Academic Orientation as a Function of Moral Fit: The Role of Individualizing Morality

Researchers have studied academic orientation—students’ valuing of and commitment to education—as in part a function of a cultural fit between students’ cultural capital, competencies, identity, and the institutional culture of the education system. Recent research on students’ aspirations and commitment highlights the moral undertones of such cultural fit. Scholars have identified the perceived moral connotations of becoming “an educated person” and illustrated how students’ academic orientation may be intertwined with the unique moral culture of the education system. Neoinstitutional scholars have examined modern education systems’ emphasis on an individualizing type of moral culture, that is, an institutional moral culture emphasizing individual autonomy, rights, and achievement over traditional mores, knowledge, and social hierarchies. Scholars have yet to bridge these streams of research by examining the link between students’ personal moral culture and the institutional moral culture of education systems. In this study, we consider whether students whose moral orientation matches the individualizing moral culture of education systems are more academically oriented. We conceptualize this link as moral fit, and we use moral foundations theory to identify students’ personal moral culture. Analysis of a unique sample of students drawn from all secondary schools in Iceland (N = 10,525) shows (1) individualizing moral intuitions (those that emphasize the individual as the basic moral unit) are associated with a greater academic orientation, net of parental involvement, cultural capital, and other important controls, and (2) this association is only lightly moderated by differences in the school structure.

The Utility of Brief Mattering Subscales for Adolescents: Associations with Learning Motivations, Achievement, Executive Function, Hope, Loneliness, and Risk Behavior

The current study examined the feasibility of adapting an existing measure to create a brief mattering measure suitable for use with adolescents. We then evaluated this brief measure by testing the hypothesis that mattering in adolescents is associated broadly with positive achievement outcomes and associated motivational orientations and behavioral tendencies. A sample of 206 high school students completed a slightly modified version of the Mattering Index, the Pattern of Adaptive Learning Scales, and a measure of executive function. School grades, school risk behavior, and social risk behavior were also assessed. Participants also completed measures of hope and loneliness. Psychometric analyses resulted in two brief four-item mattering subscales tapping a) general mattering and b) mattering by giving value to others. Correlational and regression analyses established that both mattering factors were associated with a positive academic orientation and higher grades. Mattering was also associated with less risk behavior, lower levels of loneliness, and higher levels of hope. Gender differences were found in terms of levels of mattering and the correlates of mattering. The findings are discussed in terms of how a focus on the promotion of mattering should contribute to an adaptive academic orientation, enhanced self-regulation, and the capacity to be adaptable and resilient.

Improving school performance and student academic orientation: the role of safety-oriented knowledge management and diversity

Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine the influence of the implementation of safety-oriented knowledge management (KM) processes and student diversity acceptance in schools and the interaction effect of safety-oriented KM processes and student diversity acceptance over school performance and student academic orientation. Design/methodology/approach Responses of 977 American schools available in the database of the National Center for Education Statistics were analyzed using hierarchical regression analyses. Findings Results show that implementation of safety-oriented KM processes and diversity acceptance in schools have varying effects on school performance and student academic orientation. The impact of knowledge acquisition from parents on the academic achievement of students is positive and stronger in schools that are low in student diversity acceptance than schools that are high in student diversity acceptance. Originality/value This study adds value to the KM literature by exploring how KM processes are executed in American schools to improve their performance and students’ academic orientation and how diversity among students alters the strength of the relationships.

THE DIMENSION OF THE TEACHER’S ETHOS IN DRAWING ACADEMIC ORIENTATION AND ACHIEVEMENT OF LEARNERS

This article aims to study the influencing relationship of self-image of the teacher on learners. It reveals the teacher’s ways of presenting himself to learners inside and outside the classroom, and through parallel activities. These activities create a model image (ideal ethos) that pushes many learners to abandon previous study orientations chosen by themselves, by their parents or by the guidance department in educational institutions. They also make them highly motivated to learn as a result of the positive impact that the teacher creates in a given specialty or subject. The teacher in this context is not only providing lessons, he is also a mentor, a social assistant, and psychotherapist who enhances the sense of the educated self, gives it hope and confidence, and encourages it to achieve its desired goal. Therefore, the learner seeks as a result the prestigious position in society that psychologists define as the highest human goal that makes an individual someone who has integrity and is beneficial to himself and to others. To conclude, the teacher plays an important role in charting the learners’ path towards specific trends as a result of the picture he draws for them, based on his academic or professional career or as a result of the way he works with them in the classroom. Indeed, the innovative and creative ways sets every teacher apart from other teachers. Keywords: Ethos, Teacher, Argumentation, Learner.

