Chapter I The Problem 1. Introduction There are various connotations about education. Others say that it is the way to prosperity: others believe that it is a matter of recognition; still others reveal that education is what makes a person worthy to be emulated by others; and still others signify that education is reaching one’s ambition in life. Education is like an open field in which all the factors can show up: it could mold a nation; could make into habit values needed by citizentry; could move indifference among fellowmen; and could pall heartaches to happiness and camaraderie for a lasting friendship. What we could do to make ourselves worthy of being a man, not only in name, but in its true and real meaning. Academic knowledge gets you ahead in a competitive world. Academic performance really means three things: The ability to study and remember facts, being able to study effectively and see how facts fit together and form larger patterns of knowledge and being able to think for yourself in relation to facts and thirdly being able to communicate your knowledge verbally or down on paper. Good academic performance is also linked having good organizational skills such as a tidy place to work and good time management. And these are all things you need to consider. But this 'raise your academic performance' session focuses and concentrates on you having the right mind-set for raising your academic performance so you can learn more effectively. Academic achievement is one of the predominant factors leading to a child’s healthy future. Aiming for academic excellence, the department of education (DepEd) continually searches for better ways to improve the quality of education. Hence it implements different innovations to this country’s educational system. In 1
Transcript
Chapter IThe Problem
1. Introduction
There are various connotations about education. Others say that it is the way to prosperity: others believe that it is a matter of recognition; still others reveal that education is what makes a person worthy to be emulated by others; and still others signify that education is reaching one’s ambition in life.
Education is like an open field in which all the factors can show up: it could mold a nation; could make into habit values needed by citizentry; could move indifference among fellowmen; and could pall heartaches to happiness and camaraderie for a lasting friendship. What we could do to make ourselves worthy of being a man, not only in name, but in its true and real meaning.
Academic knowledge gets you ahead in a competitive world. Academic performance really means three things: The ability to study and
remember facts, being able to study effectively and see how facts fit together and form larger patterns of knowledge and being able to think for yourself in relation to facts and thirdly being able to communicate your knowledge verbally or down on paper.
Good academic performance is also linked having good organizational skills such as a tidy place to work and good time management. And these are all things you need to consider. But this 'raise your academic performance' session focuses and concentrates on you having the right mind-set for raising your academic performance so you can learn more effectively.
Academic achievement is one of the predominant factors leading to a child’s healthy future. Aiming for academic excellence, the department of education (DepEd) continually searches for better ways to improve the quality of education. Hence it implements different innovations to this country’s educational system. In spite of the DepEd’s effort, school institutions are not always free from problems and difficulties.
Improving the academic performance of high school student is currently a major concern. As a result, educations underscore the need to understand those manipulated influence that can affect student’s academic performance.
Parents and teachers have always been an important factor in enhancing student’s academic performance.
Teachers are the background of every education. They are the foundation of every profession. A teacher, teaches, instructs, guides and corrects the students in fields which are relatively new to them. The rule of teachers now has changed and continues to change from being an instructor to becoming a constructor, facilitator, coach, and creator of learning environments.
Accomplished teachers use multiple paths to knowledge to help students learn in different ways and use different modalities to take information and demonstrate knowledge. In order to meet these needs, accomplished teachers use a variety of strategies and method to insure that all students have equal opportunities to learn.
a. Factors that affect high school students’ academic performance in 3rd grading.
Sub Problems1. What are the perceptions of the respondents to the following factors?
I. Students’ Influencing Factors:a. Students’ Behavior and Characteristics
II. Parental Influencing Factors:a. Parents’ Behavior and Characteristicsb. Parents’ Involvement in students’ school worksc. Parents – Child Interaction
III. Teachers’ Motivating Factorsa. Teachers’ Behaviour and Characteristicsb. Teachers’ Skills and Teaching Methodc. Teachers’ Approach to Students
IV. Community’s Influencing Factorsa. Peer/Social Involvementb. Entertainment
V. Moderator Variables:a. Ageb. Genderc. Socio-economic Status
2. Is there a significant relationship between the following factors:a. Parent Factorsb. Teacher Factorsc. Community Factorsd. Moderator Variables
3. Which of the following variables best predict pupil’s academic achievement?a. Parent Factorsb. Teacher Factorsc. Community Factorsd. Moderator Variables
4. What is the profile of the respondents in terms of :
1. Age2. Gender3. Socio-economic status
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3. Hypothesis
Based on the concept-theories and related studies mentioned in this research, the following hypotheses were formulated:
1. Sub-problem number 1 is hypothesis free.2. There is no significant relationship between
a. The parent factors and the pupil’s academic achievementb. The teacher factors and the pupil’s academic achievementc. The community factors and the pupil’s academic achievementd. The moderator variables the pupil’s academic achievement
3. Sub-problem number 3 is hypothesis free.4. Sub-problem number 4 is hypothesis free.
4. Theoretical/Conceptual Framework
Lerners’ TheoryAccording to Richard M. Lerner, human development takes place when a
person interacts with the environment where one exists. Environment influences change the child. But the child also influences or changes the environment.
This reciprocal relationship is sometimes called bio directional (Eddowes et al:1998). Lerners theory states further that it is the natural tendency for the child to learn many things from his environment regardless of their favorable or unfavorable effect on his personality. This supports the idea that a child can acquire good or bad habits from his peer group that can affect his academic performance.
Braselton’s TheoryBrazelton emphasizes the importance of reciprocal interaction between
children and parent/caregiver. He describes it as a process with cycles of engagements and disengagement that are related to various areas as personal-social development. For example, when a young infant begins to coo, the mother imitates the baby’s sounds. After each has interacted in this experience several times and the mother pauses the infant will usually stop the activity also.
