Open-Mindedness: Report on the Study of Social and Emotional Skills of Chinese Adolescents (IV)

As one of the five dimensions of social and emotional ability, open-mindedness is derived from the openness factor of the "Big Five Personality", which describes one’s willingness to try and accept novel experiences. People with a high level of open-mindedness are more creative and artistic, while those with low level of openness are more obedient to tradition and pragmatic, but lack of innovation. According to the OECD research framework, open-mindedness includes tolerance, curiosity and creativity. This study is based on data collected from 10-year-old and 15-year-old students in Suzhou city participating in the OECD social and emotional ability assessment. It uses descriptive statistics, difference testing and regression analysis to present the performance of Suzhou students’ open-mindedness. This allows the study to provide reference for the accurate assessment of teenagers' social and emotional abilities, in addition to further developing the quality of education in China. The study presents data results from the following three parts: the first part presents the overall score of open-mindedness, the correlation between open-mindedness and other sub-abilities, and the age difference of open-mindedness (comparison between 10 and 15 years old group), gender difference, urban-rural difference, and the difference between general high and vocational high; the second part presents the factors influencing open-mindedness through regression analysis, including background variables, individual factors, family upbringing, teacher factors, and school factors; the third part presents the effects of tolerance, curiosity and creativity on academic achievement (Chinese, math, art), educational expectation, global consciousness, closeness to family, closeness to others, health, life happiness, life satisfaction, test anxiety and other life outcome variables of 10 and 15 year old students through regression analysis.

Food insecurity and school performance among the left-behind children in rural China: Depression and educational expectation as mediators

The present study aims to explore the associations between food insecurity and school performance, and the serial mediation of depression and educational expectation on the focal association, among Chinese rural left-behind children. This study conducted a cross-sectional survey on 2128 students (Grades 5–9, mean age = 13.21 years) who reported one or both parents had migrated into the urban sector. They responded to questions on school performance, educational expectation, The Food Insecurity Experience Scale, and The Birleson Depression Self-Rating Scale. Serial mediation modelling was used to test the mediating role of depression and educational expectation. It is found that food insecurity was significantly associated with school performance. Moreover, depression and educational expectation functioned as serial mediators and were fully mediating the association between food insecurity and school performance. The findings as with the severity of childhood food insecurity in rural China as well as its association with the negative consequences in children's education provide empirical support for contentions that food insecurity problem should be taken into account in designing and implementing school-based intervention programs for left-behind children. Moreover, schools shall pay special attention to the mental health risks of food insecurity among rural left-behind children.

The unobserved power of context: Can context moderate the effect of expectations on educational achievement?

There is growing evidence that shows that social context is becoming less significant in influencing educational achievements and expectations. Additionally, evidence indicates that expectations are high across the board and becoming of declining significance to educational achievement. In light of this, we reexamine and offer an alternative to the renowned linear models connecting background variables to scholarly achievement via pupils' educational expectation. Analysis of GCSE scores, using three consecutive waves of the Longitudinal Study of Young People in England, reveals that the verity of this classical claim is dependent on occupational class, ethnic origin, and school socio-economic status level. These results thus confirm an unrecognized effect of family and school background variables on achievement—not only to engender expectations but also to moderate their influence. This recognition expands and deepens understanding of inequality in educational achievement and social mobility by treating expectations as a resource and analytically distinguishing between the ability of a social group or a certain school to attain or create high expectations and their ability to capitalize on it and translate these into achievements. We find that in many cases, expectations still possess strong potential to transform into achievement, while in others they are high across the board and rather inconsequential.

Parent’s academic expectation dan Konsep Diri Akademik Terhadap Kecemasan Menghadapi Ujian Nasional siswa SMA

Ujian nasional merupakan salah tahap yang harus dilalui siswa SMA sebelum mereka dinyatakan lulus dari sekolah menengah. Meskipun tidak lagi menjadi prasyarat kelulusan, namun menghadapi ujian nasional tetap menimbulkan kecemasan tersendiri. Terdapat beberapa faktor yang mempengaruhi kecemasan dalam menghadapi ujian, diantaranya adalah faktor internal dan juga faktor eksternal dari siswa yang bersangkutan. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk melihat pengaruh parent’s academic expectation dan konsep diri akademik terhadap kecemasan dalam menghadapi ujian nasional pada siswa SMA. Metode yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah metode kuantitatif. Instrumen penelitian menggunakan 3 skala, yaitu skala parent’s educational expectation, skala konsep diri akademik, dan skala kecemasan ujian. Responden dalam penelitian ini berjumlah 163 siswa SMA. Data dianalisis menggunakan teknik analisis regresi berganda. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan nilai F = 31,90 dengan p = 0.000, artinya terdapat pengaruh yang signifikan antara harapan orang tua dan konsep diri terhadap kecemasan dalam menghadapi ujian nasional pada siswa SMA.