Disproportionate School Punishment and Significant Life Outcomes: A Prospective Analysis of Black Youths

This study tested relationships between racial inequalities in the school system—specifically, the disproportionate punishment of Black students—and life outcomes for Black youths, along with moderating psychological factors. In an 18-year longitudinal study of 261 Black youths (ages 11–29), we investigated whether adult life outcomes varied as a function of adolescent self-control and academic achievement. We tested whether relationships were moderated by the racial climates of the high schools that youths attended, using administrative data on relative punishment rates of Black and White students. Among Black youths who attended schools that disproportionately punished Black students, high self-control in early adolescence presaged higher academic orientation in late adolescence, which in turn predicted higher educational attainment, higher income, and better mental health in adulthood. However, among these same youths, higher academic orientation forecasted higher adult insulin resistance, a key process in cardiometabolic disease. These findings suggest that achieving successes in life in the face of racial inequalities may come at a physical health cost for Black youths.

Academic Orientation in Preschool Education

Currently, preschool education has evolved, even it has been revolutionized. This fact is shown by the large content of academic teaching materials such as reading, writing, and arithmetic which is still controversial must be taught in preschool education, which seems to be a compulsory subject for preschool children. Although government regulations have regulated properly and ideally how preschool education should be implemented, ironically due to competition between preschool institutions and the demands of parents, many preschool institutions fulfill their curricula with academic content. This study aims to obtain an overview of the academic-oriented preschool learning process in planning, implementation, and evaluation.

Academic Orientation Programme 2021. Researcher Visibility & Sharing our work beyond the University

<p>This presentation introduces academics and researchers to the value of formal and informal technologies in promoting the visibility and discoverability of their online researcher identity. Topics covered in the presentation include Open Access, Creative Commons licensing, Institutional Repositories, Research Data Management, ORCID, Research Collaboration & Social Scholarship, Researcher impact &citation analysis, Social Media, and Altmetrics.</p>

Academic Orientation Programme 2021. Researcher Visibility & Sharing our work beyond the University

<p>This presentation introduces academics and researchers to the value of formal and informal technologies in promoting the visibility and discoverability of their online researcher identity. Topics covered in the presentation include Open Access, Creative Commons licensing, Institutional Repositories, Research Data Management, ORCID, Research Collaboration & Social Scholarship, Researcher impact &citation analysis, Social Media, and Altmetrics.</p>

Factors of Psychological Readiness of Student Youth for Tutoring for People with Disabilities

In the time of higher education modernization, which is focused on individual trajectories and the formation of personality on the basis of its capabilities and abilities, a new role is acquired by a new type of activity – tutoring. In European leading countries, this type of support for people with disabilities has proven its effectiveness, but in Ukraine it is not widely known. The article presents the results of an empirical study of the psychological readiness in young students to become tuitors for people with disabilities. The sample was consisted of 68 students O.M. Beketov National University of Urban Economy in Kharkiv. The research has shown that tutoring is a new and exciting phenomenon that gives students the opportunity to experience mentoring, including students with disabilities. At the same time, psychological readiness for such activities is at a low level, which is caused by the insufficient level of awareness of functional responsibilities of a tutor, a clear ultimate goal, and so on. There are four factors in the structure of psychological readiness for tutoring students with disabilities: “Prosocial Orientation to Help”, “Academic Orientation”, “Social Intuition” and “Communicative Competence”. Given the psychological characteristics of students with disabilities, their support should be significantly different from the educational support of relatively healthy students. The data obtained can be included in the development of a comprehensive program to study the psychological readiness for tutoring people with disabilities.