This has implications for the teacher on how she relates to her students. When the teacher exhibits a good example to the students, this also includes being competent so that good learning takes place. (Mc Devitt)
Piaget’s theoryAs individuals group, they also interact with people around them. According
to Jean Piaget, cognitive development is influence by social transmission, or learning from others. Without social transmission, people will need to reinvent all the knowledge already offered by culture.
The amount of knowledge people can learn from social transmission varies according to their stage of cognitive development. Piaget says that adult can learn a great deal about how children think by listening carefully, by paying close attention to
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the ways of solving problems. If teachers understand at a certain stage think they will be better able to match their teaching to children abilities.
Vygotsky’s TheoryVygotsky posited that Learning and Development always occur on two
distinct yet mutually constitutive planes: the social and the psychological. Learning is first mediated within an interpsychological plane, between the child and more knowledgable others, and also only later moves into the intrapsychological plane through a process called “internalization”. Internalization is a process whereby the individual, through participation in interpersonal interaction in which cultural ways of thinking are demonstrated in action, is able to appropriate them so they transformed from being social phenomena to being part of his or her own intrapersonal mental function. It is an appropriate in which information is taken in to use and manage the new skills in different ways for later application.
Bruner’s TheoryWhen a student are presented with programmed materials, they become
dependent on others. Instead of using techniques that features preselected and prearranged materials, Bruner believes that teachers should confront children with problems and help them seek solutions either independently or by engaging in group discussion. He also added that when a child are given a substantial amount of practice in finding their own solutions to problems, they not only develop problem-solving skills but also acquire confidence in their own learning abilities as well as a propensity to function later in life as a problem solvers. They learn how to learn as they learn.
Teaching should assist students to grasping structure of a field of study. Understanding the structure of a subject means understanding its basic of fundamental ideas and how they relate to each other.
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5. Research Paradigm
The conceptual paradigm given below shows the relationship between the
different independent variables (Parental influence, Teachers influence, Community’s
influence) and the dependent variable (Students’ Academic Performance).
Student academic performance
Moderator Variables: Age Gender Sex School level
1. Parental Influencing Factors:
a. Parents’ Behavior and Characteristic
b. Parents’ Involvement in students’ school works
c. Parents – Child Interaction
2. Teachers’ Motivating Factors
a. Teachers’ Behavior and Characteristic
b. Teachers’ Skills and Teaching Method
c. Teachers’ Approach to Students
3. Community’s Influencing Factors
a. Peer/Social Involvement
b. Entertainment
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6. Significance of the Study
The researchers believe that the result of this study is significant to the following: Parents: They will do their best to maintain a stable home environment;
supervise their children in learning activities at home; encourage their children to have a positive attitude toward their studies; and help reverse the process of underachievement in their children.
Teachers: they will understand their students better; establish good relationshipwith them; improve their teaching method; motivate students to study and improve their academic performance.
School administration and principals: They will be aware of the students’ needs; use direct intervention in improving school climate; and provide more school programs that enhance learning.
Subjects/ respondents of the study: The result of this study will help the students improve their academic performance by developing internal motivation that should lead to an increase in their academic engagement and self-efficiency.
Researchers: Finally, the study will help the researchers in their quest for more knowledge and information on the subject of study, and in their desire to help pupils improve the academic achievement.
7. Scope and Limitation
This study is limited to all levels of secondary education students of the selected Adventist University of the Philippines for the school year, 2009-2010. Its main thrust is to provide a descriptive analysis of parents, teachers, and community factors that influence academic achievement or performance. It also includes probing the significance of parents, teachers, and community factors to academic achievement when gender, birth order, and socio-economic status are considered.
8. Operational Definition of Terms
1. Community- is a partial or territorial unit of social organization in which people
have a sense of identity and feeling of belongingness
2. Grade Point Average (GPA) - refers to the average score given to a student after
adding the score obtained in a given number of subjects.
3. Guiding parents- this involves assistance, direction, and advice on what to do in
behalf of the child’s learning activities
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4. Parent – teacher influences. This refers to those parents’ and teachers’ behaviors
that would motivate students to develop either positive or negative attitude to
his/her academic performance.
5. Students academic performance. This refers to the observable responses or
behavior that students manifest through their school grades.
6. Parental motivating factors. This refers to the parent related behaviors which
invigorate a student to behave either positively or negatively towards school
academic performance.
7. Teacher motivating factors. These are the teacher related behaviors which
invigorate students to behave either positively or negatively towards their
academic performance.
8. Parents’ involvement in the students’ homework. This is the extent to which
parents show concern or participate in their children’s homework.
9. Parent – teacher relationship. This refers to the way parents and teachers
establish and maintain unity in order to be able to work together for the good of
the students.
10. Parent – child interaction. This is the way the parent and the child relate
together as they talk, work, play, reason, eat, etc, which makes the child know or
tell whether he/she is accepted or rejected.
11. Student attitude- defined attitude as state of mental and emotional readiness to
react to situations, person or things in a manner that is in harmony with a habitual
pattern of responses previously conditioned to, or associated with this stimuli
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12. Students’ attitude towards their home. This refers to the feelings or
impressions that students have developed in course of their interactions with their
parents and the rest of the family members.
13. Students’ attitude to their school. This refers to the feelings or impression that
students have developed as a result of their school experiences, i.e from their
interactions with the teachers, peers, their school alumni, from the school
subjects, from their school facilities, etc.
14. Teaching method. This refers to the recurrent pattern of the teacher behavior,
applicable to various subject matters, characteristic of more than one teacher and
relevant to learning. (Gage, 1968)
15. Teachers’ attitudes towards students. This refers to the emotional projections
that teachers portray in course of their interactions with the students which may
indicate to students whether they accept or reject them.
