ABSTRACT
This study sought to determine whether parental achievement orientation predicts self-concept and academic self-efficacy of in-school adolescents in Enugu State. This desire was also motivated by the need to determine whether gender has any relationship with self-concept and academic self-efficacy of in-school adolescents. Four research questions and four null hypotheses guided the study. The design of the study was correlational research design. A total of 1160 senior secondary school students proportionately drawn from public senior secondary schools in Enugu State were used for the study. Three instruments namely: -
Parental Achievement Orientation Scale (PAOS), Adolescents Self-Concept Scale (ASS), and Academic Self-Efficacy Scale (ASES) were developed, validated and used for the study. The internal consistency reliability of the instruments were calculated using Cronbach Alpha procedure and reliability estimates of .81, .86 and .92 were gotten for the PAOS, ASS and ASES, respectively. Data obtained through the administration of the three were analyzed using Pearson’s r, R2 (coefficient of determination) to answer the four research questions while ANOVA and multiple regression were used to test the null hypotheses at 0.05 levels of significance which revealed the following findings: Parental achievement orientation significantly predicts academic self-concept of in-school adolescents. Achievement orientation of parents had 29 percent contribution in predicting the in-school adolescents’ self-concept; parental achievement orientation significantly predicts academic self-efficacy of in-school adolescents. Achievement orientation of parents had 45 percent contribution in predicting the in- school adolescents’ self-efficacy; gender significantly predicts self-concept of in-school adolescents. Gender of in-school adolescents had 11 percent contribution in predicting the in-school adolescents’ self-concept and gender does not significantly predict self-efficacy of in-school adolescents. Gender of in-school adolescents had zero percent contribution in predicting the in-school adolescents’ self-efficacy. A major educational implication of the findings was that the in-school adolescents could be educated on the importance of parental achievement orientation as the predictor of self-concept and academic self-efficacy. It was thus recommended that emphasis should be given to educating adolescents on the importance of parental achievement orientation as the predictor of self-concept and academic self-efficacy and that the conflicting signals from the societal system that are causing confusion of interpretation for young persons should be checked.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
The child’s first and foremost developmental process happens within the content of the family. Family plays a major role in the development of a child, where the parents and the significant others in the family play a major role in nurturing the child. When a child is born, the child depends on parents or the caregiver especially the mother for food sustenance and comfort. Thus, the place of parents in the complex task of child rearing cannot be under estimated. Whatever the child becomes in future, is tremendously dependent on the kind of upbringing, orientation and achievement the child was exposed to in all areas of life.
Achievement in all domains of life does not only excite an individual but also engenders in individual an aspiration for success and further accomplishments. Achievement is the level of performance attained by a learner in a particular task (Karma, 2009). For instance, if at the end of a term a student is able to pass all the subjects very well, the students has made an achievement. Achievement was defined by Ukah (2008) as the progressive realization of a predetermined and worthwhile goal. Ukah added that achievement is not an event but a ‘journey’ that is ongoing. It is a continuous struggle to achieve a set goal. It implies that achievement does not mean getting to the top anyhow, rather it entails acquiring things in any upright way or manner. Parents’ attitude towards achievement affects the adolescents’ achievement in academic work. That is why some adolescents try to reap where they did not sow. It is a problem, that is why in recent WAEC result analysis, 47.64% and 30.99% of credit pass in the year 2010 and 2011 respectively (WAEC 2010, 2011). In this study, achievement is conceived as the attainment of a set goal in a right way. Hence, one’s achievement orientation cannot be ignored in addressing one’s attainment in life.
Orientation is very important in the life of every adolescent. In other words, one’s constant effort to represent practically what one has learnt from the background training given to the adolescent can be understood as orientation. Orientation is an adjustment or adaptation to a new environment, situation, custom, or set of ideas (Houghton, 2009). Orientation is the process of familiarizing students with their new environment and introducing them to the workings of the school as a social system (Ejionueme, 2010). It involves a wide range of activities which help to acquaint the individual student with his environment. There are different dimensions of orientation such as mastery orientation and performance orientation. Orientation in this work connotes some body’s background training that helps the person to have interest towards struggling to achieve a set goal.
Achievement orientation is the standard that the individuals set that influences their actions, reactions, and motivation for learning or accomplishing a goal (Shim & Ryam, 2005). Achievement orientation involves the attitudes and behaviors individuals put up in pursuing a set goal. The question then includes what attitude could define the attainment of a standard an individual sets for oneself to conquer; how the individual goes about achieving life goals; the process of achieving the goals. Shim and Rynam stressed that, a secondary school student may aspire to be a medical doctor, reacts to that through hard work, reading extensively until one achieves one’s heart desire. The standard may be set by their parents and the children will take the action towards hard work, which lead to positive motivation. In other words, the method through which achievement goal will be attained should be carefully addressed because it may affect their academic achievement either positively or negatively.
There are positive and negative achievement orientations. Students of positive achievement oriented parents would always excel in their academic work which according to Elliot and Harackiewicz (1996) leads to mastery towards the achievement goal. This may eventually make their self-concept and academic self-efficacy high. But students from parents who are negative achievement oriented may always be dull in all their efforts which may lead to low self-concept and low academic self-efficacy.
For achievement to take its shape, parents need to play a vital role in the life activities of their children, especially the in-school adolescents. Parenting is the process of promoting the physical, emotional, social, and intellectual development of a child from infancy to adulthood (Wikipedia, 2013). Parental achievement orientation is the goals or level the parents have attained, which.....
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