Can I make it too ? : the relationship between educational streaming and self-concept

Abstract

This research study investigates the relationship between educational streaming and children's self-concept. Three state primary schools were randomly selected from the North, Central and South regions. All the Year 6 classes of the three schools took part in the study, yielding a total of 329 students, aged 10± years, grouped in different stream levels according to academic achievement. A Maltese translation of the Piers-Harris Children's Self-Concept Scale 2 was used as a self-report measure for data collection. Using the Pearson Product Moment Correlation, the Total Self-Concept Scale and the six subscales, were found to positively co-vary producing moderate to strong significant relationships. The results indicate that children scored in the average range on all of the self-concept scales measured. Significant differences were found between the male (n = 168) and female (n = 161) group on Behavioural Adjustment and Freedom from Anxiety. An analysis of variance revealed differences between the schools participating in this study in relation to Total Self-Concept, Behavioural Adjustment, and Intellectual and School Status, with School III, the largest of the three schools, scoring lowest on each of these scales. The same procedure was applied to investigate differences between stream levels. These significantly differed in relation to Total Self-Concept, Behavioural Adjustment, Intellectual and School Status, and Happiness and Satisfaction. Overall, the findings of this study suggest that lower stream levels are associated with reduced self-concept scores. An outlook of reciprocity between children's self-concept and academic achievement was assumed while considering the possible implications of these results.