16. Teachers’ communication. This refers to the teachers’ ability to give instructions
and pass messages across to the students, parents and the community at large.
17. Teacher’s method- refers to the teacher’s action, procedures and manipulations
of organized subject matter, pupil behaviors and classroom environment.
18. Teacher’s practices- these refer to teacher’s activities related to their roles,
duties, and responsibilities toward the people whom they are working with
19. Television viewing habit- the present practices in relation to the time and times
and types of television programs he is watching
20. Video computer games- arcade games popular among adolescents usually rendered by
shopping malls, recreational sites and internet cafes.
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Chapter IIRelated Literature
Dependent Variable (Student’s Academic Performance)According to Arnheim et al (1972: 734), defines performance as any activity that
produces result; the execution of an action or series of action; the accomplishment of an understanding; how a person reacts to a task.
Belkin and Gray (1977:212), performance is the outcome or the observable behavior of what has been learned. For example, when a teacher administers an examination that requires the student to think out problems-to “use their minds”-what the teacher is doing is making the students translate what they learned into a measurable performance.
Clifford (1981; 234, 235), defines performance as a behavior that can be observed and recorded which is used to judge what a person has learned.
However, he goes further to say that performance is not the perfect measure of learning for there may be major discrepancies at times between learning and performance. Such difference may be due to fatigue, anger, lack of motivation, or inability to concentrate. He reminds us to be careful when we look at students’ performance to see what has or has not been learned.
Despite the possible differences between learning and performance, performance is the best index of what an individual is learned. For such reason therefore, teachers should encourage the students not only to learn but also to perform at their optimum level.
Cage/Berliner further added that in order to measure students’ learning, teachers should conduct evaluation. This means to find out how well the students have learned.
a. Students’ Behavior and Characteristics“As children grow older and become more capable decision-makers, parental control should shift to self-control. Making this shift is not always easy for the parent who has grown used to making decisions for the child. Some parents who have not solved control issues from their own childhood have a difficult time giving up their control over their children.”“Children want Power by Kay Kuzma” HEALTH AND HOME, jan-feb 2003 p.8-9
“Childhood. A time of giggles, jumping, exuberance, best friends. The absence of stress. A safety net where you are protected, secure, happy, worry-free.”“Children under stess by Sandra Doran” HEALTH AND HOME jan-feb 2003 p.16
Parent –teacher relationship. Both parents and teachers have information that contributes to the child’s well being and that allows them to meet each other on equal ground. Parents bring their knowledge and experiences about their child as a unique human being, and the teacher brings his theoretical knowledge of children in general. Both types of information have vital in order to create the best possible educational experience for each child (Feeney, Christenser, and Moravick, 1987:370)
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The teacher plays an important role in encouraging and supporting parent participation in his program. Active concerned parents can function as members of the teaching team, providing enriching experiences fir the children and working with individual children. They support children’s school experience when they join the teachers in the classroom and accompany them on their school trips. When parents function as part of the teaching team, everyone benefits- the parents, the teachers, and the children.
2. Parental Influencing Factors:a. Parents’ Behavior and Characteristics
“Parenting is a complex process, involving much more than a mother or father providing food, safety and succor to an infant or child. Parenting involves bidirectional relationship between members of two or more generations and can extend through all or major parts of the respective life spans of these groups. It may engage all institutions within a culture (including educational, economic, political, and social ones), and is embedded in the history of a people, as that history occurs within the natural and the designed setting within which the group lives.”
Parent’s interest. This kind of attention from parents pays off in good grades, according to a survey of more than 30,000 high school seniors in more than 1000 schools (NCES, 1985). This survey shows that the students with highest grades have the most involved parents. The father’s importance is especially noteworthy. Fathers seem to vary more than mothers in the degree to which they stay on top of children’s schoolwork.; the more involved the father is, the better his children fare. The father’s importance is also seen in the fact that children who live with both parents earn better grades.
These findings do not prove that parents’ interest improves students’ grades. The cause and effect relationship may, in fact, work the other way: young people who do well in school may stir parents’ interest, encouraging their involvement. It seems more likely, however, that parents stimulate their children to do well by showing interest and concern, and that the students’ achievements, in turn, stimulate their parents, so that the effect reinforces itself. Also, the parents of teenage students who do well are interested in more than their children’s homework and grades. These parents make time to talk to their children, to know what they are doing, and to be available. They take the children seriously both in and out of school, and the children reward that interest.
Parenting styles. More than 7000 high school students in the San Francisco Bay area filled out questionnaires showing how they perceived their parents attitudes and behaviours (Dornbusch, et al; 1987). An index for the survey showed that the three styles include the following:
● Authoritative parents tell adolescent children to look at both sides of issues, they admit that their children sometimes know more than they do, they talk about politics, and they welcome teenagers’ participation in family decisions. Students who get good grades receive praise and freedom; poor grades bring encouragement to try harder, offers help, and more parental direction over time management.● Authoritarian parents tell adolescents not to argue with adults, hold that parents are always right and should not be questioned, and say that young people will
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“know better when they grown up”. Good grades bring admonitions to do even better, and poor grades upset parents and lead to reduced allowances and grounding.● Permissive parents do not seem to care about their teenage children’s grades, make no rules about television, do not attend school programs, and neither help with nor check their children’s homework. (As Baumrind used the term, these parents’ motivation for providing little supervision may be either because those parents are neglectful and uncaring or, although caring and concerned, because they believe that children should be responsible for their own lives.)
