, Cicchetti, & Becker, 2000). Resilience is not a singular personality trait. Rather, it is a dynamic interaction between the characteristics of a vulnerable child (such as social skills, problem-solving ability, and sense of autonomy) and the resources in his or her environment (such as caring families, schools, and communities) (Howard, Dryden, & Johnson, 1999).

Educational Resilience. Experts have recognized that children who display resilient behavior in one area of functioning may not necessarily exhibit competence across other domains of adjustment (Luthar, Cicchetti, & Becker, 2000). For example, it is quite possible for a child to display social competence but struggle academically. Therefore, investigations have begun to explore the factors that contribute to educational resilience--"the heightened likelihood of educational success despite personal vulnerabilities and adversities brought about by environmental conditions and experiences" (Wang, Haertel, & Walberg, 1996, p. 1).

Previous research suggests academic success can be facilitated by environmental factors such as parental involvement (Russell & Elder, 1997) and personal characteristics such as self-efficacy (Pintrich & Schunk, 1996). However, the majority of extant research has focused on educational resilience in adolescence (e.g. Johnson, 1997). There are few studies examining children's educational resilience and little documentation of their ideas in this domain. Without knowledge of the factors most relevant to children in academic success, attempts to increase their achievement will likely be limited. Thus, the primary purpose of the present study was to explore and describe children's beliefs about what they want and need to achieve academic success.

Given that the central purpose of the present study was to talk and listen directly to children, the interview was deemed to be the most appropriate methodology. However, since results gained through interviews can be affected by differences in children's attention and fluency (Yussen & Kane, 1983), a modified interview format was developed for this study. Thus, the secondary purpose of the present study was to pilot this method for exploring children's beliefs.

Method

Sample

Participants were recruited from a Colorado Charter School. This institution is a public school initiated by parents and educators. It is funded by and accountable to the local school district and the state but operates with more autonomy and site-based decision-making than non-charter schools. Students are not charged tuition to attend. The school is located in an agricultural community of approximately 63,000 and enrolls roughly 600 students in grades K-12. Twenty-eight percent of the students are minorities and all socioeconomic groups are represented.

Forty students (17 males and 23 females) in grades three through six participated in the study. Participants' ages ranged from eight to eleven years of age. The distribution of participants was as follows: nine third grade students, ten fourth grade student, ten fifth grade students, and eleven sixth grade students. The racial composition of the participants included 87% White, 10% Hispanic, and 3% Other.

Design

This investigation employed a semi-structured interview based upon a constructed situation (CS). This method has been used and recommended for investigating children's beliefs (Grotberg, 1996). The CS methodology involves constructing a scenario representative of a real life dilemma. The scenario is shared and the child is asked to provide his or her opinion about the CS. The CS method allows the child respond to the scenario without having to directly reveal information about personal academic success or failure that might be difficult or embarrassing.

In light of research on the limits of children's working memory (Dempster, 1981), the CS was limited to six main points. Furthermore, in order to facilitate attention and working memory, the six points of the CS were illustrated by a professional artist in a six-frame color cartoon page. The cartoon page was placed on the table in front of the child and used as a reference throughout the semi-structured interview. Illustrating the whole CS with the cartoon pictures made the interview enjoyable for the children and provided visual cues to stimulate thinking.

The CS depicts two boys from single-parent households at-risk for school failure. The boys were described as best friends who have almost everything in common. The key difference was that one was described as liking school and doing well, while the other was described as hating school and not doing well. A team of experts including a youth and family services worker, a private practice counselor, and a school counselor deemed the completed CS to be meaningful and developmentally appropriate for children in grades three through six.

Procedure

Upon receiving parental consent, the researcher met with each participant in a quiet corner of the school library during a time deemed appropriate by the child's teacher. The study was explained and each child received and signed an assent form. A 10-minute interview was completed as part of a larger study about educational resilience. The researcher displayed the cartoon page on the table in front of the child. While the child looked at the cartoon page, the researcher pointed to the pictures and told the following story: "Robert and Daniel are good friends and they both are in fifth grade. They live in the same part of town and they hang out and do stuff together. Neither boy has a dad and so their moms have to work a lot to support their families. Their moms are often tired when they get home at night because they have to work so hard. Both boys go to the same school but they are in different fifth grade classes. Now here's the interesting part. Even though they have all these things in common, they have one important difference. Robert really likes school but Daniel hates it. Robert is doing pretty well, but Daniel isn't." The interviewer then asked the following questions with appropriate probes: Why do you think there is a difference between Daniel and Robert? Do you think one of these boys might eventually drop out of school? Why? The participants' responses were audiotaped and transcribed for analysis.

Analysis

Given the exploratory nature of this study, inductive content analysis was employed to examine emergent themes (Patton, 1990). In the first phase of analysis, participants' responses were segmented and coded. Each unique segment was given a specific code. In the second phase, the researcher searched for conceptual similarities among the coded responses. This process produced a total of 14 groupings. The final phase of analysis consisted of refining the 14 groupings to produce seven main categories. Frequencies were calculated for each of the final categories.

Results

Analyses suggest that when children talk about what they want and need to achieve academic success, they identify the importance of: Home Environment, Classroom Teacher, Fun in the Classroom, Good Grades, Personal Effort, Having Friends, and Help with Homework. These seven categories were interpreted as representing the aspects most relevant to children in the experience of academic success.

Home Environment

When asked about why there is a difference between Robert and Daniel, a majority of participants (55%) thought that parents' involvement and support played an important role in academic success and failure.

