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School Adjustment

1) School adjustment requires students to develop both social and academic competencies like maintaining relationships, developing identities, and observing standards. 2) The document proposes defining school adjustment as achieving goals that promote social integration and positive self-development. Competence is context-specific effectiveness in meeting social and personal goals. 3) Social interactions can directly teach competencies and indirectly socialize goals and expectations, facilitating skill development. Relationships with teachers, peers, and parents socialize students.

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Sara Laiche
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309 views

School Adjustment

1) School adjustment requires students to develop both social and academic competencies like maintaining relationships, developing identities, and observing standards. 2) The document proposes defining school adjustment as achieving goals that promote social integration and positive self-development. Competence is context-specific effectiveness in meeting social and personal goals. 3) Social interactions can directly teach competencies and indirectly socialize goals and expectations, facilitating skill development. Relationships with teachers, peers, and parents socialize students.

Uploaded by

Sara Laiche
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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SOCIOCULTURAL, INSTRUCTIONAL,

AND RELATIONAL PROCESSES

School Adjustment
INTRODUCTION

Being successful at school requires children to


perform a range of social as well as academic
competencies to:
Maintain and establish
Mastering subject
interpersonal
matter
relationships

Strive to develop social


Developing effective
identities and a sense of
learning strategies
belongingness
Observe and model
Performing well on standards for
tests performance displayed
by others

behave in ways that are valued


by teachers and peers
SCHOOL ADJUSTMENT AND EDUCATIONAL
PSYCHOLOGY

Psychologically Speaking, children’s adjustment to


school is discussed in with respect to those social
competencies that facilitate achievement of
school-related objectives. Specifically, the focus is
on school adjustment as defined by social
motivation, behavioral competence, and positive
interpersonal relationships.
DEFINING SCHOOL ADJUSTMENT

S A is often used as a fairly generic term that refers


to any school-related outcome under
investigation.
Adjustment is with respect to the absence of
negative or maladaptive student outcomes
(Aggressive, Inattentive, or Disruptive behavior)

And in opposition to the presence of normative or


positive competencies (Cooperative, Compliant,
or Self-regulated behavior).
PROBLEMATIC

However, formal models have not been proposed


to guide our thinking about what healthy
adjustment to school entails or how it develops and
can be supported within the classroom
environment.
(Ladd, 1989).
SOCIAL INTEGRATION… AN APPROCH FOR
SCHOOL ADJUSTMENT
An approach is proposed in which adjustment is
defined as the achievement of goals that result in
social integration, as well as those resulting in
positive developmental outcomes for the self.
“Socially integrative goals are desired outcomes that
promote the smooth functioning of the social group,
social approval, and social acceptance, whereas self-
related goals are those that promote the achievement
of personal competence, feelings of self-
determination, and feelings of social and emotional
well-being” (Bronfenbrenner, 1989; Ford, 1992).

Classroom competence is a highly context-specific


outcome reflecting the degree to which students are
able to meet the demands of the classroom
environment as well as achieve their own personal
goals.
PERSPECTIVES ON THE NATURE OF
COMPETENCE
1. Bronfenbrenner (1989) argues that
competence can only be understood in terms of
contextspecific effectiveness, as reflected in mastery
of culturally and socially defined tasks.

Therefore, competence is a product not only of


personal attributes such as goals, values, self
regulatory skills, and cognitive abilities, but also of
ways in which these attributes contribute to meeting
situational requirements and demands.
2. A similar perspective to understand adjustment at
school is found in the work of Connell and his
colleagues (Connell & Wellborn, 1991; Deci &
Ryan, 1991).

According to them, students will engage in positive


intellectual and social activities as well as
experience a positive sense of self and emotional
well-being when teachers provide structure
(articulation of clear and consistent expectations),
autonomy support (opportunities for personal choice
and decision making), and involvement (individual
attention).
These conditions are believed to contribute to
adjustment by enhancing students’ sense of
competence, self-determination, and social
relatedness. That is, feeling that one is an integral
and valued part of the social group.
Ford (1992) expands on Bronfenbrenner’s notion of
person-environment fit by specifying four
dimensions of competence:
The achievement of
personal goals

The achievement of
goals that are
situationally relevant

The use of appropriate


means to achieve these
goals

Accomplishing goals that


result in positive
developmental outcomes
for the individual
Applying Bronfenbrenner’s and Ford’s perspectives
to classroom functioning suggests that students are
competent and well-adjusted if several criteria are
met.

First, students must be able to achieve goals that are


valued by themselves as well as by teachers and
peers. Second, they must do so in ways that are
sanctioned by the group. Third, goals must be
accomplished in ways that set the stage for other
positive outcomes such as healthy self-concept or
increased interest in academics. Finally, the
classroom context must provide the structure and
support for students to accomplish these goals.
SOCIAL INFLUENCES ON SCHOOL ADJUSTMENT

There are two general mechanisms whereby the


aspects of school adjustment discussed and might be
influenced by interpersonal interactions and
relationships.
First, interactions with adults and peers can provide
children directly with resources that promote the
development of specific competencies via
information and advice, modeled behavior, or
specific experiences that facilitate learning (Sieber,
1979). Students frequently clarify and interpret their
teacher’s instructions concerning what they should
be doing and how they should do it.
Second, social interactions can facilitate the
development of intrapersonal outcomes related to the
development of social and academic skills.
Theoretical models of these indirect influences
describe the socialization process as one of
communicating goals and expectations for specific
behavioral outcomes and then providing a context
wherein these goals are learned and subsequently
internalized (Steinberg, 1993; Goodnow, 1994).
WHO SCIALIZES GENERATIONS ???

PARENTS TEACHERS

PEERS
CONCLUSIONS AND PROVOCATIONS FOR THE
ISSUE

Beyond these basic observations, however, many


interesting and provocative questions remain. In
conclusion, therefore, several general issues in need
of additional consideration and empirical
investigation if educational psychologists are to
make progress in understanding children’s
adjustment to school. These issues concern:
The expectations and goals we hold for our students

The role of developmental processes in choosing


these goals (and therefore in how we view healthy
adjustment)

The development of more sophisticated models to


guide research on school adjustment, and research
methods and designs.

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