Analysis of students’ grades and questionnaires showed a strong relationship between authoritative parenting and high achievement in school. Students who got low grades were more likely to have authoritarian or permissive parents or parents who were inconsistent in style. Inconsistency was associated with the lowest grades, possibly because children who do not know what to expect from their parents because anxious and less able to concentrate on their work. These relationships were stronger fro white students than in Hispanic, African-American and Asian families, all of which tended to be more authoritarian. (Thus, the survey did not explain the success of Asian students in American schools.) This study suggest a reason for the lower school achievement that a number of studies have found in students in single-parent homes: single parents tend to be more permissive. The style of parenting seems to make the difference, not the single-parent status itself. (Papalia, Daine E. and Sally W. Olds; 526-528)
b. Parents’ Involvement in students’ school worksActive participation and involvement of parents in curricular and extra-curricular
activities could result in a better understanding of the nature of the educational institution and the learning process. The pupils, teachers, and parents relationships are strengthened through associations in these activities. More active participation and involvement of the parents should be done since they are the first ones to influence the child’s development and have always been the most important agents of socialization of their children. (Espedido, Narmela P; 147)
Parents should not consider the school as a mere structure where children learn ideas all by themselves with the aid of teachers. Parents should also feel and carry out their responsibilities to their children not only at home but also in school affairs. It is quite alarming to note that nowadays, more children are without guidance since parents tend to be very busy all the time. Some children are drawn into drug addiction, alcoholism, delinquency, etc. as a means of solving their problems. The root of all these problems is with the parents, who are the most important agents of their children’s socialization. (Espedido, Narmela P; 147) If there is one thing can agreed on, it’s this: children do better in school when their parents get involved in their learning. They tend to get higher grades and have fewer behabior problems. They like school more and hold higher aspiration. They’re more likely to go on college. These effects cut across socioeconomic lines. All evidence points toward parents’ support as one of the most important factors in a child’s academic success.
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Unfortunately many moms and dads aren’t as attentive as they should be. In overwhelming numbers, teachers claim that students are less motivated academically today that they were ten to twenty years ago, largely because of low parental involvement and supervision. They say that many parents spend less time with their children, place fewer demands on them, and are less in touch with their school lives. These trends leave teachers in touch position. Even an excellent school cannot provide good education without help from home.
c. Parents – Child InteractionThe studies of Baldwin (1945) on parent-child relationship support his views. These studies suggest that acceptant, democratic parental attitudes were most growth- facilitating and that children of parents with these attitudes showed an accelerated intellectual development, originality, emotional security and control. The children of rejecting, authoritarian parents were unstable, rebellious, aggressive, and quaerrelsome.
The study conducted by Helper (1958) found a relationship between parental evaluations and acceptance of their children and the self-evaluations of the children. If the child finds that the appraisals are positive, he will find pleasure in his body and in his self. If he feels that these appraisals are negative, he will develop negative appraisals of his body and develops insecurity (Jounard and Remy; 1955)
The study made by Coopersmith (1967) found two kinds of parental attitudes and behaviours which appeared to be important on the formation of self-esteem or self-worth. Three areas of parent-child interaction seemed to be particularly important.
1. The first concerned the degree of acceptance, interest, affection, and warmth expressed toward the child. The data revealed that the mothers of children with high self-esteem were more loving and had closer relationships with their children that did mothers with low self-esteem. The interest on the part of the mother appeared to be interpreted by the child as an indication of his significant that worthy of the concern, attention, and the time of those who were important to him.
2. The second area of parent-child interaction related to permissiveness and punishment. The conditions that exist within the families with high self-esteem are notabthale for the demands that the parents make the firmness and care with which they enforce these demands. (Evangelista, Lourdes L; 39-40)
Relationship with parents. Furthermore, adolescents who get along well with their parents and whose parents are reasonably well adjusted tend to get higher grades and behave better in school (Forehand, et al; 1986). Researchers looked at grade-point averages and teachers’ behaviour ratings of 46 boys and girls whose age average 13 ½ assessed parents’ marital conflict and depression, and asked both parents and children to recall disagreements about such issues as cleaning the bedroom, homework, television and drugs.
The teenagers who had the most conflict with a parent had the most behaviour problems in school. Those whose mothers were depressed also tended to have problems, but a father’s depression did not have the same effect. Conflict with the father had more
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impact than conflict with the mother. Frequent disagreements with the mother did not affect school performance, but students who got along poorly with their fathers had lower grades than those who got along better. Surprisingly, parents’ marital relationship did not affect their children’s grades or behaviours.
“Parent-child relationship and family relationships more generally, there are marked behaviors supportive of the youth and by positive feelings connecting the generations are associated with psychologically and socially healthy developmental outcomes for the adolescent. However, some families do not have parent-child relations marked by support and positive emotions; and no family has such exchange all the times. Families experience conflict and negative emotions. Such exchanges also influence the adolescent; but as we might expect, the outcomes for youth of these influences differ from those associated with support and positive emotion.”
