Naslov
School related stress among adolescent girls and boys of different school achievement

Autori
Erceg, Inja: Kuterovac Jagodić, Gordana

Vrsta, podvrsta i kategorija rada
Sažeci sa skupova, sažetak, znanstveni

Izvornik
Https://www.eara2018.eu / - Ghent, 2018

Skup
16th Conference of the European Association for Research on Adolescence (EARA 2018)

Mjesto i datum
Gent, Belgija, 12.09.2018. - 14.09.2018

Vrsta sudjelovanja
Poster

Vrsta recenzije
Međunarodna recenzija

Ključne riječi
school related stress, school achievement, transition to secondary school, gender differences, adolescence

Sažetak
The Croatian school system is characterized by a large number of subjects that are still greatly based on memorising and reproducing a large number of different and fragmented facts. In addition, the evaluations are mostly summative and they have great importance because they serve as a selection criteria for entering on the next level of education. Such school system results in considerable amount of stress and pressure that is being made on pupils. Stress is also driven by high expectations from parents, teachers and pupils themselves, and the dominant aspirations toward college-pereparatory or, as called in Croatia, gymnasium education in contrast to vocational education. The system of transition from elementary to secondary education in Croatia is based on grade point average in the last four years (grades 5th to 8th) which makes the entry into individual streams selective. Since almost 50 % of the pupils aspire toward gymnasiums in which the number of places is limited to approximately 30 % of the total number of places in high schools, such transition system places the emphasis on making a race for excellent grades and burdens the last years of elementary school education with high stress. Furthermore, research in Croatian context also shows the gender differences in school related stress. The aim of this research was to explore the relationship between school related stress and school achievement, and their possible correlates such as expectations of school success, feelings related to transition to secondary education and expectations from secondary school among pupils of final year of elementary education (age 14 to 15 years old) in Croatia, as well as to explore gender differences. The research, as a part of a large longitudinal study, was conducted in 22 elementary schools in Zagreb, Croatia. Data was collected via questionnaires, constructed for the purpose of this research on 1031 pupils of the final grade of elementary school aged 14 to 15 years (47.8 % females, 52.2% males). The results show that, regardless of their gender, pupils with higher school achievement perceive higher personal, parental and teachers' expectations of school success and have aspirations toward gymnasium education which they perceive as difficult and stressful. Girls compared to boys experience higher levels of school related stress: they feel overwhelmed by learning for school and by too many evaluations and examinations ; they perceive higher teachers' expectations, set greater expectations for themselves and expect better school achievement than boys do. They also experience higher levels of anxiety than boys related to transition to secondary education. Findings of this research suggest that girls, according to prior research results, experience greater school related stress and that pupils with higher school achievement perceive more personal and environmental expectations which, accompanied by aspirations toward gymnasium education, puts high pressure on them.

Izvorni jezik
Engleski

POVEZANOST RADA