   "Maybe Robert has a mom that gives him flashcards every single night and
   she works with him even though she's very, very tired." (fourth grade
   female)

   "One part that really helps me be successful in school is my mom talking
   about how good she did in school and like not bragging about it but like
   just telling you how fun it can be." (sixth grade male)

   "Maybe it's Daniel's dad's fault because he doesn't give enough support.
   And his mom's usually asleep or at work and he's just kind of alone."
   (fourth grade male)

Participants also thought that children's positive and negative feelings about their home situation could impact academic success.

   "Robert's having a good time at home and Daniel's not." (fifth grade male)

   "Maybe he misses his father or something ... or he doesn't get much sleep
   because he's waiting for his mother to come home." (third grade female)

   "Daniel doesn't like the fact that he doesn't have a dad. He doesn't think
   it's fair ... and maybe that's why he's not doing good in school." (fourth
   grade female)

Classroom Teacher

As participants explained why one boy would like school and the other hate it, 50% suggested that the teacher plays an important role. Specifically, they thought that the teacher's disposition makes a difference.

   "I think Daniel doesn't like school because his teacher is kind of mean."
   (third grade female)

   "Maybe [Robert's] teacher's nicer to them, let's them participate more."
   (sixth grade female)

The participants also believed that a teacher's ability plays an important role in children's success.

   "Probably Daniel doesn't have a really good teacher." (fifth grade male)

   "If one teacher was really good or something and the other wasn't really
   doing a very good job." (fourth grade female)

Fun in the Classroom

Thirty-eight percent of the participants mentioned the role of fun ("learning new things and not reviewing things" sixth grade male) and boredom ("just sitting and listening to the teacher talk and talk and talk" sixth grade female) in academic success.

   "Well maybe it's fun for [Robert]." (third grade male)

   "If it's just boring and stupid and just not worth it, then it's not fun
   for them and they don't like it." (sixth grade female)

Good Grades

Over one-third (38%) of participants linked getting good grades with liking and hating school.

   "Well, I can see how you wouldn't really like school if you weren't doing
   very well in it. That's pretty easy to understand." (sixth grade female)

   "When I wasn't doing good at school I didn't really like it." (fourth grade
   male)

   "When you don't learn, you don't feel very good. I don't really feel good
   if I'm not doing good in school, so I wouldn't expect [Daniel] to either."
   (fifth grade girl)

Personal Effort

Thirty-five percent of the participants indicated a connection between liking school and expending personal effort.

   "Maybe Daniel doesn't work as hard." (fifth grade male)

   "Robert works harder and Daniel doesn't." (fourth grade male)

Having Friends

The importance of friends in academic success was identified by 30% of the participants. Friends are important because they can provide companionship, help, and motivation.

   "What helps is if you have someone that's in the same level of whatever
   you're doing to have fun with." (fourth grade male)

   "The different classrooms ... they're not together all the time, so they
   can't help each other out." (third grade male)

   "If they have friends in their classes ... you have a reason to try."
   (sixth grade girl)

Help with Homework

Finally, 18% suggested that academic success was related to getting help with homework from parents, teachers and/or friends.

   "[Robert's] grandma or aunt and uncle live nearby so he can just walk over
   there to get help with his homework." (fifth grade boy)

   "[Teachers] should help [students] with their homework more." (sixth grade
   male)

Future Predictions

When asked if one of these boys might drop out of school in the future, an overwhelming majority (98%) responded in the affirmative.

   "If you don't do good in school and you don't like school then you would
   think, why should I go to school if it doesn't teach me anything?" (third
   grade girl)

Discussion

This study set out to explore children's beliefs about what helps children to overcome adversity and do well in school. The participants' responses were impressive, suggesting that elementary children have and can articulate their beliefs about factors that help and hinder success. The findings from this sample support previous research regarding the importance of supportive relationships at home, with the teacher, and with friends. Furthermore, the results align with extant literature regarding the strong connection between not liking school and dropping out (NELS, 1988).

These findings extend the literature by identifying factors salient to children that may have been overlooked. For this sample, enjoyment of school is closely connected to obtaining good grades, investing personal effort, and getting appropriate help with homework. However, success is also related to involvement in a fun classroom with a skilled teacher who is not mean. None of the participants attributed Daniel's dislike of school to his lack of ability or intelligence. Rather, most made situational attributions identifying salient factors in the school and home environment.

Since the sample chosen for initial data collection is not representative of all students, generalization of these findings is limited. Future studies are being planned for replication with students from diverse schools and ethnic backgrounds. These studies will also delve more deeply into children's specific beliefs regarding: the role of students' ability, what makes a teacher "mean", what makes a teacher "good", what makes a classroom "fun", how friends help, and what kind of homework help is the most meaningful.

Participants' responses suggest that the CS methodology is a valid tool for tapping children's beliefs about academic success. Not only did children respond to the scenario, they frequently moved beyond it to share examples of factors that have contributed to their own academic success. Future studies of children's beliefs will benefit from using the CS methodology but will also need to adjust it to include different combinations of gender, ethnicity, and family status.

Experts have long recognized the necessity of finding ways to help children be successful at school. This study provides the opportunity for educators, parents and policy-makers to hear what is most relevant, helpful, and motivating for children--in their own words. Attending to these perspectives will allow adults to be most effective in fostering children's academic success.

References

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Jayne A. Downey, University of Northern Colorado 

Jane is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Educational Psychology. She teaches in the Professional Teacher Education Program and conducts research on educational resilience.