“As children became the focal point of all this anxious attention from parents who believed it was their job to keep these children happy, they became increasingly self-centered, self-indulgent, irresponsible and disrespectful” – john Rosemond, psychologist, “Several things hinder children’s development, including saying that they are doing well and passing out rewards to all regardless of how they are actually doing.”“What has gone wrong with praising kids? By Carol Maberly” HEALTH AND HOME, march-april 03 p.16-17
“Support your children in accepting a consequence as beneficial experience. Encourage them to keep a positive attitude about the experience. Help them develop the attitude that a valuable lesson can be learned from each mistake”“Don’t leave your children face major or traumatic consequences without your support. When the consequence is a tough one to bear, stay close, if, possible, and let your children know that you care. Otherwise, they might become discouraged, and discouragement leads to misbehavior.”“It doesn’t take much experience for children to have a pretty good idea about what would be a fair consequence for their misbehavior. So if you’re in question about what to do, or if your child is older and you feel he or she may resent your discipline, treat a child as God treated King David – allow the child to choose the consequences. God told David not to take census of the people, but David wanted to know how great his kingdom was, so he went against God’s instructions. To teach David the importance of obedience, God gave David the choice of consequences – three years of famine, three months of pursuit in battle, or three days of plague in the land (see 1 Chronicles 21). Self-imposed consequences are always easier to bear because they are something the person chooses. They can teach a lesson, nevertheless.”“A parent-imposed logical consequence by Kay Kuzma” HEALTH AND HOME, jul-aug 2004 p.9
4. Teachers’ Motivating Factorsa. Teachers’ Behaviour and Characteristics
A teacher can be a facilitator, a parent, a judge, a resource, a friend, and many more. The role, whatever is assumed, inevitably possesses tasks, duties, and models of relationships.
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Any role is influenced by some school of thought either directly and carefully learned or directly motivated as follows:
1. Authoritarian- a teacher of this type establishes and maintains order in school. The implied assumption is that teacher knows best and therefore should be obeyed. The teacher is “captain of the ship”.2. Permissive- this is the exact opposite of the authoritarian stance. The teacher allows individuals freedom to a maximum and believes that no punishment should be used. Here, anything goes.3. Behavior modification- a student learns best when his/her behaviour is reinforced. There is a suggestion here on teacher manipulation of learners.4. Interpersonal relationship- the belief here is that when positive relationships exist between teacher and the class, learning takes place. The teacher’s role is to provide a healthy classroom atmosphere within which learning will follow.5. Scientific- the learners’ behaviour can be predicted because the act of teaching can be systematically studied and analyzed. Hence, the teacher can prepare well ahead of time, the best situation in which learning can take place. The controversy of course, is that, more than science, teaching is an art. But as yet, no sufficient research evidence constitutes acceptable support for this thought.6. Social system- although learning has been an individual process, people in school are viewed as belonging to a wider social organization in which many influences are at work on the learner’s behaviour. Critics point out that teachers have little or no control over external factors and hence, necessarily act within the framework of the school.7. Folklore- teachers over the years have acquired and stored a bag of tricks. And the tricks are passed on as tips to the teachers. While tips may suit the person who proffers them, the same tips may not work with its recipients.
b. Teachers’ Skills and Teaching MethodCooperative learning can be defined as strategy for the classroom that is used to increase motivation and retention, help students develop a positive image of self and others, to provide a vehicle for critical thinking and problem solving, and to encourage collective social skills.
Problems met in using cooperative learning:1. Cooperative learning is too noisy.2. Cooperative learning takes so much time and effort.3. Cooperative learning can seem difficult to manage especially to a teacher who
is just starting to use it.4. In the classroom, students will not automatically start as soon as they are put
into small groups.5. Some group members may monopolize the time while low performing group
members may not be included. If someone chooses not to participate, the group cannot be successful.
6. Some group members may not respect each other. (Gapusan, Ronald B; 144)
Teachers may well be the most crucial individuals in a student’s life. High school students achieve more when their teachers are actively involved in making decisions
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about school policy. The teacher’s personality is not as important as what she or he actually does in the classroom. When teachers expect students to do well, show a concern involvement in their progress, and maintain pleasant, friendly classroom atmospheres, students respond favourably. On the other hand, students achieve poorly in classrooms where they are ridiculed, criticized, threatened or punished. (Papalia, Daine E. and Sally W. Olds; 529)
Classroom management is the result of a combination of a large number of factors and influences. These factors come from within the teacher and learners- from the nature of the subject matter and from the influences of the culture of the learning context on learning and teaching, including their role players.
Teaching is an art. It is both knowledge and practice, through the following strategies:1. Keep the student at center position- from planning to assessing lesson. As they
say “begin where it’s at”2. Teach a method, not communicate facts. Mcluhan’s “the medium is the
message” is an apt focus on this regard. Repeatedly, it has been stated that education is not a mere product; rather it is more a process.
3. Provide the students the opportunities to discuss and discover.4. The teacher is an actor/actress. To deliver, he/she has powerful tools like
presence, eyes, face, hands, and voice.5. Teaching yields effective results through multimedia approaches. Allow the
learner to hear, see, talk, smell, taste, and do. Use the board, chalk, pictures, music, movies and objects that can contribute or concretize concepts that must be learned. Employ a variety of practices than can make the learner think, think and think some more.
6. Establish a social climate that uses discipline as a method not as a punishment. When a student is gainfully engaged, there is left no space or chance or time to disrupt whatever is going on.
7. Make tests purposive. Such purposes may include feedback, learning, motivation, or evaluation.
8. Grades are educational measures- whether grades satisfy or disappoint, these are significant for as long as they provide honest and accurate feedback.
9. A teacher’s good preparation can never be substituted by any teaching method. In its simplest form, a good preparation addresses the following concerns: what subject to learn; why learn such subject matter; and how to make students learn and to assess target learning objectives/information.
10. A good teacher is such a wholesome phenomenon and experience in a class. Samuel Read Hall describes the good teacher as one with:
● Common sense● Uniform temper● Can discriminate character● Decisive● Affectionate● Morally discerning
Indeed, classroom management is a tough act. Instead, there seem to be crucial highlights about classroom management that may be worth a point of departure or a point for reflection.
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An effective and skilled teacher in classroom management can move towards his/her own personality. (Cioco, Rechilda R; 156-157)
“Teacher education and schools can cooperate in several mutually beneficial ways. First, teacher educators can use K-12 schools to enhance the professional experiences of teachers in training. Teaching requires skills that must be practiced over a period of time. Therefore, field experiences need to be emphasized. According to the training model suggested by Joyce and Showers, teachers acquire their skills through a series of steps beginning with theory, then modeling and practice, followed by feedback and coaching.”“Teacher Education and Schools, A symbiotic Partnership by Prema Gaiwad” JOURNAL OF ADVENTIST EDUCATION, april-may 2001 p.35
“Schools will improve automatically when we send them students who love to learn because their parents make learning interesting and give them time to learn by freeing them from extracurricular activities that rob them of that time. meanwhile, self-motivated learners whose parents provide them with a rich learning environment in the home manage to learn quite a bit and succeed even in the worst schools.”“Blame Parents, not Teachers by e. Christian” HEALTH AND HOME sept 2006 p.17
“The more you push your expectations about them rather than respecting their God-given characteristics, the more resistant they become to change – and the more defiant.”“Children are like strings; they tend to resist when they feel pushed or forced into doing something.”“Using the string strategy of not pushing your child should begin at birth by respecting the child’s rights as human being.”
c. Teachers’ Approach to StudentsPoor learners are pains in the neck of teachers. For their low performance, they
are sometimes subjected to ridicule and humiliations and even invectives. In very few cases, though, they are subjected to corporal punishment that ends in the courts resulting in dismissal of teachers.
Teachers should refrain from this malpractice because poor performance of pupils is not a fault all their own. It is possible that the teacher’s methods of teaching are not good enough to strike the learning chords of the students. Sometimes also, the poor performance of pupils is due to parental neglect as in the case of parents who just make the teachers baby sitters for their children while they go about their usual business unmindful of their children. In some cases, it is the social environment of the pupils that causes their poor performance as in the case of pupils who frequently are absent because of gambling, and drinking.
The situation needs reexamination. A positive attitude is necessary. Instead of ridiculing the poor learners, remedial measures should be instituted. Teachers and parents should cooperatively work together in developing pupil excellence. The community should provide an atmosphere that is conducive to learning – a community that is free from negative factors for learning like gambling, drinking, and other vices. The teachers,
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the parents, and the barangay officials should actively participate in the development of pupil excellence for the improvement of its inhabitants of the community as a whole. (Abrugar, Jesus G; 95)
There is absolutely no doubt that high academic achievement results from carefully tailored and well-managed classroom instruction which is closely controlled by a caring and trustworthy teacher. Unfortunately, teachers in general often find themselves teaching students who display a rather high level of off-task, unruly or disruptive behavior. Such behaviors may be called problem behaviors not so much because it irritates or exhaust the teacher but because it interferes with learning.
The warmth and acceptance within a friendly classroom climate is definitely a desirable factor in the promotion of the optimum development of the learners.
According to Ellis, effective learning can take place only within a supportive environment of which developmental guidance is a crucial component and where the teacher has many of the traits of an effective counselor; the ability to empathize with student’s patience and flexibility, excellent interpersonal skills, openness to new ideas and awareness of individual’s differences. (Lorica, Anica P; 246)
The pupil’s relationship with their teachers is an important factor in determining the academic achievement of the pupil. It is the teacher who primarily provides information that the pupils needs. If a mentor fails to deliver this knowledge in a positive and committed way, the pupils are likely to produce a negative response. However bright they may be, they reject what the teacher is trying to do and might as well under-achieve.According to Blishen and Maizles the students want teachers make an effort to understand the pupils. When they present knowledge in an interesting and enthusiastic fashion, the students will want to do the best they can. If teacher value achievement they must first learn the value of students. (http; // www.spartacus. Schoolnet.co.Uk/sociology report.html).
Seventy five high school students in a Chicago suburb carried beepers that rang at random once in every 2 waking hours. Each student was asked to report what she or he was doing at the time the beeper sounded- and where and with whom. From the total of 4489 self reports, Csikszentmihalyi & larson (1984) described what it is like to be a modern teenager.
The results showed the importance of peers. This adolescence spent more than half their waking hours with friends and classmates, and only 5 percent of their time with one or both parents. They were happiest when with friends. Being with the family ranked second, next came being alone, and last, being with classmates. Teenagers have more fun with friends- joking gossiping, and goofing around-than at home, where activities tend to be more serious and more humdrum. (Papalia, Daine E. and Sally W. Olds; 554)
What do teenagers do a typical day? With whom do they do it? Where they do it? And how do they feel about what they are doing? A study which observed 75 high school students in Chicago suburbs for one week showed that adolescents spent more than half their waking hours with friends and classmate and only 5% of their time with one or both
parents. They were happiest when with friends. Being with the family ranked second, next, being alone, last, being with classmate. Teenagers have more fun with friends joking, gossiping, and goofing around than at home, where activities tend to be more serious and more humdrum (Papalia:1993)
“Have teenagers really changed? Socrates, in about 500 B.C., described adolescents this way: “Youth today love luxury. They have bad manners, contempt for authority, no respect for older people, and talk nonsense when they should work. Young people do not stand up any longer when adults enter the room. They contradict their parents, talk too much in company, guzzle their food, lay their legs on the table, and tyrannize their elders”. With a few minor differences, we can agree that teenagers today are a lot like we were at that time. Teenager behavior today is nothing new. What has drastically changed for our youth is the world they live in.”“Information Overload. Technology has brought with it blessing and curse, especially to our youth. What in the past they have only heard about today they know and see – violence, drug, hard-core pornography, “secret” lives of celebrities and public officials, deviant lifestyles, and sexual message everywhere.”“In the world with teens by Miriam S. Tumangday” HEALTH AND HOME nov-dec 2000 p.7
“Now, this is where the problem area comes in as far as Filipino youngsters are concerned. At this juncture, they join their peer groups, or barakadas, as “birds of a feather flock together.” And what are their activities? Very often you see them at tiangues sitting down, strumming a guitar sometimes the whole day long. More often than not, they learn certain vices at this time, like gambling, smoking or drinking. Or worse yet, they hold pot sessions where they use drugs, such as shabu or marijuana. And those of college age sometimes join fraternities or sororities where hazing is often used in their initiation rites. Many of the barkadas eat and drink the whole nigh through. They sing using the karaoke the whole night through, disturbing the working man who needs to sleep because the following day he has to be at his job. These young people become very rowdy when the alcohol content of the inumin ng tunay na lalake reaches their brains. And sometimes they engage in vandalistic activities.”“the Barkada Symdrome by Gil G. Fernandez” HEALTH AND HOME sept-oct 2000 p.11
“Young people who drink are more likely to use tobacco and other drugs and engage in at-risk behaviors than those who do not drink.”“Teens drink out of curiosity, to feel good, to reduce stress, to relax, to fit in, and to feel older. They are also influenced by the advertisements they see of handsome men and gorgeous ladies enjoying alcohol and of their parents drinking.”“Alcohol and the Teens by Lucile B. Tanalas” HEALTH AND HOME may 2006 p.12
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“Kids are starting to drink at an earlier stage for many reasons; wanting to be cool, waning to fit in, wanting to escape the misery at home with so many dysfunctional families, just ‘cause it’s there.”“I’m an Alcoholic by Tamara Michalenko” HEALTH AND HOME may 2006 p.28
b. EntertainmentNowadays, it cannot be denied that television shows greatly affect our youngsters.
This is due to the fact that television sets are rampant in every part of our archipelago. Even those places without electricity or in the remote barangay, TV sets are present. But the question remain, are they helpful to children’s learning?
Teresa L. dela Cruz wrote the effects of television shows and these are the following:
1. TV can possibly influence a person to want or buy things which are not good for him.
2. TV can cause a person to run away form problems instead of facing them and trying to solve them.
3. TV can possibly take the place of spending time with friends and other people.4. TV can possibly take place of doing creative things.5. TV can possibly cause a person to become watcher instead of doer. (dela Cruz,
Teresa; 105)
Television has become one of the most potent and destructive influences on education today. It is the atomic bomb of some youngsters’ school careers. By controlling their time, attention, and habits, it virtually wrecks their chances for academic success. It is incredibly persuasive teacher, and many of its lessons are the opposite of what children need to learn. Too much television can harm child’s education. It can harm its character. Television eats up an enormous portion of many kid’s lives. American children watch on average more than three hour every day. Some watch much more. In a great many households, the TV set is on almost constantly. By the time they graduate from high school, many students spent more hours watching TV than doing homework, reading, or talking to their parents.
About one third of typical American’s free time spent watching TV-occupying more time than the next ten most popular leisure activities combined. In fact, it’s safe to say that the act of watching television is the single greatest consumer of leisure time of human race has ever known.
Here are some reasons you should be concerned about the amount of TV watched in your home:
● Too much TV means bad grade. Extensive viewing often goes hand on hand with poor academic performance. Sitting in front of the set hour after hour can translate into less learning and slower in intellectual development.
● Families and children lose opportunity time. Too much TV is damaging because of the behavior it prevents and the opportunities it steals. A child who is staring at a screen is not reading or writing. He’s not doing homework, at least not seriously. He’s not having an attentive conservation with mom and dad. He’s not getting exercise.
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Those are the kinds of activities that turn children into healthy, happy, smart students. Turning on the TV turns off such endeavors.
● TV is too easy. Most TV viewing involves less concentration and alertness than just about any other daily activity. That’s one of its chief attractions-all you have to do is sit back and stare. Many teachers note that when children get hooked on passive entertainment, they have a harder time mustering the effort that study requires.
● TV caters the short attention spans and immediate gratification. Teachers also know that it’s harder for children to concentrate for any length of time when they’re programmed to expect TV’s rapid-fire format and channel-surfing mind-set. Television teaches that if you don’t like what see, zap it and move on to something else. Don’t stick with things that aren’t immediately enjoyable.
● Children receive harmful messages. The average American child sees tens of thousands of acts of glamorized violence on TV before he has finished grade school. The American Academy of Pediatrics warns the “Significant exposure to media violence increases the risk of aggressive behavior in certain children and adolescents, desensitizes them to violence, and makes them believe that the world is a meaner and scarier’ place than it is.The average young viewer is also exposed to 14,000 sexual references each year. Many programs treat children to a barrage of image signaling the promiscuity is not only chic but also largely free of risk and responsibility.
● Television makes moral education harder. Given what’s on the screen, excessive television watching not only threatens young child’s intellect; it puts character training at risk. In survey of 4,000 parochial school teachers, half stated that television and the media are the greatest obstacles to teaching morals to students.
6. Moderator Variables:a. Ageb. Genderc. Socio-economic Statusd. Intervening/Moderator Variables
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Chapter IIIMethodology
This Chapter deals with the methods and procedures of this study. It presents the research designs, the population sample, data gathering procedures, instrumentation, and data analysis.
Research DesignThe researchers used the correlation method of research to examine the extent to
how parents, teachers, and the community, influence or relate to students’ academic performance. There are several dependent variables made to associate with the independent variable. Parental influencing factors, Teachers’ influencing factors and Community’s Influencing Factors are the dependent variables for this research; whereas, Students’ Academic Performance serves as the independent variable.
Population and SampleThe population sample of this study comprises all levels of secondary or high
school education of the Adventist University of the Philippines. 25 randomly selected individuals for each high school level, will be asked to answer the questionnaire. If this were done, a total of 100 high school students of all levels, will be the total number of respondents.
Data GatheringApproval of study proposal. Certain measures or actions were taken to acquire
consent to carry out this form of exploration, examination, and thorough investigation for the advancement of secondary education in the Philippines.
Administering of Questionnaires. After the approval of the proposal by the research committee, permission was sought in writing from the administrators of the selected school (Adventist University of the Philippines), by the Dean of the College of Nursing, AUP, on behalf of the researchers. As soon as authorization was granted, the researchers visited the students personally and dispensed the questionnaires systematically through the help of the administrators of the selected classrooms.
Questionnaire:Direction: Please indicate the degree of agreement with how you feel about the parents,
teachers, and community factors that influence your academic achievement by encircling
the letters representing the choices using the scale below.
5 – Strongly Agree (Lubusang Sumasang-ayon)
4 – Agree (Sumasana-ayon)
3 – Undecided (hindi sigurado)
2 – Disagree (Hindi Sumasang-ayon)
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1 – Strongly Disagree (Hinding Hindi sumasang-ayon)
Parent factors SA A U D
SD
1. My parents encourage me to complete my school work. 5 4 3 2 1
2. My parents want me to complete my homework before 5 4 3 2 1
doing anything else.
3. My parent helps me when i have difficulties with my 5 4 3 2 1
homework.
4. My parents want to see my completed homework before 5 4 3 2 1
i go to bed.
5. I discuss my future career with my parents 5 4 3 2 1
6. I discuss school subjects with my parents. 5 4 3 2 1
7. I sit with at dinner table with my parents. 5 4 3 2 1
8. I ask my parents about things that I do not understand. 5 4 3 2 1
9. I play games with my parents. 5 4 3 2 1
10. My parents provide their personal time and effort to 5 4 3 2 1
support my school activities more freely.
11. My parents provide rewards and praises for my 5 4 3 2 1
job-well done in the class.
12. My parents encourage me to get involved in school 5 4 3 2 1
activities which could develop my talents and abilities.
13. My parents scolded me when I get low grades. 5 4 3 2 1
14. My parents listen to me when I have problems in 5 4 3 2 1
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my lesson.
15. My parents encourage me to pray before I study my lesson. 5 4 3 2 1
10. He/she cares for the success of every student. 5 4 3 2 1
11. He/she is friendly to all students. 5 4 3 2 1
12. He/she is patiently guides pupils who cannot express well. 5 4 3 2 1
13. He/she welcomes students who ask for clarification 5 4 3 2 1
on the lesson whether inside or outside the classroom.
14. He/she uses gestures effectively. 5 4 3 2 1
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15. He/she does his/her routinely class activities in a 5 4 3 2 1
systematic way.
16. The teacher speaks clearly and loud enough to be 5 4 3 2 1
heard by the whole class.
17. He makes clear illustration on the board to explain 5 4 3 2 1
the lesson.
18. The teacher is enthusiastic when he discusses the 5 4 3 2 1
lesson for the day.
19. He/she requires the students to be attentive during 5 4 3 2 1
the class periods.
20. He/she urges and encourages students to participate 5 4 3 2 1
in class discussion.
Community
1. I get along very well with my peers. 5 4 3 2 1
2. My peer group is interested in joining school 5 4 3 2 1
academic contest.
3. I and my peer groups sometimes get involved in 5 4 3 2 1
some recreational activities.
4. My peer group can help me in doing my school 5 4 3 2 1
assignments/project.
5. I always follow my peer group wherever they go. 5 4 3 2 1
6. I spend more hours with my peer group than studying 5 4 3 2 1
my lesson.
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7. My peer group have vices such as tobacco and alcohol. 5 4 3 2 1
8. I prefer to watch exciting TV show. 5 4 3 2 1
9. I enjoy playing with video computer games. 5 4 3 2 1
10. I have my own computer at home. 5 4 3 2 1
11. I often play video computer games in video center or malls. 5 4 3 2 1
12. After watching TV i feel lazy to study my lesson. 5 4 3 2 1
13. I spend more than an hour watching others playing 5 4 3 2 1
video computers at home or video centers.
14. I stop watching TV during our examination week. 5 4 3 2 1
15. I watch T V after I have done my homework. 5 4 3 2 1
Retrieval of Questionnaires. Once the respondents have completed the questionnaires, the researchers who have supervised the survey will now gather the answered questionnaires and proceed to analysis.
Unit Analysis. Analysis of data will be done by the researchers at a student level.
InstrumentationThe researcher used a self-constructed questionnaire based on the related
literature and previous studies that relates to this problem. This was done to measure the variables in the conceptual paradigm. Section one of the instrument contains items on the parents motivational factors, section two contains items so teachers’ motivational factors; while section three contains items on the students’ relationship with the community.
Before administering the instrument, it would undergo a validity and reliability test which would be conducted by a panel of experts who will rate the appropriateness of each item on a scale of 1 to 10. After the validation of the instruments’ a study will be conducted using 100 students randomly selected from two randomly selected sections of secondary education. We may obtain which confirmed the validity and reliability of the instrument.
Statistical Treatment- which one? Descriptive statistics or Inferential?
To determine the external factors that influence the pupil’s academic achievement, the following statistical treatment were used:
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For sub-problem number 1, mean and standard deviation were used to identify the level of classroom performance of the respondents and to find out the existing condition of the external factors.
For sub-problem number 2, correlations were used to measure the relationship between 4 variables.
For sub-problem number 3, a stepwise regression was used to identify the predictor(s) of the dependent variable, which is, academic achievement.
For sub-problem number 4, frequency distribution was used to identify the profile of the respondents.
